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Steps to improve contact lens education encouraging
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PHILADELPHIA — Imagine an informal setting where optometric students and contact lens practitioners meet to discuss grand rounds, journal articles or a specific contact lens-related topic. Breaking bread together is something that several recently formed contact lens clubs are doing in an effort to bolster student education in the area of contact lenses.
"It's an attempt to get students in a more social atmosphere," said Ken M. Daniels, OD, director of contact lens research and assistant clinical professor of optometry at Pennsylvania College of Optometry here. "It really creates a camaraderie between the student, faculty and practicing clinician."
Clubs are asked to meet at least once a quarter, said Dr. Daniels, chair of the student membership committee sponsored by the American Optometric Association Contact Lens Section. Corporate partners are also invited to participate.
With so many topics vying for the attention of the optometric student — ocular disease, clinical medicine, pediatrics — contact lens education is given less educational time than in previous years. The clubs coordinated by the institutions supplement the educational process.
Corporate assistance
The major manufacturers run on-site programs to supplement student education. "They provide products, seminars and didactic workshops," Dr. Daniels noted. One company (Vistakon) recently introduced a contact lens handbook that addresses complications. Another firm (Ciba Vision) sponsors student subscriptions to a trade publication. There are also corporate-sponsored award programs to encourage research in contact lenses, such as the Excellence Award from Wesley Jessen.
Dr. Daniels tries to interest students not only as study subjects but as research assistants. "As they gain that experience, they are jumping leaps and bounds ahead of their classmates," he said.
At Pennsylvania College of Optometry, during the fourth year, students have the opportunity to apply for a quarterly externship that is contact lens-related, in addition to other areas of primary care, ocular disease, low vision and pediatrics. "It is really getting the profession itself to encourage the students to observe fittings and appreciate the philosophy of fitting," Dr. Daniels said.
Overall, student involvement in contact lenses stems from the teachers, corporate sponsors and the profession itself. "They need to come in and tell the students that this is really worth their time," said Dr. Daniels. Students often perceive contact lenses as being an arduous specialty.
"There is the fear factor. Contacts are sometimes presented as difficult and time and labor intensive. But the mechanics of contact lenses are not that difficult," he added, "if presented in the appropriate manner encouraging experience with a variety of modalities."
Patient fittings
The Rigid Gas Permeable Lens Institute (RGPLI), which is the educational arm of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association, visits optometric schools. "We spend a day with the students," said Sue Connelly, an advisory panel member of the RGPLI. "The morning is didactic lectures, then in the afternoon it's hands-on with real patients. The students rotate among eight different stations, ranging from spherical rigid lens fitting to keratoconus lens fitting."
During these visits, Ms. Connelly finds that "students are hungry for contact lens information. They are starving for it. They are pulled in so many directions nowadays with their curriculum that they don't seem to get enough of contact lens fitting.
"I am concerned that if students don't receive the proper education, after a few difficult fittings they will quit or may assume that because they have graduated they should know everything, so they're not willing to ask for help," she said.
It is naive for a student to think his or her contact lens education stops upon graduation, Ms. Connelly said. "We spend years and years continuing to grow and become better. The contact lens field changes so rapidly. You really do need to stay on top of it through continuing education."
She said schools should not be reluctant to contact professional societies. "There are many organizations that would be thrilled to host seminars and help students with hands-on fitting."
Uniform education
Zoraida M. Fiol-Silva, MD, is president-elect of the Contact Lens Association of Ophthalmologists (CLAO) and director of the contact lens department at Wills Eye Hospital here. The association strives to provide uniform contact lens education for a wide variety of eye care professionals — assistants, technicians, ODs and MDs.
"There are more publications being circulated that try to address contact lens education," Dr. Fiol-Silva noted. CLAO itself publishes a textbook — now in its third edition — covering basic science and clinical practice, and a pocket guide.
A recent ambitious CLAO project is a model curriculum that has been distributed to all the contact lens residency programs. The curriculum includes a book, videos, slides and references.
"It was developed in an effort to not only stimulate interest but to create more uniformity in the approach of resident education in contact lenses," Dr. Fiol-Silva said.
The curriculum is also available to practitioners who have yet to become involved with lens fitting and patient care.
CLAO encourages optometric students to attend its annual meeting and participate. The society sponsors 1-day regional contact lens fitting courses.
"We have approximately 15 of those a year. They have been well received," Dr. Fiol-Silva added. This year, the course has expanded to international sites, including Brazil and Cancun. A course on practice management has also been introduced.
"As educators, we should be stressing to students that contact lenses are fun to do," said Dr. Daniels. "We can develop a positive and friendly relationship with our patients." He also said that it can be a profitable endeavor and a practice-builder.
For Your Information:
- Ken M. Daniels, OD, is director of contact lens research and assistant clinical professor of optometry at Pennsylvania College of Optometry, 1200 West Godfrey Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19141-3399; (215) 276-6104; fax: (215) 276-1329. Dr. Daniels has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article, nor is he a paid consultant for any company mentioned.
- Sue Connelly is the educational consultant for the Contact Lens Society of America, 14388 Embry Court, Apple Valley, MN 55124; (612) 993-1824; fax: (612) 423-2123; e-mail: slconnelly@aol.com. Ms. Connelly has no direct financial interest in the products mentioned in this article, nor is she a paid consultant for any company mentioned.
- Zoraida M. Fiol-Silva, MD, is director of the contact lens department at Wills Eye Hospital, 900 Walnut St., Philadelphia, PA 19107; (215) 928-3182; fax: (215) 928-3453. Dr. Fiol-Silva has no direct financial interest in the products mentioned in this article, nor is a paid consultant for any company mentioned.