Myopia Focus launches practitioner education hub

Myopia Focus has introduced the Myopia Focus Practitioner Hub, a free educational platform for eye care professionals.

The hub will host blogs written by Myopia Focus’ contributors and advisory committee members, covering emerging trends, treatment options and best practice, and will also provide links and expert opinion on the latest research.

Webinars and training videos will be available, along with a discussion forum to share experiences and ideas.

Through the hub, members can also access resources including parent-focused marketing materials, posters and social media templates to help raise awareness of myopia.

Jason Higginbotham, managing editor of Myopia Focus, explained that, as the Myopia Focus campaign “gained traction” with parents, “it became clear to us that more needs to be done to support training and education for eye care professionals about delivering myopia management care.”

Higginbotham said that the team wished to amplify the reach of existing resources, as well as providing a focus on the commercial aspects of myopia management and how to introduce the topic to parents.

He added: “we also want to empower practitioners to ensure they meet clinical and legal obligations now and in the future, to protect them and the profession as a whole.”

Richard Kadri-Langford, head of marketing at Myopia Focus, reflected that, while myopia management was a key theme at 100% Optical (25–27 February), practitioners actively engaging in treatment “was still very low.”

The team behind Myopia Focus shared that anecdotally, practitioners often don’t feel prepared for myopia management, including amongst recent graduate optometrists.

A poll by Myopia Focus contributor, Hamza Mussa (@TheCrazyOptom) of his Instagram followers indicated that 83% of 1000 respondents felt they had not received enough myopia management training at university and pre-reg. 

Myopia Focus hope its resources will support practitioners in delivering high levels of care to patients with myopia.

Optometrists, ophthalmologists and professionals providing or interested in incorporating myopia management into practice can register to join the Myopia Focus Practitioner Hub online.