by Korinne Andrew
The SpecialEyes Educational Program offers an introduction to custom soft contact lenses, as well as a hands-on fitting opportunity for optometry students. This is a fantastic experience for students who will soon be seeing hard-to- fit contact lens patients in their own practice. Upon accepting my new position as the SpecialEyes Product Specialist, I had the pleasure of attending one of SpecialEyes’ Educational Programs.
The first portion of the program featured a dynamic presentation given by Dr. Matt Lampa, OD, FAAO. During this presentation, students became familiar with the indications, process and parameters to consider when designing and prescribing custom toric contact lenses. Dr. Lampa did a fantastic job tailoring the lecture and fielding the student’s questions. He truly engaged the students by discussing multiple case studies in which custom soft contact lenses were the perfect solution. By the end of the presentation, students were left with the realization that the hard-to-fit patient is both personally rewarding and profitable.
Prior to our visit, the students had taken each other’s K readings, spectacle Rx and HVID and submitted their information to the SpecialEyes Team to order trial lenses. After the presentation, the students received their lenses, broke into groups and headed to the exam lanes. The students then took turns evaluating each other’s lenses based on overall fit, vision and comfort, just like they would in their own practice. Dr. Lampa and the SpecialEyes team were there to assist the students in troubleshooting and the reordering of the lenses.
This half of the program truly reinforced the concepts discussed in the earlier presentation. For example, one of the students presented with a microcornea based on an 11.0 HVID measurement. Upon trying her SpecialEyes custom toric contact lenses, she produced a visual acuity of 20/15 and described her comfort as excellent. She has never been able to wear stock toric contact lenses successfully and was thrilled that she and other patients like her have a soft contact lens option. She was even more excited to learn that SpecialEyes would provide a complimentary annual supply of lenses for any student who is successful in our lenses. As the evening came to a close, many of the students commented on how much they enjoyed the experience.
The SpecialEyes Educational Program is a comprehensive and customizable addition to an optometry student’s curriculum. If you are interested in learning more about the SpecialEyes educational program, please contact Korinne Ladyzhensky at 941-757-4148.
Korinne Andrew
Korinne Andrew is the Lead Consultant and Customer Service Manager at SpecialEyes. She has been with the company since 2012 and has developed a keen knowledge of the company’s products as well as expertise in fitting custom toric, sphere, and multifocal contact lenses.