CHENNAI: The Elite School of Optometry is the only institution in the country which has a four-year doctorate course,” said V Vaidyanathan, board member, Medical Research Foundation.
He was the chief guest for the 30th graduation ceremony of the Elite School of Optometry (ESO), which was held at Sri VD Auditorium on Saturday. Eight students received PhD degree, 32 received Bachelor of Optometry degree, and award for the Best Optometry of the year 2017 and ESO awards were distributed. R Aishwarya, Bachelor of Optometry, received the award for the Best Outgoing Student of the Year 2018. Almost half of the undergraduates were female.
Candidates who completed the Doctor of Philosophy programme conducted by Vidyasagar Institute of Biomedical Technology and Science (VIBES), also received their degree. VIBES is a unit of Medical Research Foundation which conducts this programme in collaboration with Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani; The Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai; SASTRA University, Thanjavur; and Deakin University, Australia. The Bachelor of Optometry courses is conducted by Elite School of Optometry along with Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, and SASTRA University, Thanjavur.
Vaidyanathan said, “Nowadays students get a lot of knowledge via Google. One of my friends reframed the phrase mata, pita, guru, deivam, as mata, pita, Google, deivam. They should work hard, respect other professionals and serve the society.”Dr S Meenakshi, director, academics, Medical Research Foundation; TS Surendran, vice chairman, Medical Research Foundation were also present.