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Consider treatment advice from peers
It is a scenario we all know well – an octogenarian, accompanied by her daughter, comes in for an annual exam. You have provided her care through the years, initially for something as simple as presbyopia. More recently, it has been for cataract comanagement and chronic ocular surface disease. All in all, you have always effectively addressed her needs.
 Michael D. DePaolis |
Now, she comes to you with another request and hope – that you can do something about her advancing age-related macular degeneration. After all, you have always been the one with a solution.
Diversity is one of the truly remarkable aspects of what we do. On one hand, we are generalists providing primary eye care services to a wide demographic. On the other hand, we are very much specialists, rendering complex care to contact lens and macular degeneration patients alike. While it may be by necessity rather than choice, we provide an array of far-reaching services. After all, it is what our patients have come to expect from us.
While providing such care is gratifying, it is also quite challenging. Staying abreast of innovative management strategies, given the spectrum of services we provide, can be overwhelming at times. It is natural to question our practices, to wonder whether a time tested treatment protocol is still the best approach … or where to go should an initial therapy fail.
As a publication, Primary Care Optometry News has always embraced this challenge. Our goal remains simple – provide a venue for disseminating peer-to-peer knowledge in a timely, concise fashion. While there are many ways in which to deliver editorial, one of our most popular formats is the “At Issue” column.
“At Issue” presents a well defined, albeit challenging, clinical case for consideration. We ask a handful of expert peers to weigh in, offering their advice in managing the case at hand.
We often find this venue provides an element of controversy, as there can be multiple approaches to successfully managing a specific disease. We also find a general consensus as the underlying rationale for treatment is consistent across the spectrum of responses. Perhaps, most importantly, we find “At Issue” is time well spent, as it provides a better understanding of the condition, validates certain treatment strategies and fosters new approaches.
This month’s “At Issue” tackles the aforementioned patient. While her request is a modest one, the solution may not be so simple. However, thanks to our “experts,” the treatment strategies are varied, creative and – most importantly – effective. I hope you take the time to read this, and future, “At Issues.” I am confident you will find it time well spent. I know I always do.