Overview
The School of Optometry provides professional training in the art and science of vision care. The four-year professional program leads to the degree of Doctor of Optometry, which qualifies graduates to take the national and state board examinations required for licensure.
Doctors of Optometry are health care professionals. Optometry is a primary health-care profession that encompasses the prevention and remediation of disorders of the vision system through examination, diagnosis, treatment, and/or management of visual efficiency, eye health, and related systemic manifestations. Optometry graduates are trained to diagnose eye diseases, including the ocular manifestations of systemic diseases. The scope of contemporary optometric practice provides practitioners with independent responsibility for nonsurgical pharmaceutical treatment of eye disorders and diseases.
Doctors of Optometry are educated in the sciences of anatomy, chemistry, physics, mathematics, neurology, bacteriology, microbiology, disease processes and detection, pharmacology, behavioral science, social science, public health, and many other related fields. The school provides four years of comprehensive training in vision care aimed at preparing primary eye care providers. The first and second years emphasize courses in the sciences that are foundational to optometry and pre-clinical training in the fundamentals of the optometric examination. Subjects taught include the anatomy and physiology of the eye and visual system, visual perception and sensitivity, optics, oculomotor functions and neurology, binocular vision and space perception, evidence-based optometry, systemic and ocular pharmacology, systemic disease and its ocular manifestations, infant vision, diagnosis and treatment of sensorimotor anomalies, contact lenses, and clinical examination of the visual system. Active responsibility for patient care begins in the spring of the second year. The third year is devoted to advanced training in management and rehabilitation of sensorimotor anomalies, diagnosis and treatment of anterior and posterior segment ocular disease, low vision, advanced procedures in disease diagnosis, and caring for patients in the school’s primary care clinics. The fourth year consists of advanced patient care experience acquired in internal rotations through the school’s specialty clinics in areas such as low vision, pathology, contact lenses, infant vision, community and geriatric health care, and external rotations through eye care centers located in leading hospitals, medical centers, and clinics across the country.
Optometry offers a wide variety of interesting, challenging, and rewarding careers in private practice, in hospitals and other health organizations, and in public service. The education and clinical experience gained at the School of Optometry equip its graduates with the knowledge base and skills necessary to provide the highest level of contemporary vision care and to engage in lifelong learning to ensure they remain at the forefront of their profession.
Optometric Residency Program
A one-year Optometric Residency program is available to Doctors of Optometry seeking advanced optometric training. Areas of clinical study include binocular vision, cornea and contact lens, low vision, ocular disease, pediatrics, community health, and primary care. Successful completion of the program leads to the awarding of the Optometric Residency Certificate.
For further information about the Optometric Residency Program, please contact the Director of Residency Programs, Dr. Kuniyoshi Kanai, at kunikanai@berkeley.edu.
Undergraduate Program
There is no undergraduate program offered by the School of Optometry.
Graduate Program
Optometry: OD
Faculty
Dean
John G. Flanagan, Dean.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Gunilla Haegerstrom-Portnoy, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
Christina S. Wilmer, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs.
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
Richard C. Van Sluyters, Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
Assistant Dean for Student Affairs
Sharon T. Joyce, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs.
Assistant Dean, Administration and Finance
Eric Leal, Assistant Dean, Administration and Finance.
Assistant Dean, Development and Alumni Relations
Kristen C. Williams, Assistant Dean, Development and Alumni Relations.
Director of Affiliated Residency Programs
Christina S. Wilmer, Director of Affiliated Residency Programs.
Director of Residencies: On-Campus Programs
Kuniyoshi Kanai, Director of Residencies: On-Campus Programs.
Director of Communications and Marketing
Eric Craypo, Director of Communications and Marketing.
Chair Graduate Group Vision Science
Karsten Gronert, Chair Graduate Group Vision Science.
Professors
Martin S. Banks, Professor.
Lu Chen, Professor.
Susana T.L. Chung, Professor.
John G. Flannery, Professor.
Suzanne M. J. Fleiszig, Professor.
Xiaohua Gong, Professor.
Karsten Gronert, Professor.
Gunilla Haegerstrom-Portnoy, Professor.
Stanley A. Klein, Professor.
Dennis M. Levi, Professor.
Bruno A. Olshausen, Professor.
Austin J. Roorda, Professor.
Richard C. Van Sluyters, Professor.
Christine F. Wildsoet, Professor.
Associate Professors
Michael A. Silver, Associate Professor.
Professors of Clinical Optometry
Deborah A. Orel-Bixler, Professor of Clinical Optometry.
Wayne A. Verdon, Professor of Clinical Optometry.
Associate Professors of Clinical Optometry
Meng C. Lin, Associate Professor of Clinical Optometry.
Nancy A. McNamara, Associate Professor of Clinical Optometry.
Assistant Professor of Clinical Optometry
Yue Liu, Assistant Professor of Clinical Optometry.
Affiliated Professors
Brian Barsky, Affiliated Professor.
Eugene Switkes, Affiliated Professor.
Clinical Professors
Shirin Barez, Clinical Professor.
Dennis S. Burger, Clinical Professor.
Thomas M. Callan, Clinical Professor.
Stephen R. Chun, Clinical Professor.
John C. Corzine, Clinical Professor.
Robert E. Dister, Clinical Professor.
Bernard J. Dolan, Clinical Professor.
Patsy L. Harvey, Clinical Professor.
Craig K. Hisaka, Clinical Professor.
Pia Hoenig, Clinical Professor.
Carl H. Jacobsen, Clinical Professor.
Donald R. Korb, Clinical Professor.
Anne Mika Moy, Clinical Professor.
Edward J. Revelli, Clinical Professor.
A. Lee Scaief, Clinical Professor.
Christina S. Wilmer, Clinical Professor.
David N. Yang, Clinical Professor.
Associate Clinical Professors
Charles Bailey, Associate Clinical Professor.
Frank G. Balestrery, Associate Clinical Professor.
Darlene T. Fong, Associate Clinical Professor.
Jeffrey Ko, Associate Clinical Professor.
George K. Lee, Associate Clinical Professor.
Andrew B. Mick, Associate Clinical Professor.
Glen Ozawa, Associate Clinical Professor.
Meredith Whiteside, Associate Clinical Professor.
Diane H. Williams, Associate Clinical Professor.
Barry C. Winston, Associate Clinical Professor.
Vikki Yu, Associate Clinical Professor.
Assistant Clinical Professors
Yin Yin Aung, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Karen Chester, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Marlena A. Chu, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jorge Anthony Cuadros , Assistant Clinical Professor.
Sarah N G Fisher, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Dennis W. Fong, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Sara L. Frane, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Cheslyn M. Gan, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kenneth S. Gee, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Harry Green, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Daniel Harvitt, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Michelle J. Hoff, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Cheyenne Chinea Huber, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kuniyoshi Kanai, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Isabel Kazemi, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Nicholas G. Kerry, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Cindy Yumi Sakai Kim, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jennine Kirby, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Linh Le, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Debora Lee, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Taras Litvin, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kenneth N. Lowe, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Melanie Louise Mason, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Allison McClellan, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Anousheh Mortazavi, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Matthew Alan Rhodes, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Vicki Rich, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Thomas R. Rowley, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Claudia Cynthia Ruegg, Assistant Clinical Professor.
George Russell, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jon M. Sakuda, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Nadia Sarah Samii, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Pam Satjawatcharaphong, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jeffrey Joseph Schultz, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jennifer Y. Seino, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Todd D. Severin, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Mary Ann C. Shui, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Jeremy Ross Shumaker, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kelvin Tang, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kathy Tran, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Christina Trifiletti, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Tan Truong, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Lee Q. Vien, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Caitlin E. Walsh, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Lillian Ing-Ling Wang, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Tonya Watson, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Brian Wolff, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Walter Andrew Wong, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Yu-Tai Wu, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Kerri Kimi Yoshiyama, Assistant Clinical Professor.
Clinical Instructors
Kristin E. Brennan, Clinical Instructor.
Amara V. Callahan, Clinical Instructor.
Alvaro Castillo, Clinical Instructor.
Patrick J. Clark, Clinical Instructor.
Ashley Craven, Clinical Instructor.
Neda Ghanbari, Clinical Instructor.
Geeta Girdher, Clinical Instructor.
David Hicks, Clinical Instructor.
Jeffrey Hiett, Clinical Instructor.
Heather Jones, Clinical Instructor.
Stephanie Joo, Clinical Instructor.
Chang Kim, Clinical Instructor.
Deana E. Lum, Clinical Instructor.
Patty Lynch, Clinical Instructor.
Shreya Mali, Clinical Instructor.
Mario Moreno, Clinical Instructor.
Mary Ann Murphy, Clinical Instructor.
Charlie Ngo, Clinical Instructor.
Marisa A. Perez, Clinical Instructor.
Marla F. Plecha, Clinical Instructor.
Aaron Severson, Clinical Instructor.
Mark Sherstinsky, Clinical Instructor.
Leslie Small, Clinical Instructor.
Susanna M. Tamkins, Clinical Instructor.
Anne Yun Keu Tasaki, Clinical Instructor.
Jacqueline Marie Theis, Clinical Instructor.
Jonathan C. Thomas, Clinical Instructor.
Kevin Tomita, Clinical Instructor.
Melissa A. Valdellon, Clinical Instructor.
Yen-Linh Thi Vu, Clinical Instructor.
Jeremy Walz, Clinical Instructor.
Rob Widerspan, Clinical Instructor.
Professors Emeriti
Anthony J. Adams, Professor Emeritus.
Ian L. Bailey, Professor Emeritus.
Jay M. Enoch, Professor Emeritus.
Ralph D. Freeman, Professor Emeritus.
Robert B. Mandell, Professor Emeritus.
Kenneth A. Polse, Professor Emeritus.
Clifton M. Schor, Professor Emeritus.
Clinical Professors Emeriti
Michael G. Harris, Clinical Professor Emeritus.
Karen L. Walker-Brandreth, Clinical Professor Emeritus.
Gerald Westheimer, Clinical Professor Emeritus.
Contact Information
Associate Dean and Head Graduate Advisor
Richard C. Van Sluyters, OD, PhD
Phone: 510-642-1235
Assistant Dean for Admissions, Student Affairs, and Career Services
Meg St. John
Phone: 510-642-5286
Associate Director of Admissions and Student Affairs, Optometry
Kait Guthrie
Phone: 510-642-9537
Associate Director of Admissions and Student Affairs, Vision Science and Residency
Carissa Caloud
Phone: 510-643-6696
Coordinator of Admissions and Student Affairs
Nhung Tuyet Nguyen
Phone: 510-642-9537