Funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching (Australian government). In the profession of optometry, responsibilities for eye and general health care make evidence-based practice (EBP) essential. Current optometry curricula include isolated teaching and learning strategies that aim to develop the knowledge and skills required for EBP, but our recent pilot work (1) suggests that optometry graduates have not uniformly adopted EBP. Programs in other disciplines such as medicine and speech pathology have recognized and addressed this issue by embedding teaching and learning strategies in their curricula. For example, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales has developed and implemented an online resource to support learning and teaching in EBP. Our review of the literature confirms this type of resource as a valid and effective means of developing EBP knowledge and skills. This Project aims to increase the use of evidence-based practice in Optometry. The Project team is comprised of representatives from each of the 6 Optometry Schools in Australia and New Zealand as well as EBP experts. Please enjoy browsing our page and do get in touch with us if you are interested in finding out more about the Project- we would love to hear from you. The project is funded by a grant awarded by the Office for Learning and Teaching (formerly the Australian Learning & Teaching Council). It runs from December 2011 through to December 2013. Suttle, C.M., Jalbert, I. & Alnahedh, T. Examining the evidence base used by optometrists in Australia and New Zealand. Clinical & experimental optometry: Journal of the Australian Optometrical Association 95, 28-36 (2012).
