Optometry Today

In support of #DryEyeAwarenessMonth, in partnership with Association of Optometrists and sponsored by NuVision Biotherapies Ltd, we hosted a dry-eye-themed day of educational webinars. The webinars explored contemporary management options for dry eye in clinical practice. Topics covered during the event included: 🔵 Amniotic membranes and the ocular surface, with Dr Sònia Travé-Huarte, postdoctoral researcher and optometrist Aston University 🔵 Advancing dry eye management through in-office procedures, with Connan Tam, orthoptist, IP optometrist, and director of Burnett Hodd & Tam Optometry 🔵 Opto-cosmetics for your dry eye patients, with Alison Ng PhD MCOptom FAAO an independent optometric educational and clinical research consultant and adjunct associate professor at the University of Waterloo. Missed the event? Catch up on the webinar recordings in OT's Education library ➡️ https://ow.ly/L1mK50SKNGn

It's OSCE results day! Congratulations to all the pre-reg optometrists who passed their exams. We'd also like to share a special congratulations to the contributors of our Pre-reg focus feature series Hayley Smith at Peter Ivins Eye Care and Elizabeth Shaw at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. Well done and congratulations on passing your exams. It's been a pleasure to follow you on your pre-reg journey and we wish you both the best of luck in your future career. If you'd like to read Hayley and Elizabeth's (Lizzie) pre-reg experience from the very beginning you can read all the articles in this series here: https://ow.ly/LBBm50SKmzk

Tomorrow marks #SelfCareDay. Ahead of the awareness day, we asked practitioners what one regular commitment they make to their own self-care that ensures their glass is suitably topped up. Read their insights here: https://ow.ly/XGiy50SIkFu If you're interested in health and wellbeing and inspired to make some positive changes, don't miss Dr Ian Beasley deliver an online webinar on Self-care Day (tomorrow) at 7pm, titled Eat. Sleep. Refract. Repeat. More details in the link above.

In the latest episode of our podcast, OT's Ian Beasley and Ceri Smith-Jaynes spoke to CEO of Hakim Group, Imran Hakim. We talk to Imran about his career as an optometrist, inventor and serial entrepreneur, and find out about his journey to establishing the fastest growing family of independent optometry practices in the UK and Ireland. Discover and read five things we learnt about Imran and listen to the Imran Hakim episode ➡️ https://ow.ly/94E550SEBa6 #OptometryToday #Optometry #Podcast

In partnership with Alcon, we spoke with four eye care professionals, Ian Chalmers, Kieran Minshull, Michelle Beach and David Gould about the needs of presbyopes. They share how Alcon’s two Total contact lens modalities are meeting the needs of this growing patient group. Would you like to learn more? Watch the full roundtable discussion ➡️ https://ow.ly/Ygh850SkU2Q

"No two days are ever the same, and no two patients are ever the same. It’s not just a pair of eyes sitting in front of you: they are an individual and there are many differences to consider between each patient," says Ann. Ann Pazil reflects on her journey into the profession, first years as a qualified optometrist, and being a STEP Mentor at Johnson & Johnson. Read more about her experiences here: https://ow.ly/4jev50SyXyC

Following a “landslide” general election result for The Labour Party the Association of Optometrists has called for primary care investment to be at the forefront of the new Government’s plans. Adam Sampson, chief executive of the AOP, said: “We are urging the new Government to seize the moment, to put a refocus on primary care at the heart of the health agenda.” Read our news story, with more insights from Adam, Peter Hampson, the AOP’s clinical and professional director and AOP Board member and Councillor for Yorkshire and the Humber, Nizz Sabir, here: https://ow.ly/Ufca50Sw0iJ

Looking for some optometry-focused news to read at the polling station? Or perhaps you've voted already and you're looking for some evening reading? Then we've got you covered. You can read all our #GeneralElection2024 news coverage in one place here: https://ow.ly/Iu2I50SviVG Special thanks to everyone we interviewed and for sharing your thoughts on the 2024 election. Association of Optometrists, Glaucoma UK, SpaMedica, Specsavers, Hakim Group, Leightons Opticians and Hearing Care.

After discovering a small tear in the retina which had an associated detachment, optometrist, Nikita Patel, at Bayfields Opticians and Audiologists, shares her top three tips on making an out of hours referral. 1️⃣ The first thing we're trying to do with referrals is to be as concise as possible, which is easier said than done when you're trying to involve all the relevant details, and then stating the urgency of the referral. But try to get that all into one concise letter 2️⃣ When making out of hours referrals, I always give the client a paper copy of the referral that I've made because I've found in the past that sometimes on-call ophthalmologists or staff members don't have access to the email accounts or the ways that we would normally process referrals in working hours. Feedback from previous clients is that they've found having a paper copy quite helpful 3️⃣ Chase emergency referrals to find out if the condition was what you thought it was, and finding out if the client needed treatment, so then you can add it to the record and keep everything up to date, but also just find out how things went for that person. Read the full interview with Nikita and her patient, Julie Brook here: https://ow.ly/PtbV50St4Yo

"Community Ophthalmic Link had an impact on our practice straightaway. A lot of work to upload imaging was done at the hospital, before we integrated the software in practice. Everything is on one platform, and you can see it in real-time," says Karen. We spoke to Karen Gennard, optometrist at Norville Independent Eyecare, about an ICB-commissioned software that is revolutionising digital image sharing in Gloucestershire. Read more here: https://ow.ly/sBYo50SrVnk