Professional Certificate in Medical Retina

This course provides you with the opportunity to expand your knowledge of common medical retina conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other vascular/retinal disorders.

The course addresses the diagnosis, referral and management of these conditions and uses a blended learning approach. There will be a series of online lectures available prior to you attending two full online workshop days with us at City, taught by leading clinical experts in the field. Please note the assessment for this course is face-to-face at our Northampton Square campus.

Who is it for?

This course is for optometrists wishing to develop their professional skills in diagnosis and management of retinal disease. It may also be suitable for other healthcare professionals that have advanced healthcare roles in hospital optometry.

Timetable

Please note; students will need to complete a series of distance learning lectures prior to the first teaching day.

*Term 2 - 2026/7 Provisional dates*

Nov: Thursday 26 November 2026.
(Module materials go live on Moodle, from this date onwards you will have access to the online materials)

Online Teaching (January 2027);

Teaching Day 1:
13 January 2027 or 14 January 2027
(depending on your allocated group) 
Teaching Day 2:
21 January 2027 or 29 January 2027
(depending on your allocated group)

On Campus Assessments at the University (April 2027):
Written Exam and OSCE: 26 or 27 April 2027
(depending on your allocated group)

*Term 3 - 2026/7 Provisional dates*

May: Wednesday 5 May 2027.
(Module materials go live on Moodle, from this date onwards you will have access to the online materials)

Online Teaching (May 2027);

Teaching Day 1:
23 June 2027 or 24 June 2027
(depending on your allocated group) 
Teaching Day 2:
1 July 2027 or 9 July 2027
(depending on your allocated group)

On Campus Assessments at the University (September 2027):
Written Exam and OSCE: 1 or 2 September 2027
(depending on your allocated group)

Benefits

This course is accredited by the College of Optometrists, and upon successful completion, participants are awarded a Professional Certificate in Medical Retina.

This short course module is designed to be flexible in allowing you to study and reach your goals at your own pace. Our health CPD courses are credit-bearing modules that contribute to a University degree or award.

Transfer course credits towards postgraduate taught degree

As a health care professional, once you've completed this course you could offset 15 credits as part of a postgraduate programme, continuing your study with further modules to make up a Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) 60 credits, Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) 120 credits or Master of Science (MSc) 180 credits qualification (all credits must be awarded within five years of study commencing).

Content outline

This course will provide you with knowledge of common medical retina conditions, enabling accurate and appropriate referral decisions.

On this course you will learn about:

the physiology and anatomy of the healthy retina

• communication with patients
• the pathophysiology, risk factors, and differential diagnosis of retinal and macular pathology
• current treatments of medical retina disorders
• OCT imaging and fundus photography in the healthy eye and in ocular pathology
• fluorescein angiography, ICG angiography and autofluorescence imaging in the healthy eye and in pathology
• national diabetic retinopathy screening programmes
• diabetes, its classification, risk factors, and associated ocular complications, with an emphasis on the relevance to retinopathy screening
• demonstrate an in-depth understanding of diabetes and its relevance to diabetic retinopathy screening
• demonstrate a critical awareness of current national referral guidelines and a detailed knowledge of local referral pathways.

By the end of the course you will be able to:

• Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology of the retina, with emphasis on the macula
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the risk factors and differential diagnosis of disorders of the retina and macular pathology
• Demonstrate a critical understanding of treatments of medical retina disorders, including the patient’s response to treatment
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of the use of fluorescein, ICG angiography, and autofluorescence
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the principles, processes and protocols of national diabetic retinopathy screening programmes
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of diabetes and its relevance to diabetic retinopathy screening · Demonstrate a critical awareness of current national referral guidelines and a detailed knowledge of local referral pathways
• Demonstrate a critical awareness of the rapidly evolving nature of medical retinal treatments, including pertinent treatment trials
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of current guidelines for management of MR disorders.

Skills:

• Show an ability to communicate effectively with patients
• Show an advanced ability to critically interpret OCT images and fundus photographs for AMD and diabetic retinopathy, with appropriate patient management
• Show an expert ability to detect and classify diabetic retinal disease
• Show a comprehensive ability to recognise acute retinal pathology, conduct appropriate tests and make appropriate referrals, clearly stating the level of urgency.

Teaching

This course consists of two online workshop days. You’ll receive access to all the online reading and lectures approximately four weeks before your first workshop.

The workshops consist of lectures, practical work and case discussions.

Assessment

The assessment takes place approximately 8 weeks after the final teaching day.

It consists of a written assessment (three hours) and Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (one hour)

The written assessment consists of:

• MCQs
• Patient Management Case Scenarios
• Visual Recognition & Identification of Clinical Signs (VRICS)

The practical assessment consists of:

• 6 OSCE stations

Award

This course is worth 15 credits and can be taken as part of the MSc in Clinical Optometry/MSc in Advanced Ophthalmic Nurse Practitioner (Advanced Practice in Health and Social Care).

After passing the course optometrists will also receive a Professional Certificate in Medical Retina from the College of Optometrists.

This course is provided by the School of Health & Medical Sciences.

Credits

This course is worth 15 credits toward eligible programmes.

Course requirements:

• You should be a UK GOC registered optometrist satisfying all legal requirements to be eligible to practise in the UK
• Other healthcare professionals in the field of ophthalmology and overseas optometrists/eye care practitioners will be accepted on an ad-hoc basis providing your undergraduate syllabus and current clinical responsibilities are similar to those of a UK optometrist/medical practitioner.

English requirements

If your first language is not English, one of the following is required:

• A first degree from a UK university
• A first degree from an overseas institution recognised by City, University of London as providing adequate evidence of proficiency in the English language, for example, from institutions from Australia, Canada or the United States of America.
• International English Language Test Service (IELTS) a score of 7.0 is required with no subtest below 7.0
• Pearson Test of English (Academic) score 72 required
• TOEFL 100 overall with 24 in Writing, 20 in Listening, 19 Reading and 20 Speaking
• Other evidence of proficiency in the English language, which satisfies the board of studies concerned, including registration with your professional regulator.

Recommended reading material will be suggested during the face-to-face teaching.