Local Ophthalmology Group Hosts Continuing Education Classes for Optometrists in the Pioneer Valley
In a room filled with some of the best optometrists that Western Massachusetts has to offer, Doctors Shield, Shatz and Magauran of Eye Physicians of Northampton, settle in for an evening of informative lectures about their respective ophthalmology specialties. As attendees arrived, registered and began to mingle there was an air of excitement as they reconnected with colleagues and met new faces in the field. With 40 local eye doctors in attendance it was quite a sight to see…
“Thank you for organizing last night’s optometry event. The speakers gave very relevant information and it was nice to chat with the five eye physicians and three optometrists in your group. It was also nice to connect with many of my optometry colleagues, and of course the food and wine were great! Thank you again for a delightful evening.”
Once everyone was situated with refreshments in hand, OD’s and MD’s alike found their seats and readied themselves for the presentations, providing 3 hours of free COPE credits to attending OD’s. As a part of continuing education requirements for optometrists in the state of Massachusetts, they must to complete 18 hours of Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) continuing education credits to keep current on yearly licensure. Most continuing education offerings are held in the central or eastern part of the state, so having complementary courses right here in Western Massachusetts was a convenient change to the typical “drive to educate”.
” Thanks for offering a great COPE program! It’s nice to have such quality lectures in our backyard!”
The lectures began with Dr. David Shield discussing Glaucoma and the role of Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Sugery (MIGS). His hour long presentation provided information about new and existing glaucoma treatment options and the variations of MIGS available in conjunction with cataract surgery. These treatments and procedures are medically necessary for patients with glaucoma who may be uncontrolled with topical treatment alone or have had unsuccessful prior surgical intervention. Left under-treated or untreated completely, glaucoma patients can become legally blind with no possibility of restoring visual loss. The local optometrists asked several engaging questions after the lecture regarding post-operative care, co-management of glaucoma patients, and long term results which Dr. Shield happily answered.
Dr. Lauren Shatz took the podium next with a 60 minute lecture and Q&A on The roles of Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery and Phacoemulsification in the eradication of global cataract blindness. Discussing surgical outcomes, ease, and necessity of both surgical cataract treatments, Dr. Shatz explained how he performs both variations of cataract surgery on his patients whether it be abroad on mission trips or stateside. Volunteering to provide eye examinations and surgeries throughout the world is one of his passions, and his experiences home and abroad led to sincere discussions about how local OD’s can volunteer their time as well.
The last speaker of the evening, Dr. Raymond Magauran gave a 1 hour talk on Ptosis and Dermatochalasis Management. The newest addition to the Eye Physicians family, Dr. Magauran is an oculoplastics specialist with a background in neurophthalmology. His lecture discussed evaluation, cause and treatment of several brow and lid conditions that often require surgical intervention. The attending optometrists had several questions after his presentation which also sparked discussion about insurance prior authorizations, documentation and approval procedures which proved to be useful to many in attendance.
At the end of the evening, OD attendees received their COPE CE certifications and eagerly asked “When’s the next event?”. Feedback since has been overwhelming and Eye Physicians looks forward to hosting more continuing education events for local optometrists in the future. Partnering with local offices, co-managing patients, and sharing information that helps the providers to better understand the ophthalmic process provides for better patient care. Eye Physicians of Northampton strives to not only provide quality care and education for their patients, but for optometric providers in the community as well.
“The program last night was fun and informing. It was quite generous for the Docs at Eye Physicians to prepare and present this to the ODs in the Valley. Please do send our thanks along to the Eye Physicians Docs!”
“Thank you for the well organized program you put on for us optometrists! I can not imagine all the work, time and effort you put in to make this such a success! Looking forward to working with your office with my patients.!”
Education is not just about going to school and getting a degree. It’s about widening your knowledge and absorbing the truth about life.
Shakuntala Devi
