Optician is joining forces with Replay Learning to offer a series of clinical conferences for optometrists and dispensing opticians. Delegates will be able to choose from a range of lectures and seminars across four locations on topics related to everyday practice
Replay Learning Clinical Conferences are back. Regular delegates will recognise the Replay Learning format. They will be familiar with the wide choice of lectures and seminars, quality of the presentations, relevance to everyday clinical practice, relaxed atmosphere and the opportunity to network. They will also recognise the attention to detail and consideration for customer service that are the hallmarks of Replay Learning events. This year though they'll notice something new, the input of one of the biggest names in optical education - Optician.
Optician's contribution is immediately clear. Chris Hemmerdinger, winner of the 2007 Optician Award for Contribution to CET, will present 'Management of red eye by optometrists' at the first conference on Sunday September 23 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He will be joined by 2006 Optician Award finalist Ian Cameron who will talk on 'Common retinal conditions'. Subsequent conferences take place in Egham, Surrey, on Sunday, October 7, Birmingham on Sunday, October 21 and central London on Sunday, November 4.
Each conference has been carefully planned to be relevant to everyday practice. Delegates can choose from a range of lectures and seminars covering various disciplines in optometry, dispensing and contact lenses, giving them the opportunity to tailor the conference to their needs. With more than 70 lectures across the four conferences, the choice is exceptional. Lectures will be reviewed in more detail over the coming weeks, but here we present some of the highlights.
Contact lens complications
Judith Morris, Caroline Christie and Anna Sulley will present a range of cases of contact lens complications and discuss how to deal with them in practice. Peter Charlesworth and Susan Blakeney will talk on legal and ethical issues, Sally Bates will discuss progressive lens problem-solving while Duncan Counter will get up close and personal in his review of hand-made frames and personalised lenses.
Bill Harvey, Optician's clinical editor, will present a seminar session on ocular coherence tomography at Bradford and Egham. As was previously reported in Optician, OCT was one of the big interests at this year's Optrafair. Harvey will explain the advantages of this method of retinal imaging and why it is catching on so fast. At Birmingham and London, ophthalmologists Chris Brand and Nick Lee will discuss the role of nutrition in AMD, while other seminars taking place at all the venues include variable tint lens technology, retinal imaging and an update on silicone hydrogel technology.
Debating society
New for 2007 is the interactive debates format. At Bradford, David Cartwright, past president of the College of Optometrists, will lead The Great Specs Debate. Experts will put the case for and against the sale of discounted spectacles over the internet and members of the audience will be given the chance to put forward their views. Similar debates at Egham, Birmingham and London will be led by Philip Morgan from Eurolens Research and Shehzad Naroo from Aston University. They will argue the relative merits of contact lenses and refractive surgery.
This year's Replay Learning Optician Clinical Conferences are sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Optos, Essilor, Grafton Optical and Bausch & Lomb. Representatives from each company will be on hand to demonstrate their latest products and answer questions in the optical suppliers' exhibition at the conference. They will be joined by Optimed, Visioncall, Continental Eyewear, Zeiss, Orange Eyewear and Replay Learning's nominated charity Optometry Giving Sight. The exhibition will also host the ever-popular case histories poster quizzes - one quiz for optometrists and one for dispensing opticians. An Optician bookshop will feature all the latest optical titles at discounted prices and you'll have the chance to browse before you order.
Book your place
As in the past, the generous support from sponsors has been used to subsidise the delegate fees. For a limited period to the end of July, Replay Learning and Optician are offering places at each of the conferences for only £79 per person including VAT. The full cost of the conferences without sponsorship would be £165. Places can be booked by calling Replay Learning on 0870 881 0715. Or you can book online at www.replaylearning.com where you will also find more details about the content of each conference.
Commenting on the tie-up between Optician and Replay learning Chris Bennett, Optician editor said: 'Replay Learning and Optician are both major players in optical education. Both have a reputation for providing good quality education and excellent levels of customer service. Replay Learning has extensive experience in CET conference management which, combined with our knowledge of CET and the optical market, should make this year's Clinical Conferences better than ever.'
Charlesworth added: 'By joining forces with Optician we've been able to improve upon an already popular format. More than 400 people attended Replay Learning Clinical Conferences in 2007 and nearly all of them rated the day as excellent or very good. I am really excited about the conferences this year because I think we've improved again and I anticipate that demand for places will be very strong.' ?
? Visit www.replaylearning.com to book your discounted place or call 0870 881 0715.