Myopia Profile is a unique, engaging practitioner community
More than a website, more than courses and resources, Myopia Profile offers the world's largest and most popular forum for eye care practitioners right across the world to engage with each other - discussing clinical cases, industry innovations, the latest research and more. Myopia Profile is an supportive community in a protected and carefully curated professional environment, which now includes over 7,000 members from 99 countries, and has over 100,000 engagements per month. Note this is a closed group for eye care professionals, students, researchers and industry. Join the Resistance in the Myopia Profile Facebook Group!
Profiling our Myopia Profilers
Want to learn more about the dedicated and inspiring people who make Myopia Profile tick? Our new series of insights entitled 'Profiling the Myopia Profiler' are featured in our e-newsletters and will tell you more about your colleagues around the world - their countries, languages, professional stories and even what they do for fun.
Tell us about yourself, where you practice and what sort of work you do.
I work at McClellan Grimmer Edgar Optometrists in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand (NZ). I am originally from the mainland (South Island). I have been lucky to work with contact lens gurus Peter Stevenson and Peter Turner, who both have been innovators of their time. I also have worked with Andrew Sangster, who was the first Optom in the Wellington region/lower NZ to offer OrthoK. I have henceforth developed a passion for specialty contact lenses and achieved my fellowship FIAOMC in 2016, so I can officially call myself an Orthokeratologist.
But mostly day to day I use my enthusiasm for ‘anything eyes’ to try provide my patients with an understanding of their own eyes.
What drew you to optometry?
A few simple things:
I liked the idea that the eyes were a small part of the body! Then I realised the eyes were an extension of the brain and that there were specialists in different parts of the eye.
I wanted to teach people about their eyes! Now I stand up at conferences teaching a room full of optometrists and I work with children wearing contact lenses.
It thought optometry was clean! Then I realised I would be treating infections and removing foreign bodies.
However… after I learnt these things, I realised that it was the challenges of optometry that kept me fascinated and I am a definitely a proud eye geek.
Many of our international colleagues may not realise that optometrists in New Zealand have the second widest scope of practice in the world, to the USA; and even equivalent to some US states. NZ was also the first nation to allow women to vote, and your female Prime Minister is internationally adored! NZ seems pretty great! How would you describe optometry in your country?
In NZ we have a great collegial group of optometrists, but also there are a few groups of very passionate optometrists who want to ensure our countries eye needs are met, but also want to ensure the evolution of optometry in NZ. I have been lucky to be involved with couple of these groups, the CCLS and NZAO, but there are also other optometry and optom/ophthal societies that encourage both optometry and ophthalmology together.
Tell us a bit more about New Zealand.
NZ is renowned for its hiking, Sir Ed Hilary, and beaches, in fact the NZ people came together to buy a beach to keep it protected as a natural reserve! (www.nzstory.govt.nz/stories/awaroa-bay-the-beach-that-kiwis-bought/)
This means if you are practicing in NZ, or coming to a conference here, you must have your jandals nearby (aka flip flops, or Aussie speak ‘thongs’).
What do you do for fun?
When my legs get tired or I need to build up my retinoscopy arm strength, I do handstands. This is usually during the month of February after a colleague challenged me to #handstandfebruary. However, I have heard handstands can help increase concentration and relieve stress, so I can’t stop now!
I also come from out west (although not Auckland), so I enjoy rock concerts. The last few concerts I went to were Iron Maiden and ACDC when they last came to NZ. Luckily my husband is in a band, The Whiskey Show, so I am also able enjoy music more often from home and locally in Wellington.
Tell us about yourselves, where you practice and what sort of work you do. Jeanette is a contact lens advocate and a consultant of Alcon, while Millette is a private practitioner that has a special interest in irregular corneas and myopia control.
What drew you both to optometry? Jeanette always wanted to be a doctor, and our aunt who was an optometrist influenced her to become one as well. Growing up, Millette was inspired to become an optometrist because of her older sister Jeanette.
What is optometry like in the Philippines? Optometry in the Philippines is transitioning to embrace specialization, and since the early 2000's, our curriculum allows us to use diagnostic therapeutic agents.
Are there any eye words that sound much more interesting in Filipino than in English? Pterygium in Tagalog (Filipino language) is called "pugita", which also means octopus. Similar to the moving tentacles of an octopus, it depicts how the pterygium invades the cornea.
What do you do for fun? We love to travel together and currently enjoy binge watching our favorite drama series. 🙂
Tell us about yourself, where you practice and what sort of work you do.
I'm Bhavin Shah, I'm a behavioural optometrist. I own Central Vision Opticians, an award-wining optometry practice in a suburb of North London. I have a passion for understanding how our visual system works, how it develops and how it influences everything we do. From learning to crawl and walk to learning to read and studying at school to being able to work effectively. By understanding the behavioural and development of eyes, it's possible to see how some children become myopic and with new and exciting ways to halt that progression, there's even more to be excited about. I also help those with reading difficulties, including dyslexics to use their eyes and visual system more effectively by providing vision therapy. My wife and I are both sight sighted, so I’m relieved that my kids are in their teens and haven’t shown signs of myopia yet.
What drew you to optometry?
I had planned to do medicine and originally accepted an unconditional offer by UMIST Optometry School in 1993. As a myope and glasses wearer since the age of 12 and a contact lens wearer from the age of 17, I already had some experience in the field. I loved the mix of clinical, practical, technology and connecting with people in a very personal way. There is the medical understanding of the eye and visual pathway, the technical aspects of vision correction, the psychology of how we understand our world through our visual system as it is the most dominant sense. Combine that with ever-evolving technology and innovation and it’s such a fascinating industry.
How would you describe optometry in your country?
Optometry in the UK is generally practiced in 4 settings. Hospital, University/academic/research, multiple and independent/private practice. There is a huge vibrant industry and community of great practitioners who are doing exciting and innovative things to help their patients and solve their problems.
Tell us a bit more about your country, including some fun facts!
I’m a born Londoner - I find it the most exciting city in the world. Edward Scarlett (1688 – 1743 in London) was an English optician and instrument maker, who first invented an eyeglass frame with ear hooks in 1727. I love to drink tea and usually have at least 3 of the 165 million cups of tea drunk a day in the UK. 69% of people in the UK wear glasses. 13% of people in the UK wear contact lenses.
What do you do for fun?
I love to spend time with my wife and two daughters. I'm a complete technophile - I've got a qualification in computer network engineering, web development and am a co-founder in a tech startup that analyses eye movements to identify poor readers. I'm an avid Sci-fi fan - if you visit my consulting room, you'll discover a growing collection of memorabilia from my favourite movies. I love comedy gigs as laughter is the best medicine. If I get a chance, I love to hit the slopes on a snowboard.
Tell us about yourself, where you practice and what sort of work you do.
I am a locum Contact Lens Optician in the UK.
We qualify as Dispensing Opticians first before doing extra training to be able to fit contact lenses.
I am also a distance learning tutor for dispensing opticians and contact lens opticians as they learn.
Although I can work wherever I like, I have been part of a lovely team at a local multiple practice for the last 10 years. I’m very lucky I can work part-time and live close to work as it fits better with family life.
What drew you to optics?
I started wearing specs for myopia when I was 10 and I begged for contact lenses for years.
I’ve now worn them for 30 years and I still love them, so I’ve always been around contact lenses both sides of the slit-lamp and it seemed natural to work with them too. I was going to study English and Psychology but I fell into optics when I applied for a job in a local practice instead. I have met some great people in optics and I’ve learned a lot from them.
Everything about the eyes is amazing and I find it fascinating we can now help so many children by controlling their myopia. We can make sure their vision is better now and their eyes are healthier for the future.
Tell us a bit more about those English accents!
Apparently, the regional accents in the UK change every 25 miles. I’ve lived in different areas of the UK and I think this is true! You don’t have to travel far to hear the differences.
We can be very proud of our dialects in the UK and I love how people argue over the right way to pronounce ‘scone’ (it should rhyme with gone) or where the best chippy is (which is obviously any near a beach!).
What do you for fun?
I love spending time with my husband and our kids and we try and do things together as much as we can. We also have an energetic lurcher (dog) so we are often out with her. My first passion was English literature and I re-read my favourites when I have time.
