“This year’s program offers more than 320 hours of education covering everything from diagnostic testing and equipment and surgical treatment to inventory management, specialty lenses and staff development,” said Mark Dunbar, OD, co-chairman, conference advisory board. “Vision Expo offers the unique opportunity to enhance your knowledge in these core areas to expand the quality and consistency of care for your patients.”
New for 2017 is a scleral lens track that will offer six hours of CE credit. This includes a comprehensive discussion of the fitting and evaluation of scleral lenses and a hands-on workshop. Topics will include lens designs, overall fitting philosophy, the comprehensive fitting process, scleral lens modifications, problem solving, lens ordering and more.
Another highlight for VEE 2017 are Blue Light Sessions, in which blue light basics, both indoors and outdoors, as well as the latest research findings will be discussed.
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| Dr. Scot Morris kicked off last year’s Global Contact Lens Forum by moderating a leadership panel. |
Budget-Friendly Learning
This year’s VEE, which will be held from March 30 to April 2 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, is offering plenty of opportunities for free education. Start planning your clinical education at VEE with some of the following courses:Global Contact Lens Forum: Attend this forum to earn four hours of free CE credit and gain insight into current issues optometrists face as contact lens practitioners. Thought leaders in the profession will share their views on the future of the contact lens practice. Courses will include “State of the Contact Lens Industry in 2017—Things to Come...R&D and Developing Technologies,” “Evidence Based Eye Care and Clinical Practice: A Review of Research in Clinical Practice,” and “Contact Lens Practice Settings—A Spectrum of Opportunity.”
Ocular Surface Disease and Wellness Symposium: Offering three hours of free CE credit, this symposium will focus on why an optometry practice should mirror a preventative care model. Attendees will gain expertise in recognizing dry eye diseases and clinical aspects of the ocular surface from diagnosis to treatment to help them expand the quality and consistency of patient care. A featured course will be “The Dry Eye Institute: The ‘WHY’ and the Integrated Health Care Model,” presented by Jack Schaeffer, OD, Paul Karpecki, OD, Marc Bloomenstein, OD, and Richard Adler, MD. The four doctors will also team up to present “Ocular Surface Disease: The Diagnosis, Treatment, and the Clinical Aspects of Ocular Surface Disease.”
Vision Series for 2017: Grab a bite to eat and continue your learning over lunch. A total of five CE credit hours will be available for this new series. Courses currently on deck include “Ocular Allergy Update” by Arthur Epstein, OD, “Innovation in Contact Lenses” by Ian Ben Gaddie, OD, and Gina Wesley, OD, as well as “Building Your Practice with OCT” and “Diabetic Eye Disease Diagnosis and Management Strategies for Patients,” both by Dr. Dunbar and Rishi Singh, MD.
Free Google Talks: Join your fellow ODs in the Marketing Stadium to hear from Google experts on how search engine marketing will grow your eye care business and build a digital strategy to attract patients.
Free Classes in the Medical & Scientific Theater: Learn about the latest in cornea, eye care analytics and dry eye management during this series of free sessions. Courses include: “Corneal Cross-Linking in the US: What You Need to Know,” by Clark Chang, OD, Paul Karpecki, OD, Alexandra Nicklin, OD, and Grace Lytle, OD; “21st Century Grand Rounds: Eye Care Analytics—Improving Your Patient’s Visual Outcomes,” presented by Thomas A. Wong, OD, director of new technologies, SUNY Optometry; and “A Contemporary Approach to Dry Eye Management: Secrets of Practice Success” by Arthur Epstein, OD.
Update Your Optical Shop
VEE will also offer 18 hours of CE credit during its retail program. “Vision Expo is a true fashion destination for opticians and buyers to look, touch and immerse themselves in a world of options to keep them competitive in today’s retail landscape,” says Dr. Gaddie, co-chairman of the Conference Advisory Board.Pathology in Practice
As co-chairs, Drs. Dunbar and Gaddie have offered up their own personal “Chairmen’s Top Picks” you won’t want to miss:Headache Applications for Optometric Practice: This course, presented by Bradley Sutton, OD, will cover different types of headaches arising from various etiologies. Dr. Sutton will emphasize headache disorders that can present to your optometric practice. Topics will include migraines, cluster headaches, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, temporomandibular joint syndrome, meningitis, tension headaches, hypertensive headaches, stroke-related headaches and cranial neuralgias.
We Can Save Vision—Understanding of the Corneal Shape and Mechanics in Keratoconus: If you’re still diagnosing keratoconus by waiting to see the “red spot” on your topography, then you need to attend this course. Corneal mapping technology is rapidly evolving, and landmark peer-reviewed studies have redefined how doctors evaluate the cornea and corneal shape. New corneal biomechanical evaluation devices can predict who is more likely to develop keratoconus and keratoectasia. Come and learn from experts Barry Eiden, OD, and Andrew Morgenstern, OD, how to evaluate and treat this all-too-common disease.
Glaucoma Pearls and Grand Rounds: Take a look at a series of glaucoma cases and learn about important issues related to the disease. Murray Fingeret, OD, Michael Chaglasian, OD, and Robert Wooldridge, OD, will present patient information, photographs, OCT images and visual fields to illustrate when therapy is indicated, when to modify therapy and signs that glaucoma is progressing.
Intrepid Talks: Members of The Intrepid Eye Society—thought leaders with the goal of promoting excellence and growth in the field—share on topics related to future medical therapeutics, care delivery platforms, diagnostics, collaborative care models, practice development and more. Drs. Dunbar and Gaddie are particularly interested in “Mode of Practice Options for Optometrists,” moderated by Michael Cooper, OD, and Mark Schaeffer, OD, and with panelists Justin Schweitzer, OD, Melissa Barnett, OD, Leslie O’Dell, OD, and Whitney Hauser, OD.
Oculoplastic and Aesthetic Eye Care in an Optometric Practice—Opportunity Abounds! Learn about a variety of surgical options such as blepharoplasty, eyelid bag repair, dermal fillers, Botox and more. Moderator Louise Sclafani, OD, and panelists Dr. Eiden, Walter Whitley, OD, and Kathleen Albrecht, MD, will share their own clinical experiences in bringing aesthetic eye care services to the optometric practice.
What Would Larry Do? As a tribute to a pioneer in optometric education, specifically the posterior segment, this lecture will feature enigmatic cases and offer logical, pragmatic approaches to solving them, just like Larry Alexander, OD, would. Leo Semes, OD, Scot Morris, OD, and Jeffry Gerson, OD, will present.
I’m Right—He’s Crazy: Diabetes and AMD from the Trenches—Part 1: Get a better understanding of practical strategies for patients with diabetes. This course will start by covering the biology underlying diabetes. The discussion will then turn to the actual systemic disease and finish with ocular disease. Paul Chous, OD, and Dr. Gerson will present.
I’m Right—He’s Crazy: Diabetes and AMD from the Trenches—Part 2: Drs. Chous and Gerson will team up again to use both science and case examples to help attendees gain a more solid grasp on practical strategies for patients with AMD. Diagnostic technologies, treatment options and case examples of AMD will all be explored.
For more information or to register for VEE, go to http://east.visionexpo.com.
