Optometric Brain Injury Curriculum in Federal Residency Training Programs: A Consensus Report

Introduction: Brain injury often impacts the visual system. Diagnosis and treatment of visual system problems related to brain injury is a field with less settled science and more variation in practice than most specialty fields. Most optometric brain injury residency programs are in federal clinics (VA and DoD). A consensus core curriculum has been created that will allow some consistency while facilitating program strengths. Materials and Methods: Kern's curriculum development model and a focus group of subject matter experts were used to reach consensus in producing a core curriculum to provide a common framework for brain injury optometric residency programs. Results: A common high-level curriculum was developed with educational goals through consensus. Conclusions: In a relatively new subspeciality without a firm foundation of settled science, a common curriculum will help provide a common framework to facilitate clinical and research progress in this field. The process sought out expertise and community building to help improve the adoption of this curriculum. This core curriculum will provide a framework for educating optometric residents in the diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation of patients with visual sequelae because of brain injury. It is intended to ensure that appropriate topics are covered while allowing for flexibility according to each program's strengths and resources.