Rocky Mountain University College of Optometry anticipates opening in 2023
Rocky Mountain University announced that the College of Optometry’s first 64 students will begin studying in 2023, when the university will have finished the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education process.
The university said that the optometry college’s clinical program will collaborate with local optometrists for teaching and professional mentorship and offer no-cost services to the surrounding underserved population, according to its website.
“The Utah Optometric Association has presented [Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions’] proposal of a new college of optometry to be developed in the Provo area to its membership,” Court R. Wilkins, OD, FAAO, MHS, Utah Optometric Association president, said in a letter quoted on the university’s website. “There have been nothing but positive comments made.”
Adam Hickenbotham, OD, MPH, PhD, will lead curriculum development, faculty and staff recruitment and industry accreditation as dean of the college. In addition to 17 years of clinical experience managing surgery centers and private practice clinics, performing ocular surgeries, and patenting laser surgical technologies, Hickenbotham has led new colleges of optometry in several leadership positions through launches and accreditations.
“Due to an aging U.S. population, we must prepare for a potential shortage of optometric physicians during the next few decades,” Hickenbotham said. “The Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions’ College of Optometry will help alleviate this impending shortage by preparing, teaching, and graduating new optometrists to meet the demand for primary eye care in the fastest-growing region of the country, which is currently without an optometric training institution.”
Rocky Mountain University cited statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimating a 30% increase in demand for optometrists and The Conference Board, an independent nonprofit, stating there is a high risk for labor shortages in optometry.