- The new episode of Aston Originals Health Matters looks at the importance of regular eye tests for health, the theme of National Eye Health Week 2024
- Professor Leon Davies, interim head of Aston School of Optometry, discusses the School’s research and teaching
- The School of Optometry’s eye clinics are open to staff, students and the general public
In the new episode of Aston Originals Health Matters, recorded for National Eye Health Week 2024, Professor Leon Davies, interim head of Aston School of Optometry, discusses the research and clinics at the School and its work to ensure good eye health.
National Eye Health Week 2024 runs from 23-29 September and aims to promote the importance of good eye health and the need for regular eye tests for all. In the UK, 2m people live with sight loss severe enough to impact their daily lives. 50% of sight loss is avoidable, with early detection vital.
Aston University’s School of Optometry has a history stretching back to 1926. The School is the largest in the UK and one of the largest in Europe, with 450 undergraduate students. There are more than 20 permanent members of staff teaching undergraduates and postgraduates, and 50 visiting clinicians, who usually work in practice in opticians and at hospitals who teach practical sessions.
Research at the School underpins teaching to ensure all students are fully prepared for practice with the latest knowledge and understanding. This includes a world-leading research programme in dry eye, as well as myopia (short-sightedness) and presbyopia (near vision difficulties).
The School of Optometry also runs regular eye examination clinics where staff, students and members of the public can come for free routine eye tests. Consultations are carried out by students, under supervision by qualified optometrists, giving them the skills for practice.
There are also specialist clinics, supporting local NHS services, for example for dry eye, attracting patients from as far away as Wales, and a myopia clinic which aims not only to correct, but to treat myopia in young patients.
Professor Davies said:
“Most people will know that you go to your optometrist to prescribe spectacles or help with a contact lens fit, but having a sight test is so much more than that. As primary care clinicians, optometrists are able to support patients who present either with symptoms or without symptoms.
“We can look into your eye, to examine the back of your eye, which is arguably the only place in the body that we can see blood vessels without actually cutting open the body. We can detect common conditions such as high blood pressure, as well as diabetes and other systemic diseases that can all be picked up when you have absolutely no symptoms.”
The full podcast is available on the Aston Originals YouTube channel.
Visit the Aston School of Optometry webpages for more information about optometry courses and public eye clinics.
- Notes to editors
About Aston University
For over a century, Aston University’s enduring purpose has been to make our world a better place through education, research and innovation, by enabling our students to succeed in work and life, and by supporting our communities to thrive economically, socially and culturally.
Aston University’s history has been intertwined with the history of Birmingham, a remarkable city that once was the heartland of the Industrial Revolution and the manufacturing powerhouse of the world.
Born out of the First Industrial Revolution, Aston University has a proud and distinct heritage dating back to our formation as the School of Metallurgy in 1875, the first UK College of Technology in 1951, gaining university status by Royal Charter in 1966, and becoming the Guardian University of the Year in 2020.
Building on our outstanding past, we are now defining our place and role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (and beyond) within a rapidly changing world.
For media inquiries in relation to this release, contact Helen Tunnicliffe, Press and Communications Manager, on (+44) 7827 090240 or email: h.tunnicliffe@aston.ac.uk.
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