By Catherine McDaniel, OD, MS, FAAO, Dipl AAO
Pediatric Optometrist at Dayton Children’s Hospital
I’m often asked about how I got started in the myopia management arena. Adding new treatments to your armamentarium can be daunting at times and can make you second guess if you’re ready to jump on board. My best advice is to read the newest literature, go to a good CE lecture and to just do it! If you’re armed with the information, you already possess the optometric skill to proceed.
Staying on top of information as it comes out can be difficult if you’re busy seeing patients every day. The following resources are good ones to keep you up-to-date and to reference if you’ve got a question.
This website reviews the literature and gives easily digestible summaries. It overviews the treatment options and provides some courses for learning more. One of my favorite parts are the brochures and infographics that can be used to educate patients.
This review was performed as part of the Cochrane Database Systematic Reviews. It reviews literature on the topic and updates the evidence and strength of evidence for treatments. This is a great place to go to get a full literature overview on the topic.
The International Myopia Institute (IMI) is a group of experts from around the world who come together to make available the latest evidence-based recommendations in the form of the IMI white papers. There are available for free and in many languages to benefit doctors and patients around the globe.
The Brien Holden Vision Institute (BHVI) is a not-for-profit research and development organization. This website contains resources including a myopia calculator, treatment guidelines and infographics to use in clinic.
Previous Kids Corner articles have done a great job of giving brief overviews of myopia management. Make sure to do a quick search through Perspectives articles to read up!