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Students begin courses at Haiti’s first school of optometry

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Nearly 5 years of planning has resulted in the opening of Haiti’s first school of optometry, established as part of the Faculty of Medicine at I’Universite d’Etat d’Haiti in Port au Prince.

Optometry Giving Sight reported on its website that on World Sight Day, Oct. 12, 2017, 144 applicants sat for the entrance exam, and only 17 students were accepted into the Bachelor of Vision Sciences program.

With 70% of Haiti’s population having little to no access to eye care services, locally trained optometrists are in high demand, and the creation of the school was met with positive responses.

Initially, the school hopes to graduate 16 optometrists but expects this number to grow in the coming years, according to the announcement.

“I am hoping to have a career as an optometrist and help people in my country gain access to the vision care they need,” Pierre Christopher, one of the first students to start courses at the school, said.