Cohort Track for the Clinical Curriculum (Masterclass Series) – 2027
A full year. One cohort. One certification. The Complete Pathway Cohort takes the entire CORE 4 clinical curriculum courses — Art & Science, VT1, VT2, and VT3 — and delivers it as a single, immersive year: six three-day weekends, rotating senior faculty, hybrid hands-on training, and a small cohort you'll grow alongside. Complete the full pathway and earn your certification — built for practitioners, therapists and students ready to commit to the whole journey at once, with flexible payment and an optional in-person capstone weekend to close out the year.
What you'll learn over the year:
- Foundations & the Four Circles — the behavioral framework underlying everything that follows, plus core examination technique and a focused look at myopia management
- Chairside testing & the analytical exam — hands-on retinoscopy and diagnostic technique practiced directly with an instructor
- Binocular vision dysfunction — core vision therapy procedures, including hands-on work with the space board, binocular continuum, and prisms
- Learning-related visual problems — advanced testing and treatment for the vision issues that quietly interfere with reading and academic performance
- Strabismus & amblyopia — diagnosis and therapy that goes beyond patching, with supplemental testing and advanced therapeutic approaches
- Applied casework — real case review woven throughout, so theory is consistently tied back to what you’ll see in your own practice
By the end of the year, participants leave with the complete CORE 4 skill set and certification — not just four sets of course notes, but one integrated clinical practical foundation-built weekend by weekend.
Instructor Bios
Dr. Jeffrey J. Lant, COEP
Dr. Jeffrey J. Lant, or “Dr. JJ” as many call him, lives in Lake St. Louis with his wife, Heather, and three children, Lucy, Garrett, and Nolan. He grew up in Wyoming and then attended Brigham Young University graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. After undergraduate school, Dr. Lant and his family moved to the Memphis, TN area where he attended Southern College of Optometry. After graduation in 2012, they moved to the St. Louis area to be closer to his family.
After practicing primary eye care for several years and seeing patients that needed to be referred for Vision Therapy, Dr. Lant felt a passion for and saw a need for this service in the greater St. Charles County area. He pursued more education and training through the Optometric Extension Program and completed all their Clinical Curriculum courses. With this and previous experience and training he founded Four Circles Vision Therapy.
Dr. Lant enjoys spending time with family, watching and playing basketball, and mountain biking.
Dr. John Abbondanza, OD, COEP
Dr. Abbondanza graduated from Milford High School and from Boston College (Go Eagles!) with a degree in Psychology. He graduated with honors in the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society from the New England College of Optometry, where he was appointed Adjunct Clinical Professor of Optometry in 1991. He is a past President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists, where he was the youngest President in the almost 100-year history of the organization. Dr. John has also served on the Suffolk Superior Court Medical Malpractice Tribunal. He lectures extensively to optometrists, educators, occupational therapists, and other groups on how Behavioral Optometry helps people in their daily lives. Dr. John is also certified in Corneal Refractive Therapy, where contact lenses are used to reshape the cornea as an alternative to eyeglasses or LASIK. He is in private practice at Vision Care Specialists in Southborough with a specialization in vision related learning problems.
Dr. Virginia Donati, COEP, FOVDRA
Dr. Virginia Donati graduated from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2002 with a degree in General Sciences. She then graduated the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2006 with a citation for Clinical Excellence and the Student Award in Clinical Ethics from the American Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO).
Since that time, Dr. Donati has been involved in the ongoing process of expanding Vision Therapy in Canada. She was the founding Vice President (2014-2017) and current President of Vision Therapy Canada (VTC). The mission of Vision Therapy Canada: “As Canadian Optometrists, we are dedicated to enhancing optometric education and public awareness of Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation to improve the lives of our patients”.
Dr. Donati lectures to optometrists who are interested in learning more about Vision Therapy and is involved extensively in training of Vision Therapists. She is the lead instructor for VTC’s Practical Vision Therapist Accreditation Program (PVTAP).
Dr. Donati serves on the College of Optometrists of Ontario’s Quality Assurance Committee as an assessor of clinical records, is a clinical associate of the Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF), is involved in the “Eye See Eye Learn” program in Canada, is board certified in Vision Therapy as a Fellow in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), and is engaged in the instructor development program with the OEPF.
Dr. Jeffrey J. Lant, Dr. John Abbondanza, OD, Dr. Virginia Donati, COEP, FOVDRA
Courses Details
Length
18 Days
Continuing Education Credits
126 hours
Prerequisite
None
For
Optometrists and Therapists
Location
Hybrid either in Person or Over the internet
When
March 5th - October 17th, 2027
Six Three-Day Weekends
2027 Clinical Curriculum Cohort Weekends
• Weekend 1: March 5–7, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
• Weekend 2: April 30–May 2, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
• Weekend 3: June 11–13, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
• Weekend 4: August 20–22, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
• Weekend 5: September 17–19, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
• Weekend 6: October 15–17, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
Optional Capstone Weekend
• November 13–14, 2027 (Saturday–Sunday) — hybrid
The cohort includes six core weekends, with an optional in-person capstone weekend for cohort participants and alumni.
Course Description
A full year. One cohort. One certification.
The Complete Pathway Cohort takes the entire CORE 4 clinical curriculum courses — Art & Science, VT1, VT2, and VT3 — and delivers it as a single, immersive year: six three-day weekends, rotating senior faculty, hybrid hands-on training, and a small cohort you’ll grow alongside. Complete the full pathway and earn your certification — built for practitioners, therapists and students ready to commit to the whole journey at once, with flexible payment and an optional in-person capstone weekend to close out the year.
What you’ll learn over the year:
- Foundations & the Four Circles — the behavioral framework underlying everything that follows, plus core examination technique and a focused look at myopia management
- Chairside testing & the analytical exam — hands-on retinoscopy and diagnostic technique practiced directly with an instructor
- Binocular vision dysfunction — core vision therapy procedures, including hands-on work with the space board, binocular continuum, and prisms
- Learning-related visual problems — advanced testing and treatment for the vision issues that quietly interfere with reading and academic performance
- Strabismus & amblyopia — diagnosis and therapy that goes beyond patching, with supplemental testing and advanced therapeutic approaches
- Applied casework — real case review woven throughout, so theory is consistently tied back to what you’ll see in your own practice
By the end of the year, participants leave with the complete CORE 4 skill set and certification — not just four sets of course notes, but one integrated clinical practical foundation-built weekend by weekend.
Bio
Dr. Jeffrey J. Lant, COEP
Dr. Jeffrey J. Lant, or “Dr. JJ” as many call him, lives in Lake St. Louis with his wife, Heather, and three children, Lucy, Garrett, and Nolan. He grew up in Wyoming and then attended Brigham Young University graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. After undergraduate school, Dr. Lant and his family moved to the Memphis, TN area where he attended Southern College of Optometry. After graduation in 2012, they moved to the St. Louis area to be closer to his family.
After practicing primary eye care for several years and seeing patients that needed to be referred for Vision Therapy, Dr. Lant felt a passion for and saw a need for this service in the greater St. Charles County area. He pursued more education and training through the Optometric Extension Program and completed all their Clinical Curriculum courses. With this and previous experience and training he founded Four Circles Vision Therapy.
Dr. Lant enjoys spending time with family, watching and playing basketball, and mountain biking.
Dr. John Abbondanza, OD, COEP
Dr. Abbondanza graduated from Milford High School and from Boston College (Go Eagles!) with a degree in Psychology. He graduated with honors in the Beta Sigma Kappa International Optometric Honor Society from the New England College of Optometry, where he was appointed Adjunct Clinical Professor of Optometry in 1991. He is a past President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists, where he was the youngest President in the almost 100-year history of the organization. Dr. John has also served on the Suffolk Superior Court Medical Malpractice Tribunal. He lectures extensively to optometrists, educators, occupational therapists, and other groups on how Behavioral Optometry helps people in their daily lives. Dr. John is also certified in Corneal Refractive Therapy, where contact lenses are used to reshape the cornea as an alternative to eyeglasses or LASIK. He is in private practice at Vision Care Specialists in Southborough with a specialization in vision related learning problems.
Dr. Virginia Donati, COEP, FOVDRA
Dr. Virginia Donati graduated from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada in 2002 with a degree in General Sciences. She then graduated the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 2006 with a citation for Clinical Excellence and the Student Award in Clinical Ethics from the American Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO).
Since that time, Dr. Donati has been involved in the ongoing process of expanding Vision Therapy in Canada. She was the founding Vice President (2014-2017) and current President of Vision Therapy Canada (VTC). The mission of Vision Therapy Canada: “As Canadian Optometrists, we are dedicated to enhancing optometric education and public awareness of Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation to improve the lives of our patients”.
Dr. Donati lectures to optometrists who are interested in learning more about Vision Therapy and is involved extensively in training of Vision Therapists. She is the lead instructor for VTC’s Practical Vision Therapist Accreditation Program (PVTAP).
Dr. Donati serves on the College of Optometrists of Ontario’s Quality Assurance Committee as an assessor of clinical records, is a clinical associate of the Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEPF), is involved in the “Eye See Eye Learn” program in Canada, is board certified in Vision Therapy as a Fellow in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development (COVD), and is engaged in the instructor development program with the OEPF.
Course Schedule
Course will take place over six three-day weekends
2027 Clinical Curriculum Cohort Weekends
Core Cohort Weekends
- Weekend 1: March 5–7, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
- Weekend 2: April 30–May 2, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
- Weekend 3: June 11–13, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
- Weekend 4: August 20–22, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
- Weekend 5: September 17–19, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
- Weekend 6: October 15–17, 2027 (Friday–Sunday)
Optional Capstone Weekend
- November 13–14, 2027 (Saturday–Sunday) — hybrid
The cohort includes six core weekends, with an optional in-person capstone weekend for cohort participants and alumni.
For additional detail please call:
410 561 3791
Or email:
sherice.gainey@oepf.org
line.vreven@oepf.org
For additional educational opportunities please
contact:
line.vreven@oepf.org
Cancellation policy
We are not offering any cancellation fee at this time only voucher towards future courses with a valid cancellation reason.
Pre-Course Readings (All Attendees)
The Evolution of a Model and A Model of Vision (Read The Evolution of a Model first.) are included to introduce you to our approach to teaching. These two papers describe the process for much of what comes in the courses and we hope you understand that we instructors evolve in our thinking much like we hope you will. We hope to take you on a compressed journey through the evolution of our thinking. We will begin an area by showing you where we were at one time in our development. Then we present the unanswered questions that became the foundation for looking at things in a different way. We will then present our understandings now and include new information for where we might go in the future.
The Evolution of a Model was presented at the Skeffington Symposium in Washington DC in the early 1980’s. This paper charts the development of Paul Harris’ model of vision from what he assimilated from his years at SUNY (1975-79) until the time of the writing of the paper. Much of the change came as a result of a presentation by Dr. Robert A. Kraskin and involvement in the Washington DC based OEPF study group, the Institute for Behavioral Optometry. A Model of Vision was initially presented at the Skeffington Symposium in Washington DC and then adapted for the JOVD.
The following articles have been put in the recommended order to be read:
- Harris, Paul, “The Evolution of a Model”, Skeffington Symposium
- This paper was presented at the Skeffington Symposium in Washington DC in the early 1980’s. This paper charts the development of Paul Harris’ model of vision from what he assimilated from his years at SUNY (1975-79) until the time of the writing of the paper. Much of the change came as a result of a presentation by Dr. Robert A. Kraskin and involvement in the Washington DC based OEPF study group, the Institute for Behavioral Optometry.
- Harris, Paul, “Perspectives on Behavioral Optometry — A Model of Vision”, JOVD
- This paper was initially presented at the Skeffington Symposium in Washington DC and then adapted for the JOVD.
- Harris, Paul, “Visual Conditions of Symphony Musicians”, JAOA, Volume 59, Number 12, 12/88
- This paper describes the development of astigmatism based on the relationship between posture and vision. The most important concept in this paper is the relationship between visual conditions and what the person does in life.
- Harris, Paul, “Additional Topics to Original, Visual Conditions of Symphony Musicians”
- When the above article was written it included additional information that was edited out during the pre-publication period. This pre-reading contains this additional material in order to help make the concepts more complete.
- Harris, Paul, “The Prevalence of Visual Conditions in a Population of Juvenile Delinquents”, OEPF, Curriculum II, Volume 61, Number 4, January 1989
- This paper, while dated, is included here because the article includes fundamental discussions of the examination process including specific descriptions of the testing sequence, lighting conditions, targets, and instructional sets. The appendix of this paper was first written as a step-by-step “How-to” guide for the Optometric Center of Maryland. The paper introduces the concepts of the “Visual Virgin” and embeddedness, as well as other new topics covered in the Art and Science course.
- Williams, GJ, Kitchener G, Press LJ, Steele GT, Vision: A Collaboration of Eyes and Brain
- This paper was created jointly by the authors and was adopted by the American Optometric Association as a position paper. It is a well-documented and succinct in showing that their vision is much more than just sight and gives insight into the degree that the eyes and brain are in full partnership in helping the visual process emerge.
What Others Have to Say
Take This Course
For: Optometrists and Therapists
As an OEPF Clinical Associate, sign up for this course via your dashboard on the website. You need to sign into the website with your login to get your CA discount. For questions contact Sheric.Gainey@oepf.org
Standard
Student/Resident
- Please provide school or affiliation to the educational institute
Therapist
Post Grad (1 year)
Audit**
Faculty
- Please provide faculty affiliation