OCI-Essilor Advanced Myopia Educational Series

Uncorrected myopia is a leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide and is projected to affect 50% of the global population by 2050 as per the Brien Holden Vision Institute, an Australian not-for-profit organization for vision research and development. It is now time to engage the entire eye health community, advising them of not just the importance, but how they can manage myopia in their practice with their afflicted patients. The Optometry Council of India formed a Myopia Taskforce with Indian experts working in the Myopia control field.

OCI came up with an initiative to highlight this vital discipline which stresses myopia control and to guide an optometrist to establish a myopia control practice. Optometrists are uniquely positioned to impact the lives of all ages, genders, and ethnicities to identify and solve ocular and systemic health concerns in the community they serve. With this thoughtfully curated lecture series, OCI emphasizes the pivotal role that optometrists based in the private and public sectors can play by fostering awareness about Myopia and taking measures to control its progression, Optometrists can significantly impact the community.

OCI-Essilor Advanced Myopia Series was a 6-session series educating optometrists in Myopia control and management. The series had renowned speakers and panelists from the field sharing their views, expertise and facilitated interactive sessions. Webinars were conducted on the Zoom platform and on an average of 70 participants attended regularly. A total of 254 registered for the series, of which 232 were OCI members. Mainly Clinical optometrists, educators, and private practitioners were part of this series

The series started on 18^th February 2024, Sunday. The first session was on the Importance of Axial length in Myopia management. It was conducted by Dr. Pavan Verkicharla and was moderated by Dr. Dharani Ramamurthy. Dr. Pavan stressed the axial length significance in myopia management with some interesting case reports. It was a great session with 104 attendees. The second session was on Binocular Vision: The full picture in myopia management. Dr. Kate Gifford discussed the necessary assessments required before recommending myopia control options and shared some interesting cases with the audience. It was a very interactive session which was moderated by Dr. Rizwana Hussaindein. The third session was on Myopia management in High Myopes. It was conducted by Dr. Aparna Gopalakrishnan (Vision scientist, Essilor, Singapore) and moderated by Dr. Anuradha Narayanan. The fourth session was conducted by Dr. Jane Beeman (Euclid) on the Role of Orthokeratology in Myopia management and was moderated by Ms. Lakshmi Shinde. Mr. Yeshwant Saoji was a panelist for the session, he gave insights on orthokeratology in India. Dr. Jane very well explained the Ortho-k lens parameters, and fittings and presented interesting research articles from Euclid lenses.

The fifth session was conducted by Ms. Jong Mei Khew (Private practitioner, Singapore) on a Patient-centred approach in Myopia management on 17^th March 2024. She illustrated the topic through relevant cases which were well-received by the audience. The session was moderated by Ms. Lakshmi Shinde.

The sixth and the concluding session of the Adv. Myopia series was a Panel discussion on Patient examination protocols. Dr. Pavan Verkicharla, Dr. Rizwana, Dr. Anuradha, Mr. Yeshwant Saoji and Ms. Lakshmi Shinde were part of the Panel discussion. It was a very interactive session as the entire Myopia Taskforce was present to answer the queries.

Overall, it was a very informative series with all the eminent speakers and panelists from the field. Limited access to the recordings was given to the participants and an assessment was sent after that. In the assessment, OCI has issued 89 Certificates to the participants who have achieved a passing grade of 50% or higher. OCI extends its gratitude to Essilor for their collaboration and to all the speakers and panelists for their participation in this series.

The objective of the series was to create awareness, and understanding and to promote Myopia control and management among practitioners and students. The participant’s feedback indicates that OCI has effectively achieved its objectives.

The OCI-Essilor Advance Myopia series will be available for interested optometry professionals for a minimal fee. OCI is working intensely to establish  & maintain high standards of optometry education & for recognition of optometry qualifications in India. Through educational series like this, OCI intends to give an opportunity to optometry professionals to upgrade themselves and equip themselves with essential diagnostic techniques to enhance their daily optometry practice.