With summer break over and school back in session, those of us who are parents are settling into our regular daily home, school, and work routines. And while that might not sound so exciting, there is something to look forward to this time of year—besides the holidays and the start of football season—and that’s fall conference season!
Sure, there are many great online and virtual continuing education opportunities, but the ability to attend live meetings and sit and connect with colleagues and industry face-to-face is second to none. These live conferences are great opportunities to pick up some cutting-edge clinical pearls, find ways to invest in your practice, and network with colleagues both old and new. It was great to connect with so many of you at Vision Expo West (VEW) in Las Vegas and MOD Live in NashVegas!
If you haven’t been to VEW, we suggest you plan on attending next year to get the true OD Vegas experience. One of the highlights of the meeting was the session, “The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Practical Applications in Eyecare Today,” which was moderated by our good friend, Scot Morris, OD, with several panelists giving a glimpse of what is to come and discussing how to embrace AI in clinical practice.
As for MOD Live, you may call us biased, but this year’s meeting was the best yet! This event continues to grow and improve. The interactive education with numerous OD/MD panel discussions is one aspect that sets this meeting apart. No topic is off limits, and we covered the full spectrum of medical eye care, from clinical skills, to innovations, to pipeline pharmaceuticals, to treatments. The highlight of the meeting this year was the panel discussion on future innovations, which gave our industry colleagues an opportunity to present and discuss the unmet needs in eye care and the future landscape of the profession from the perspective of their companies—as well as from an optometric perspective. Thank you to all who attended. We can’t wait to see you next year!
The cover focus of this issue of Modern Optometry is the cornea and anterior segment, and we provide numerous clinical pearls and innovations to benefit patients. A hot topic in the anterior segment is neurotrophic keratitis (NK) and recalcitrant dry eye, which are a challenge to treat and manage. If you want to learn about emerging regenerative therapies to potentially treat these conditions, Noa Robson, OD, MBA, has you covered. Some may have heard about the role of topical insulin for the treatment of NK. Alex Hynes, OD, FAAO, presents a literature review on the topic, with a discussion of current studies and outcomes. We can’t forget the importance of medically necessary contact lenses. Whether you specialize in fitting these lenses or refer patients to our colleagues who do, this is an underutilized and underreferred specialty. Alyssa Panagos, OD, FAAO, shares some pearls on where to start. These are just a few of the articles featured on the topic, so dive into this issue, enjoy, and hopefully take away a few helpful insights!
We hope to see you soon in Indianapolis for AAOpt!
— Walter O. Whitley, OD, MBA, FAAO
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