News

In 2022, New England College of Optometry recognizes 50 years of training students and serving patients in community health centers throughout the region. As the first optometry school to conceive and create such a clinical training model, NECO has influenced thousands of optometrists and optometry itself. Here’s the story of how it all began.

NECO celebrates 50 years of affiliation with community health centers (CHCs), yet the focus remains firmly on the future.

“Two of the most valuable things students learn here are culturally competent care and multidisciplinary care,” Dr. Xu says.

Who knows if the catalysts for change at NECO 50 years ago thought about whether its graduates would embrace what they experienced, but many have. Read how some NECO alumni were inspired by their experiences training in community health centers.

Massachusetts optometrists now treat individuals suffering from glaucoma. This law helps ease the burden of cost and access for people in need of treatment.

“Could optometry unlock secrets to cognitive health? What the research says” is an article published by the American Optometric Association (AOA) on the brain-eye connection.

New England College of Optometry (NECO), the longest continually operating college of optometry in the country, today announced plans to develop a distance education doctor of optometry program in partnership with Noodle, the country’s fastest-growing online learning network.

A new contrast sensitivity test is on the market, thanks to two New England College of Optometry faculty members. D. Luisa Mayer, PhD, MEd and Barry Kran, OD, FAAO, are faculty at the college as well as part of the clinical team at the NECO Center for Eye Care at the Perkins School for the Blind, of which Dr. Kran is the director.

Hybrid OD degree program will combine cutting-edge distance learning with in-person, hands-on clinical training.

When residency application season rolled around late 2020, I was wiped. It’d been such a crazy 4th year, with the pandemic and all… I was looking for stability and familiarity, and definitely not looking to apply for a residency across the US.