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Optometry
The Salus community welcomed its second group of optometry students from Qassim University in Saudi Arabia to Elkins Park in June. The eight sixth-year students, who return home in August, were here to augment their clinical curriculum. As part of an agreement between Salus and Qassim Universities, Qassim students attend lectures, participate in workshops and experience controlled patient care at the Salus main campus in Elkins Park.
This is the first trip to the States for Mohammed Saleh Aldhbiab; Yousef Muneer Alharbi; Abdulmalek Ibrahim Alkharisy; Abdulrahim Huwaydi Almutairi; Abdul Salam Saleh Alyousef; Abdulah Salem Alharbi; Faisal Ali Alhamamah, and Mohammed Nasir S. Elbaradei. The students have made the best of their time here. In addition to area attractions, they have visited New York City and Washington, DC and attended a Phillies game.
All eight students wanted to come to Salus to “get an early clinical advantage.” Once they complete six years of didactic education and a one-year internship the students will have earned a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree. Optometry is considered a new profession in Saudi Arabia and there currently are two optometry schools in the country that offer a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree: Qassim University and King Saud University. The professional organization for optometrists, the Saudi Association of Optometry, was established in 2007. All of the students were united in their belief that they are in the vanguard of a new profession and that exposure to optometry in the US was a key component to their education. The majority of the students expect to go into private practice once their internship is completed.
