TIME TABLE

Up to 18.5 CPD hours inc assessment

Friday
September 13

CPD hours for Friday Sessions:
8.5 hours with assessment (inc 5.5 interactive)

ACST
8:00am-9:30am

7:00am-9:00am

REGISTRATION OPEN

CPR Refresher Course

9:00am-9:10am

Welcome
Welcome to Country - Cliffy Wilson

Master of Ceremonies
Cassandra Haines

9:10am-10:10am

Michael Yapp

Collaborative care in your practice: A practical “how to” guide

Optometric collaborative care comes in many forms. While there are a wide range of well-documented potential benefits for patients, making it work in community optometric practice from a logistical, political and financial perspective remains challenging.

This talk will discuss a range of models as well as detail practical tips and tricks to help optometrists implement and refine collaborative care in their practices.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the different types and models of collaborative care.

• Begin implementing new or improving existing arrangements.

10:10am-10:30am

MORNING TEA AND EXHIBITION

10:30am-11:30am

Session 2

Dr Aanchal Gupta

What’s new in refractive surgery in 2024?

This presentation will cover:

• New techniques for treating refractive error

• New trends in refractive surgery, including screening techniques; selection of treatment; use of spherical aberration

• New trends in lens-based surgery

• New IOL trials

Learning Objectives:

• Understand which refractive procedure to choose for various case presentations.

• Describe how to optimize patient outcomes.

• Utilise tools for screening and educating patients prior to referral.

11:30am-12:30pm

Session 3

Grand Rounds

For the first time, Blue Sky will host a grand rounds session to showcase interesting cases from colleagues.

Jacqui Warren

Diabetic retinopathy: How to be confident in your concern

Learning Objectives:

• Identify key riskfactors for diabetic retinopathy

• Utilise imaging techniques to strengthen clinical confidence in diagnosis

• Understand appropriate triaging pathways

Philip Millford

PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES - An interesting tale about measles, contact lens intolerance and dry eyes

Learning Objectives:

• Understand a little more about the effect of measles in pregnancy, contact lens intolerance and dry eye treatments

Thi Thi Nguyen

When it looks like glaucoma, but isn’t glaucoma?

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the decision making in glaucoma diagnosis

• Differential diagnosis for glaucoma

12:30pm-1:30pm

LUNCH AND EXHIBITION

1:30pm-2:30pm

Session 4

Prof Jamie Craig

Bench to bedside: Changing the glaucoma management paradigm with polygenic risk profiling

In this presentation, Professor Craig will describe he discovery journey from initiating a registry of glaucoma blindness to a useful genetic test for predicting glaucoma. Many factors such as age of onset, severity, progression, treatment, intensity, surgery, and number of family members affected are strongly influenced by the polygenic risk score. In this presentation the development and accreditation of the test are described along with outcomes of its early use in clinical practice to improve glaucoma management.

Learning Objectives:

• Order and interpret a glaucoma polygenic risk profile.

2:30pm-3:30pm

Session 5
Mitchell Walker

Bringing low vision principles into your consulting room

By dissecting a number of real low vision cases, we will explore the assessment and treatment of people with low vision in a multidisciplinary setting, highlighting strategies to use in everyday practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply principles used in low vision assessments and treatments into general practice.

3:30pm-4:00pm

AFTERNOON TEA AND EXHIBITION

4:00pm-5:00pm

Session 6

Spicks and Spectacles

Quiz Master
Cassandra Haines

Learning Objectives:

• To review the different types and models of collaborative care.

• To review which refractive procedure to choose for various case presentations and the tools for screening and educating patients prior to referral.

• To review the order of a glaucoma polygenic risk profile.

• To review the principles used in low vision assessments and treatments into general practice.

5:00pm-6:30pm

OptiMed Social Event
To complete the day we will be serving drinks and canapes in the trade area.

Saturday
September 14

CPD hours for Saturday Sessions:
10.5 hours with assessment (inc 3 interactive and 1.5Ti)

7:00am-9:00am

REGISTRATION & EXHIBITION

7:30am-8:30am

Session 7

Hirdesh Nair

Johnson & Johnson Sponsored Breakfast: Introducing Acuvue Oasys Max 1-Day for max comfort & max clarity

Discover the next level in contact lens technology with ACUVUE® OASYS MAX 1-Day family, designed to elevate patient experiences in your practice. At Johnson & Johnson, we're committed to delivering meaningful innovations that redefine contact lens performance and enhance vision care.

Join us as we unveil the revolutionary manufacturing process behind ACUVUE® OASYS MAX 1-Day family, showcasing breakthrough technologies like TearStable™ and OptiBlue™ filter. Learn how these advancements improve tear film stability and enhance visual clarity for your patients. Don't miss this opportunity to explore the cutting-edge technology driving ACUVUE® OASYS MAX and how it can strengthen your relationship with your patients

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the need for the ACUVUE® OASYS MAX 1-Day Brand Family contact lenses.

• Develop an understanding of technologies behind the ACUVUE® OASYS MAX 1-Day Brand Family contact lenses, including TearStable™ Technology, OptiBlue™ light filter & Pupil Optimized Design Technology.

• Identify the patients who may benefit the most from wearing ACUVUE® OASYS MAX 1-Day Brand Family contact lenses.

9:00am-10:00am

Session 8

Dr Jaz Aujla

Diabetic eye disease – Let’s improve collaboration!

We will use a case-based discussion to review the spectrum of diabetic eye disease and update on evidence-based management. Enjoy further discussion on the interplay between the management of diabetic eye disease and other common ophthalmic pathologies that we encounter daily. 

Learning Objectives:

• Confidently diagnose and grade diabetic eye disease of various severity.

• Educate patients with diabetic eye disease on the various management strategies.

10:30am-11:30am

Session 9

Dr Jolly Gilhotra

Uveitis: Infection, inflammation, or masquerade?

This presentation will provide a framework to differentiate uveitis from its masqueraders.

Learning Objectives:

• Differentiate between infection and inflammatory masquerade disease from uveitis.

11:00am-11.30am

MORNING TEA AND EXHIBITION

11:30am-12:30pm

Session 10

Esmeralda Stefanopoulos and Rebekah Hopps

Should I put a steroid on it? Considerations in ocular trauma cases and keratitis

Many types of ocular injury respond well to the judicious use of topical steroids.

This presentation will cover some interesting corneal cases and the role of steroids in management. We will review ocular findings subsequent to trauma that require management with topical steroids and the evidence for the use of steroids in these cases. We will also consider the key complications that can arise from the use of topical steroids and the best practices that reduce these risks.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand when it is appropriate to use steroids in the management of corneal pathology.

• Be able to identify ‘red flags’ that are contraindications for steroid use.

• Identify the appropriate uses of topical steroid medication when managing inflammation related to ocular trauma including blunt trauma, corneal trauma and chemical injury.

• Consider best management of the complications that can arise from using topical steroids.

12:30pm-1:30pm

LUNCH AND EXHIBITION

1:30pm-2:30pm

Session 11

Dr Bao Nguyen

Migraine mimics and clinical conundrums

Migraine is a debilitating primary headache disorder affecting ~12% of the population worldwide. In this presentation, we will discuss how optometrists can identify migraine, and the range of symptoms that can be associated with migraine. We will then discuss migraine mimics and clinical conundrums related to migraine that may present in the context of primary eyecare.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify migraine using standard diagnostic criteria and/or a validated screening tool.

• Understand the range of symptoms that can be associated with migraine.

• Consider a range of conditions as part of the differential diagnosis of migraine.

2:30pm-3:30pm

Session 12

Dom Willson

Risky Business - Guarding your optometry career

Nervous about medicolegal exposure? Medicare audits? AHPRA complaints? Lawyer letters? Other risks you haven’t even thought about?

This session will be a discussion about the biggest risks to you, your practice and your career, and how to minimise them, based on real enquiries handled by OA’s national help desk and our medico-legal insurers, Avant. This session is not just scare stories – you’ll also hear practical tips on how to set up your practice workflows and admin systems to lower your risk, whether employer, employee, or locum.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the most significant risks in their professional career and apply practical tips and tactics to reduce them.

3:30pm-4:00pm

AFTERNOON TEA AND EXHIBITION

4:00pm-5:00pm

Session 13

Michael Yapp

OCT and retinal imaging: How to maximise the diagnostic and management potential of your devices

Imaging, in particular optical coherence tomography (OCT) and retinal imaging has become an integral part of optometric practice. There is, however a large amount of constantly updated published material showcasing what to look for and how to best utilise the results for optimal patient diagnosis and management.  This interactive lecture will take a condition-based approach (Ggaucoma, macular disease and diabetic retinopathy) to provide a wide range of practical tips and tricks to assist practitioners in maximising the benefit of OCT and retinal imaging devices in clinical practice.

Learning Objectives:

• Utilise and analyse OCT and retinal imaging in clinical practice.