As with ophthalmologists, orthoptists our concerned with our eyes. Vision disorders, strabismus, amblyopia or ocular palsies are common. The spectrum is still much wider: visual impairment, nystagmus or eye-related abnormal head postures, headaches and reading disorders. The eyes are not always the cause. Also, brain damage or neurological and internal diseases affect vision and require expertise in an interdisciplinary interface. In the degree program you will learn everything about the complex visual system as well as the eye as a sensory organ and possible connections to eye diseases and vision disorders.
What we offer you
FH Campus Wien is characterised by extensive expertise and a large network. At our attractive main location you will benefit from our modern infrastructure and have the opportunity to join a professional community across disciplines. The FH Campus Wien is the only university of applied sciences in Austria to train all seven legally regulated upper-level medical-therapeutic-diagnostic professions as well as midwifery. An important partner in the areas of education, research and development is the Vienna Healthcare Association. There is also close cooperation with the Berufsverband Orthoptik Austria - for example, the annual symposium has already taken place several times at our university. A great potential lies in research projects at the crossroads of health and technology and practical relevance is guaranteed when we organize our freely accessible lecture evenings with top-class experts as part of our Campus Lectures.
What makes this degree program special
In addition to the classic orthoptic diagnosis and therapy, the profession is developing more and more towards prevention, visual rehabilitation and specialization. As a specialist, you focus on certain functional eye diseases: Like how can you help people when for example they suddenly suffer from vision disorders after accidents, strokes or tumors in the brain? Ideally, our eyes rely on instructions that are controlled by the brain. At this interdisciplinary intersection, orthoptics work together with ophthalmologists, neurologists and other health care professionals, to jointly develop strategies for therapy and rehabilitation.
In prevention as well, the need for education is still high, for example for parents. Currently, every third child between the ages of two and six are suspected of suffering from a vision disorder or eye disease. Often it is not clear that permanent damage can only be avoided if eye diseases are detected and treated in time.