Scholarship Alert – HOYA Vision Care 3rd and 4th Year Scholarship

April 25, 2012

All currently-enrolled Optometry Students are invited to participate in the Grant and Scholarship ePoster program. To enter, students will use a HOYA product to solve a patient problem in the Clinic, and create a case study with a PowerPoint presentation.

HOYA will award a $1000 Grant for the winning ePoster at each participating Optometry School. All School Grant winners will receive a trip to the AOA meeting in Chicago that include:

  • Airfare
  • Baggage Fees
  • Transfers to the hotel and back to the airport
  • Room at the Palmer House (a Hilton Property)
  • Meeting Registration
  • $200 VISA gift card
  • 16GB iPad 3 WiFi

A grand prize winner will be selected from the School Grant winners, and will be awarded a $6000 scholarship, to be awarded at the HOYA Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 29th at 12 noon at McCormick Place.

The ePoster must be submitted on-line, by May 15, 2012.  The Grant winners from each school will be notified by June 10, 2012.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL PDF FILE HERE

MORE DETAILS HERE

Scholarship Alert – Antoinette M. Molinari Memorial Scholarship $6,000

The American Optometric Foundation is offering the Antoinette M. Molinari Memorial Scholarship. The deadline to complete the application is June 22nd 2012. The following is some information obtained from the scholarship site which can be found here: http://www.aaopt.org/aof/scholarship/molinari/

 

Purpose

The Antoinette M. Molinari Scholarship was set up to assist an exceptional student who has extraordinary financial needs and, as such, would have difficulty meeting the financial requirements of attending optometry school. Financial need is a major criteria for selection, but academic and leadership potential are also important considerations.

Award

One scholarship of $6,000 will be awarded for the academic year. The award is made to the institution, who credits the scholarship to the student. The scholarship rotates among the North American schools and colleges of optometry. To see if your school is eligible for this year,  review the list below.

Eligibility

This scholarship is open to students holding a first through third year status currently enrolled in an accredited optometry program. Eligible applicants are students pursuing a Doctorate of Optometry through a full-time course of study in and who maintain a grade point average of 3.5 (4 point scale) or higher for all course work taken thus far in optometry school. This scholarship is not open to residents, post-doctoral applicants or pre-Optometry students.

Application and Review Procedures

The AOF informs the institutions designated for the current year’s program that it may seek candidates. The application form may be downloaded and shared with potential candidates. Students are asked to complete the application, contact the appropriate individuals for references, authorize the release of an official transcript and write a one page statement describing their education and career objectives.

The attending institution is responsible for reviewing the application for content, providing supportive authorization and transmitting the materials to the Foundation by the deadline.

The Molinari Family, in collaboration with a designated review committee, will select the scholarship recipient based on financial need, academic and leadership potential.

AOA Influences IRS to Re-Evaluate Terminology

The IRS after pressure from the AOA has decided to remove discriminatory references to doctors of optometry in its annual tax guideline documentation. Previously, the IRS referred to eye doctors as solely ophthalmologists and referenced optometrists as a separate entity; however, now, the IRS will include optometrists in it’s inclusion of eye doctors as well. Dr. Jordan of the AOA composed a letter to IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman drawing attention to the fact that optometrists are licensed by state authorities as eye doctors to manage, treat, and diagnose disorders and disease of the eye, visual pathways and associated structures.

By: Antonio Chirumbolo, Content Coordinator, SUNY 2013

New President Named to Lead Appalachian College of Optometry

April 24, 2012

Brian D. Looney, OD has been named founding president of the emerging Appalachian College of Optometry. The new optometry school is currently working towards accreditation and expects to admit students to the program beginning in Fall of 2014. Looney graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Optometry in 1996 and completed a residency at the Maryland VA Health System with emphasis in ocular disease. He currently operates a private practice in his hometown of Grundy and serves as assistant professor at the Appalachian College of Pharmacy, staff optometrist at Keen Mountain Correctional Center in Oakwood, and serves as an affiliate optometrist at TLC Laser Center in Johnson City.

By: Antonio Chirumbolo, Content Coordinator, SUNY 2013

AOA Advocacy Week, Students Show Strength In Numbers

April 12, 2012

April 11th 2012 - A new record was set last week as students and OD’s stormed Capitol Hill. There were nearly 700 total representatives, including more than 300 students. Many thanks to the students and ODs in Washington DC who took an active approach to help bring optometry to the forefront of new legislative battles surrounding the profession. Keep up the great work!

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL NORA MULTI-DISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE!

April 4, 2012

TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL NORA MULTI-DISCIPLINARY CONFERENCE!

The 21st Annual NORA Multi-disciplinary Conference is right around the corner on Thursday April 19th, to Sunday April 22, 2012. This year’s meeting is taking place at University of Memphis, Holiday Inn, 3700 Central Ave, Memphis, TN 38111. Be sure to attend the conference and take advantage of this great opportunity to learn a wealth of knowledge pertaining to neurologic rehabilitation. NORA (Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association) is a group of individuals from many different disciplines committed towards providing rehabilitation for the neurologically challenged patient including those who have suffered stroke, brain injuries, and other neurological complications.

The conference will provide as an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of neuro-optometry and its effective role in remediating this particular patients.

Be sure to read more information regarding this event!

Download Here - NORA 2012 Brochure – 1-11-12

OS Team Member; Stefania Paniccia Get’s Article Published in Review of Optometry

March 29, 2012

OS Team Member, Stefania Paniccia was recently recognized by Review of Optometry for her article on OptometryStudents.com and got a chance to publish an article in their magazine! Congratulations to Stefania, keep up the great work.

Tafluprost – FDA Approved to Treat Glaucoma

February 15, 2012

By: Antonio Chirumbolo SUNY 2013

February 15th 2013- The FDA has approved Zioptan (Tafluprost), a preservative free prostaglandin analog, for the treatment of certain kinds of glaucoma.  The ophthalmic solution reduces IOP in patients with open angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension. Results from five controlled clinical studies helped spur the approval of the drug, showing that when the drug was administered once in the evening, a mean decrease in pressure from 5mmHg to 8mmHg after six months of trials from baseline levels as high as 23-26mmHg was found. Merck, a major drug company will have the new treatment ready for consumers in March.

Basic Treatments for Myopia Progression – Anti-muscarinic Drops Win

February 2, 2012

Reported in the Review of Optometry, various methods utilized for slowing myopia progression were compared in efficacy and potential side effects. Looking at data from 23 randomized controlled trials, including 4,696 participants, pediatric eye doctors and study methodologists have found that anti-muscarinic eye drops provide the greatest effect on controlling the progression of myopia, but also are associated with some side effects.

 

The studies focused on and compared:

  • Bifocal soft contact lenses
  • RGPs.
  • Pharmaceutical eye drops such as anti-muscarinics
  • Multifocal spectacles like PALs or Bifocals
  • Undercorrection
  • Both multifocal lenses and pharmaceutical eye drops.

Anti-muscarinic drops proved to be most successful but were associated with light sensitivity and/or blurred near vision.

Multifocal glasses mildly reduced the progression of myopia, while undercorrection actually seemed to increase the amount of myopia progression.

Here is a full link to the study. Students giving advice to patients on the progression of myopia should really consider referencing clinical trials like this one.

AOA Career Center – Calling all 4th year optometry students!

The AOA has an incredible tool that should be utilized by any 4th year optometry students looking to start their career. It’s called The Optometry’s Career Center. This new tool provides optometrists access to practice opportunities including employment and practices for sale. This service is free to all AOA members and will make finding that golden opportunity a little less arduous.

Visit www.optometryscareercenter.org to:

·  Post your resume and search for opportunities
·  Find a practice to purchase or list your practice for sale
·  Post staffing opportunities

Be sure to take advantage of this incredible resource the AOA has established for our profession.

Current AOSA members can also access and search the database by using their log in credentials. (Login credentials are your school e-mail and birthday so its very easy to log in!)