Optometry 2024-2025
180 Higher Education Credits, 3 years.
To be accepted as an exchange student at Karolinska Institutet you must be enrolled at a higher education institution that has a written exchange agreement with Karolinska Institutet for the specific study programme of interest. Exchange students should be selected and nominated by their home institution, however the final decision on admission is made by Karolinska Institutet.
Find your course or rotation syllabus
To find the syllabus for the course or rotation you are interested in, follow the link to the course syllabus archive above.
You need to enter the course codes to access the syllabuses and they can be found right before the name of the courses or rotations listed on this page, under "Options in English" and "Options in Swedish".
Options in English
For exchange students without very good command of the Swedish language, the Study Programme in Optometry offers various options.
Courses and project work offered to exchange students
The performance will be graded in accordance with the ECTS grading scale and on the basis of the student´s fulfilment of the learning outcomes stated in the course syllabus.
Please note that there is only a limited number of places for clinical rotations and a study place can therefore not be guaranteed. The performance will be graded in accordance with the ECTS grading scale with the exception of clinical rotations with a duration shorter than 3 weeks which will be graded fail or pass.
During the clinical rotation the student will be assigned to a clinical supervisor who will be responsible for ongoing instruction and supervision. Appointed lecturer will be responsible for the clinical area in question and participates together with the clinical supervisor in the initial discussion of the student's educational objectives and in evaluations.
All options are offered both autumn semester 2024 and spring semester 2025.
Courses and rotations
- 1EE065 Project work, 30 ECTS credits
- 1EE066 Project work, 15 ECTS credits
- 1EE076 Clinical work for incoming exchange students , 15 ECTS credits
Options in Swedish
Most courses in the Optometry programme are offered in Swedish only. Exchange students with a good command of Swedish or another Scandinavian language are welcome to apply for the courses.
All courses are full-time courses and require at least 40 hours of work per week. One study week is equivalent to 1.5 ECTS credits. The performance will be graded in accordance with the ECTS grading scale and on the basis of the student´s fulfilment of the learning outcomes stated in the course syllabus.
Each course is only given once every academic year in a given time period and most of the courses run in parallel. Hence, a student can only attend one course at a time. All courses end with an examination.
Courses offered autumn semester 2024
Courses offered during semester 3 in the curriculum
- 1OP071 Advanced Optometry 1 , 12 ECTS credits
- 1OP072 Ocular Anatomy, Physiology and Diseases part 2, 7.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP016 Pharmacology, 3 ECTS credits
- 1OP073 Advanced Optometry 2, 7.5 ECTS credits
Courses offered during semester 5 in the curriculum
- 1OP026 Statistics and Science Methods, 3 ECTS credits
- 1OP049 Degree Project in Optometry 7.5 out of 15 ECTS credits
- 1OP079 Clinical Optometry 2, 4.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP081 Contact lens part 2, 15 ECTS credits (7,5 ECTS credits in autumn)
- Elective courses 7.5 ECTS credits
Courses offered spring semester 2025
Courses offered during semester 2 in the curriculum
- 1OP069 Basic Optometry 2, 15 ECTS credits
- 1OP070 Optics 2, 4.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP068 Ocular anatomy, physiology and diseases part 1, 7.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP056 Pathology 1, 3 ECTS credits
Courses offered during semester 4 in the curriculum
- 1OP074 Advanced Optometry 3 and Perception, 9 ECTS credits
- 1OP057 Micro-biology, 3 ECTS credits
- 1OP075 Contact Lens and Chemistry, 4.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP076 Clinical Optometry 1 , 7.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP077 Enviromental optometry, 6 ECTS credits
Courses offered during semester 6 in the curriculum
- 1OP082 Clinical optometry 3, 12 ECTS credits
- 1OP081 Contact Lenses 2 15 ECTS credits, part 2 7.5 ECTS credits in fall
- 1OP049 Degree Project in Optometry7.5 ECTS credits
- 1OP084 Low vision, 3 ECTS credits
For more information about the study programme, please visit the programme website (in Swedish).
Application
Application deadlines
- 1 May (for the autumn semester 2024, end of August to mid-January)
- 15 October(for the spring semester 2025, mid-January to the beginning of June)
Magdalena Palmquist
Administrative Officer| Curriculum Optometry 2023-2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Semester | Course | ECTS Credits |
| 1 | 1OP086 Basic Optometry 1 | 10.5 |
| 1OP065 Optics1 | 10.5 | |
| 1OP067 General anatomy and physiology | 9 | |
| 2 | 1OP069 Basic Optometry 2 | 15 |
| 1OP070 Optics 2 | 4.5 | |
| 1OP068 Ocular anatomy, physiology and diseases part 1 | 7.5 | |
| 1OP056 Pathology | 3 | |
| 3 | 1OP071 Advanced Optometry 1 | 12 |
| 1OP072 Ocular Anatomy, Physiology and Diseases part 2 | 7.5 | |
| 1OP016 Pharmacology | 3 | |
| 1OP073 Advanced Optometry 2 | 7.5 | |
| 4 | 1OP074 Advanced Optometry 3 and perception | 9 |
| 1OP057 Micro-biology | 3 | |
| 1OP075 Contact lens and chemistry | 4.5 | |
| 1OP076 Clinical optometry 1 | 7.5 | |
| 1OP077 Enviromental optometry 1OP077 | 6 | |
| 5 | 1OP026 Statistics and Science Methods | 3 |
| 1OP049 Degree Project in Optometry | 7.5 out of 15 | |
| 1OP079 Clinical Optometry 2 | 4.5 | |
| 1OP081 Contact lenses 2 | 7.5 | |
| Elective courses | 7.5 | |
| 6 | 1OP082 Clinical optometry 3 | 12 |
| 1OP081Contact Lenses 2, part 2 | 7.5 | |
| 1OP049 Degree Project in Optometry | 7.5 | |
| 1OP084 Low vision | 3 |
More information about the study programme
Optometry encompasses the diagnosis and measurement of refractive error in the optics of the eye, and the visual problems that this can cause. Optometry also covers the treatment of such problems.
The study programme is based on the concepts of the eye, vision and optical correction. Students learn to understand morbid changes to the eye through the study, first and foremost, of medicine, optics, physiological optics and contact lens technology.
Teaching methods include individual and group study, lectures, clinical work, practical exercises, project work, seminars and field studies.
The study programme is offered in association with the Royal Institute of Technology.
After graduation
Optometrists normally work in optometry practices or in hospitals. They also work with visual correction using contact lenses and glasses for people with eye diseases and with eye tests for children. Work opportunities also exist in the optical industry and at low vision centres, where optometrists help people with impaired vision.