Regents greenlight UTRGV’s new optometry school

Marking the first step in the process, UTRGV hopes to become just the third university in the state to have a school of optometry, another game changer for students seeking opportunities and local health care.

“What we’ve tried to do is make sure that our students have the same kind of educational opportunities that students outside the Rio Grande Valley have,” UTRGV President Guy Bailey said. “This will give our students just one more opportunity to get a really excellent first class degree in health professions that will lead to a great job and a great professional future.”

On May 9, the University of Texas Board of Regents approved the proposal to create the new school along with a new Doctor of Optometry or OD degree.

The school of optometry is past its first in the process with the UT system approval. The process requires additional approvals from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges and the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education.

The only two schools of Optometry in Texas are located at the University of Houston and at the University of the Incarnate Word.

Bailey said one thing he hopes and believes will be different for the school of optometry at UTRGV is for optometrists to be bilingual.

“We think it’s really important that you can speak English and Spanish down here and increasingly in other parts of the country too,” he said. “Many of our students will come into the program bilingual and we think that that’s a feature that will really differentiate the optometrists who come out of our university.”

Consulting with other universities such as the University of Houston and the University of Utah, Bailey said they discussed the type of facilities needed, the faculty and what to expect.

“There’s always some learning curve and a process you have to go through,” he said. “So we’ve been very careful to try to touch base with the folks we need to touch base with to make that happen and we’ve gotten good advice.”

Bailey said the process will take several years but UTRGV is aiming for the first class as early as fall 2027.

He added that the first class will have around 20 to 40 students along with about 15 full-time faculty that includes a mix of research-active science faculty and clinical faculty licenses in Texas.

“I think the possibilities are very good,” he said. “The program is now at the Higher Education Coordinating Board and we feel good about the chances there. We’ve worked with the Coordinating Board very carefully and their staff, and we have the support of most of the local optometrists and the state optometry association.”

One pivotal aspect of the new school is the contribution to diabetes research, management and care.

According to a scholarly article by Frontiers in Public Health, a study conducted in the Valley found prevalence of diabetes in the region is about 30% among adults, compared to 12% nationwide.

“Diabetes is often first diagnosed in the eye by your optometrist, and most people don’t know that,” Bailey said. “Optometrists are absolutely key for diagnosing diabetes very early and catching diabetes early is a key to treatment.”

Bailey said the university school will come with a new building and with several possible sites to be considered, one likely area is the property next to the cancer facility and the new UTRGV-McAllen ISD collegiate building.

He added the building will probably also house UTRGV’s standalone professional programs such as occupational therapy and physical therapy.

“This is just an exciting day for the Valley,” he said. “We’re getting the kinds of programs at Houston and Dallas and the other big cities … I can’t tell you how important that is for our students and for the Valley as a whole.”