Seminar focuses on CET

Now in its fourth year, the conference, organised by Specsavers Opticians' Professional Advancement Committee, will take place at the Birmingham International Convention Centre , and is open to all practitioners regardless of whether or not they work for Specsavers. Feedback from last year's event enabled the organisers to identify areas practitioners wanted to explore in this year's conference. They are: managing children's vision problems, understanding visual field plots, optometric use of therapeutic drugs, ocular side effects of systemic drugs, diagnosing ocular tumours, and contact lens problem solving. Speakers from both optometry and ophthalmology will take part, including Simon Barnard, Paul Adler, Graeme Young and Donald Cameron of Optometric Educators, and ophthalmologist David Gartry. Typically 500 practitioners attend the event, which is worth 7.5 credits towards the College of Optometrists' CET scheme. Claimed to be the largest one-day clinical conference in the UK, this year will see the programme extended to include additional lectures and a choice of optional 'hands-on' workshops. Several of these presentations will also feature an alternative perspective from a 'leading ophthalmologist'. Additionally, practitioners will be able to pit their clinical knowledge against their peers in a 'challenge' event. Tickets are &\#163;60 for optometrists and dispensing opticians, and &\#163;40 for pre-registration students . Participation in each workshop costs between &\#163;15-&\#163;25.