At the beginning of August ACBO hosted the annual National ACBO Vision Conference in Melbourne at the Carlton offices of the Victorian OAA.  So popular was the event that it was oversubscribed and we filled the lecture room.

A group of 28 keen Optometrists came together in Auckland in July to hear Dr Rob Lewis present ‘An Optometric Approach to Amblyopia and Strabismus’, part of the OEPF Clinical Curriculum.

We all learned in optometry school (if not before then) that the prototypical neuron has an electrical charge difference across the cell membrane of approximately -65 to -70 mV.  This is called the ‘resting potential’ because it is what exists when the cell is not firing and just ‘sitting there’ at rest.

Some thoughts on the interplay between Vision Therapy and Neuroscience.

Neuroscience is the buzz word on everyone's lips, and particularly for ACBO this year. It seems that Norman Doige is to blame - if you haven’t read “The Brain that Changes Itself” I would strongly recommend that you do*. The only downside to the book is that it appears to be an advertisement for the program Fast ForWord…a good program, but like most others, it does not solve all the problems it claims.

At age 16, I went to get my drivers licence. Upon covering my left eye, found I could not see all the eye chart! I was R6/24 L 6/6. That was a surprise; I had not noticed that before.

Being a leader, manager and optometrist is not easy,

and getting an objective view of how you are going in the boss department is harder still. Make sure you work hard on being a good boss. It’s one of the keys to practice success.

This comes from the first chapter in “Interdisciplinary Perspectives” and is written by Timothy Barth PhD, who is Chairman and Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of the Neuroscience Program at Texas Christian University.  The chapter was originally published in the book “The Many Faces of Psychology” published by the American Psychological Association.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail!

2011 will be a very interesting year for the optometry profession. Competition will increase as new entrants stabilise and focus on internal growth. There will be new practices opening. There will be economic pressure and possibly interest rate rises. Employment is changing and business costs are on the way up.  I strongly recommend you have a plan, even if it’s just a quiet evening with a pinot, pencil and note book.

Tall tales but true...

Gary's particular professional interest has been binocular vision and preventative care.

There is some merit to the various programs that offer improved vision through daily exercises.

Following the recent ICBO & NORA International Congress in California, USA, read what some of our ACBO members who attended had to say:

An interesting life...

Dr Paul Levi arrived in Perth in 1980 from South Africa and practises in Doubleview in Perth, WA. "I established the practice in 1982 and moved to my present location in 1998," he said. "I¹ve taken an active interest in Optometry affairs since I arrived in Australia and was on the OAA state and national council and the state optometrists registration board for many years."