Illinois College of Optometry
Encyclopedia
The Illinois College of Optometry (ICO) is a 4-year private optometry
Optometry
Optometry is a health care profession concerned with eyes and related structures, as well as vision, visual systems, and vision information processing in humans. Optometrists, or Doctors of Optometry, are state licensed medical professionals trained to prescribe and fit lenses to improve vision,...

 college located in the city of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. Graduating approximately 160 optometrists a year, it is the largest optometry college in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

and is the oldest continually operating educational facility dedicated solely to the teaching of optometrists. The College complex incorporates more than 366000 square feet (34,002.5 m²) including an electronically enhanced lecture center, library, computerized clinical learning equipment, and recreational and living facilities.

Facilities

The Illinois Eye Institute (IEI) is the principal clinical training facility for ICO students and is located adjacent to the College. In addition to primary eye care, sub-specialty care is available including glaucoma
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...

, retina-vitreous, neuro-ophthalmic disorders, cornea-external disease, orbit-oculoplastics, pediatrics/strabismus-amblyopia and low vision
Low vision
Low vision is a subspecialty within the professions of optometry and ophthalmology dealing with individuals who have reduced vision even when using the best possible spectacle or contact lens correction available. It can be a result of either congenital disease Low vision is a subspecialty within...

 rehabilitation. The IEI serves as a center for clinical research involving eye and vision problems including glaucoma
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently damaging vision in the affected eye and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often, but not always, associated with increased pressure of the fluid in the eye...

, age-related macular degeneration
Macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration is a medical condition which usually affects older adults and results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of damage to the retina. It occurs in “dry” and “wet” forms. It is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment in older adults...

 (ARMD), cornea
Cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Together with the lens, the cornea refracts light, with the cornea accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power. In humans, the refractive power of the cornea is...

 and contact lenses, and pediatric eye disorders.

Administration

Dr. Arol Augsburger serves as the current President of the Illinois College of Optometry and is the school's fifth President. Before his appointment as President of ICO, he served as Interim Provost of the University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is a public university in Birmingham in the U.S. state of Alabama. Developing from an extension center established in 1936, the institution became an autonomous institution in 1969 and is today one of three institutions in the University of Alabama System...

 (UAB), as Dean and Professor of the UAB College of Optometry, and as a faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Optometry.

Dr. Augsburger is a Life Member of The Ohio State University Alumni Association, an institution from which he graduated cum laude in 1971 with his Doctor of Optometry degree. He has been honored as the Optometrist of the Year in the states of Ohio and Alabama, as well as the American Optometric Association
American Optometric Association
The American Optometric Association represents optometrists nationally in the USA. It consists of State Optometric Associations, which are made up of local optometric societies.-AOA mission:...

's Optometrist of the Year. He has served as President of many national professional associations like the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) and the National Board of Examiners in Optometry.

Students

The student population consists of a diverse group which primarily originate from local areas such as Chicago, Illinois and surrounding states (Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

), as well as significant groups from Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and a number of international students.

Academics

The Illinois College of Optometry awards the degrees of Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) and Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in Visual Science (BSVS). The College also offers a joint program with the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 to obtain an O.D. Degree and a Master of Science
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

 (M.S.) or Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...

 (Ph.D.) degree. In addition, the college also offers a joint program with the Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...

, where a student may obtain a BS in biology from IIT and an O.D. degree from the Illinois College of Optometry.
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