AZCOPT, CCO Offer Virtual Reality Labs for Student Training

Midwestern University’s optometry programs are among the vanguard of U.S.-based optometry programs, offering virtual reality simulated heads for students to practice disease diagnosis.

The Arizona College of Optometry (AZCOPT) and the Chicago College of Optometry (CCO) offer cutting-edge simulation technology via the Virtual Reality Lab, which provides students with a “virtual head” that contains three-dimensional eye models. These virtual reality systems give instructors the ability to simulate a wide variety of vision issues that students can diagnose hands-on in a realistic simulated environment.

Using this technology, students can make a detailed assessment of ocular structures; learn to identify signs of diabetes, hypertension, and cancer; and prepare for clinical situations that they will face as third- and fourth-year students, treating actual patients at the Midwestern University Eye Institute.