BSc in Optometry Course Details, Eligibility, Salary, and Career Scopes

Updated September 8, 2022

BSc in Optometry is a four-year professional undergraduate course that teaches students numerous crucial aspects of the optometry discipline of medicine. This specialized optometry field of medicine focuses on treating problems related to eyes and stresses the manufacturing of visual aid equipment.

People from older ages to children suffer from some eyes problems or diseases like glaucoma, cataracts, conjunctivitis, corneal ulcers, keratoconus, etc. And for this, trained and specialist optometrists will require diagnosing and treating the conditions of eyes properly.

Moreover, students aspiring to become optometrists will have to pursue the Bachelor of Science in optometry course. It could be taken up after completing the 12th standard with science stream from a recognized board of education. Graduates can land into numerous exciting job opportunities, including Optometrist, researcher, lecturer/professor, optician, and a few.

BSc in Optometry Course Details

BSc in Optometry is an undergraduate course that helps students gain comprehensive understandings/concepts in optometric and visionary sciences. In addition, the candidates learn and gain specialist skills such as binocular vision, pediatric, contact lens, and dispensing. The professionals or optometrists working in the field are responsible for conducting complete eye examinations and providing the required therapeutic to the patients/clients. The course’s primary objective is to make students into specialists who can take all the essential eye care of the patients. The course also helps participants get a complete understanding of the manufacturing and production of optical aid such as contact lenses, spectacles, and a few. Therefore, the subjects and topics are included carefully to provide theoretical and practical learning to the participants.      

Moreover, the course offers tremendous job opportunities in private and government employment spaces in the country. The graduates can work in numerous settings such as primary healthcare, corporate hospitals, public hospitals, or research and academics. Moreover, running an independent optometric clinic will prove a noble option and fruitful experience. The career scope of optometry is growing with time as a problem related to vision is increasing in the country. More so, to counter and deal effectively with eye and vision-related issues, the country will need more trained Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, and Opticians. 

Some Key Highlights of the course

Bachelor of Science in Optometry Eligibility

BSc in Optometry is a healthcare course that trains students to deal with eye-related diseases and injuries. Since it is a career-oriented degree course, the students must possess the standard eligibility qualifications and requirements. To obtain the BSc optometry program, you need to fulfill the specific eligibility qualifications and requirements. Preliminary eligibility on the part of aspiring candidates includes the following:

(a) To enroll in the course, students must possess a 10+2 standard examination certificate from a deemed education board, especially the main subjects should be in the group PCM/PCB/PCMB.  

(b) Aspiring candidates must have secured the minimum marks required to get admission into the institutes. However, the minimum required marks may vary from institute to institute.

(c) It is expected to have obtained at least 50-60% of aggregate marks in the intermediate examination.

(e) Candidates appearing for 10+2 exams from the science stream can also apply for the course, but they will have to produce the certificate with at least 50% aggregate marks during the commencement of admission. 

(d) Students can take any mode of the admission process, either through the merit-based entry, entrance-based entry, or lateral entry.

(e) The candidates should have attained the age of 17 years on the commencement of admission, and there is no maximum age bar.

Popular Entrance Exams for B.Sc. in Optometry Program  

Bachelor of Science in Optometry course provides a platform for students to build extensive understandings/concepts of the science of the eye and its equipment. It is the necessity of time to have a number of specialists in the very field to prevent eye-related issues. Numerous colleges have been established in India to create professionals in the field of optometry. So, in order to provide access to the B. Optom program, institutes have formulated specific admission procedures that candidates will have to complete. One of them is qualifying in the national, state, or university-level entrance exams. Here is the list of some popular entrance exams, which students will need to clear any among them:

(a) AIIMS Entrance Exam:
(b) NEET:
(c) EYECET:
(d) JNU Entrance Exam:

(e) DU Entrance Test:
(e) CMC Entrance Exam:
(f) GCET (Goa Common Entrance Test)

Bachelor of Science in Optometry Admission Process

BSc in Optometry is a job-oriented professional course that trains students to deal with eye and vision care. Students aspiring to make a career in optometry and its related field can take up a Bachelor’s degree in Optometry. But, to study the course in any college and university, they are first required to fulfill every essential requirement and qualification set by the institutes. Students can pursue the programme either through lateral entry, merit-based entry, or entrance-based entry. Most colleges offer admission into optometry courses on the basis of a scorecard of entrance tests. There are several other colleges that also provide access to the program through merit-based entry and lateral entry. I have written down the comprehensive details of the mode of admission to give you a roadmap:

Merit-Based Entry to the Course

Students generally prefer merit-based entry to study any course. Here, students have an option to study BSc in Optometry course through the merit-based mode of admission. There are some colleges that select students through the marks secured in the higher secondary examination. So, students aspiring to study optometry discipline program through the above-mentioned mode of admission must have scored excellent in their intermediate or class 12th standard.

More so, students need to qualify for the cut-off set by the universities and institutes. When students’ names get shortlisted in the merit list, colleges/universities may call for counseling rounds or personal interviews to allocate seats to the BSc in Optometry course.

Entrance-Based Entry to the Course

(a) Students first check the colleges’ procedures of admission in which they are interested in. And, also check through which entrance exam colleges provide access to study BSc Optometry courses. 

(b) Then, visit the portal of the respective entrance exam and fill out the application form for which you will get admission into the college/universities.

(c) You really need to take the entrance exam and score well. 

(c) Getting a good score in the entrance exam is crucial to getting admission into the BSc in Optometry course.

(d) After declaring the result, colleges will shortlist suitable candidates according to their scores. When students get their names and roll numbers into the list, they will be called for further processing.

(e) Students will be called for a Personal Interview after being shortlisted. After that, colleges will ask to choose the preferred course they are interested in. Besides, they will have to produce all the original documents for verification at the time of joining. However, it may vary from university to university.

Later Entry to the Course

Lateral entry is one of the ways to get access to study BSc in Optometry course. To be precise, not every college offers admission through lateral entry, but very few colleges in India provide admission through lateral entry. Students having a diploma from a university accepted by IOA/OCI can apply for the course. Moreover, students having a two-year ophthalmic assistant course from a reputed hospital with a clinical experience of at least two years can also apply for a BSc optometry course.

BSc in Optometry Fees

Several colleges in India and around the world offer admission to study the program, but the admission procedures for every college are different. Some colleges select on the basis of an intermediate scorecard, and others provide on the basis of entrance exams. Since every institute has set various parameters to provide access to the BSc optometry course, in the same way, they will have different fee structures. The infrastructure, location of the institutions, and faculty provided by the universities are also considered for the fees of the course. Thus, the participants will pay the price for the optometry discipline according to the demand of the respective institutes. Although, the average fees structure of the BSc in Optometry program ranges from Rs.50k to 3Lacs for the entire course.

BSc in Optometry Syllabus

The carefully crafted syllabus of BSc optometry is designed to provide all the necessary knowledge and hands-on exposure to effectively deal with vision and optical-related issues. The course encompasses several vital topics and subjects which are necessarily vital to growing as a proficient optometrist. More so, it is a four-year degree course divided into eight semesters. The first six semesters are usually theory-based, so undertaken in the classroom. And the remaining two semesters are training-based, so provided in some reputed institutes. Clinical Psychology, General Anatomy and Ocular Anatomy, Geometrical Optics, Low Vision Aids, Optometric and Dispensing Optics, Pharmacology, etc., are some of the significant subjects students will have to study under the course. However, the optometry course encompasses numerous other subjects, which include the following:  

Particulars of the Bachelor of Science in Optometry Curriculum

Note- These aforementioned BSc in Optometry subjects only constitute an indicative list. The syllabus can vary from institute to institute.

BSc Optometry Jobs and Career Scope

Bachelor of Science in Optometry opens a wide range of career opportunities to the graduates. Also, the job opportunities in optometry and its related fields are increasing, and they have better career prospects. The professionals working in the field are responsible for providing the required therapeutic to the patients suffering from eye diseases and injuries. So, specialist optometrists have been in demand in the country as individuals of older age to children are suffering from eye diseases one way or another. Some of the eye-related issues an individual faces are conjunctivitis, cataracts, corneal ulcers, glaucoma, keratoconus, and a few. It is necessarily important to have trained and specialist optometrists to cater to the need for eye and optical care.

Moreover, the students who completed their bachelor’s degree in optometry can make their careers in private hospitals, government hospitals, primary healthcare, scientific research, academics, and many more. The graduates also have an option to go into a private venture and make an exciting amount. Here is the list of some popular employment spaces in India:

(a) Contact Lens Practice

(b) NGOs and blind school

(c) Low Vision clinics

(d) Public Health Units

(e) Industries/companies

(f) Personal Vision Therapy Clinics

(g) Scientific Research

(h) Eye Care Private Units

(i) Academics

(j) Diagnostics

(k) Sports Vision (check dynamic visual acuity of sports person)

Optometry is a demanding and constantly evolving healthcare profession that involves treating eye-related issues, measuring vision, prescription, and fitting contact lenses to diagnose and treat conditions of the eyes. Like other areas of health allied sciences, students who have completed their bachelor’s degree in optometry may be hired in the following career opportunities:

(a) Optician

(b) Optometrist

(c) Optometrist Research

(d) Vision Consultant

(e) Trainee Optometrist

(f) Private practitioner of Eye and Optical systems

B.Sc. Optometry Salary

BSc in Optometry is a primary healthcare course generally taken by students who have completed the intermediate examination and aspiring to pursue a career in the optometry field. The professionals working in the area are dedicated to spending their life in serving the needy. Optometrists are compensated with excellent salary packages in India and worldwide. However, the salary offered to graduates could vary depending on their employment space, skills set, Job roles, qualifications, and experiences. The BSc optometry salary in India per month could be more than 50k in the early phase. More so, the compensation could go above 16 lakh per annum depending on the job profile and the employment areas they are working.

BSc Optometry Colleges in India

• Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Kasturba Medical College)
• Shri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education
• All India Institute of Medical Science
• Institute Management Studies
• SRM Institute of Technology
• NSHM Knowledge Campus
• George Group of Colleges
• Christian Medical College
• Chitrakara University

BSc Optometry Colleges in Kerala

• MEH Health Care Institute
• Kerala University of Health Sciences – KUHS
• Al Salama College of Optometry
• Al Shifa College of Paramedical Sciences

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