A STUDY OF GRADUATE-EDUCATION IN PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS IN THE UNITED-STATES - 1938-1989

For over 50 years, graduate programs in physiological optics (vision s cience) have been the primary source of supply to schools and colleges of optometry of Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degree rec ipients who teach and conduct research. To determine the supply of M.S . and Ph.D. degree recipients from 1938 through 1989 and the career pu rsuits of these recipients, a computerized data base was developed. A total of 456 degrees were awarded (287 M.S. and 169 Ph.D.). Among the M.S. recipients, 56 also completed a Ph.D. Although there was a steady increase in the number of degree recipients, the number who pursued o ptometric education as a career steadily declined, especially among th ose who received only a M.S. degree. Further analysis suggests that a loss of optometry faculty with graduate degrees, in particular those w ith Ph.D.'s, due to attrition will likely occur during this decade and become substantial during the first decade of the next century. Clear ly, efforts need to be increased by schools and colleges of optometry in the very near future to foster graduate level study of physiologica l optics, and to encourage the pursuit of optometric education as a ca reer.