DOCET optom workshops to close skills gap

Advanced investigative techniques have been identified as a priority training area for optometrists by DOCET which has invested £250,000 in a series of September workshops and supporting DVDs.

The prioritisation of clinical skills reflects trends of expanding the scope of practice into shared care and co-management and the development of optometrists with special interests.

DOCET has commissioned Replay Learning to run the UK-wide series of 11 practical workshops and has also produced a supporting DVD, which will be sent out to all optometrists at the end of August. Indirect ophthalmoscopy, contact tonometry and anterior angle assessment, including gonioscopy, will all be covered.

The workshops will enable practitioners to practise the skills in small groups, under the supervision of expert tutors, who have experience of using the techniques in a day-to-day clinical setting.

Rob Hogan, chairman of the DOCET committee, said: ‘Modern optometric practice requires today’s optometrist to be proficient in a far wider range of investigative techniques than were taught at university. If we are to effectively undertake extended roles, in support of the move from secondary to primary eye care, then we all need to make every effort to gain the skills required to become confident in our abilities.’

He added that the DVD and workshops were designed to complement each other and to recognise differing learning styles. The DVD offers the theory and the workshops an opportunity to have a go.

A delegate fee of £30 includes full-colour support notes on all workshop procedures, with CET approval sought for six points per event.
To book a place on the clinical workshops, call 0870 119 0627 or visit www.docet.info