I want to slow down ‘that moment’.
At a basic level, optometry and ophthalmology is about a patient’s vision. That’s all it is. The products, the politics, the news, the stories… all secondary. It’s about that person who walks into your practice with a need to have their vision corrected and improved or restored.
It was SRC 2006, Professor Brien Holden was speaking about Optometry Giving Sight. We had just launched mivision. In fact, we had just one issue out. I sat in the small auditorium listening to Brien speak. He told us the story of a woman in Africa who had never seen clearly the faces of her five children. Then OGS fitted her with glasses.
Brien played us the video of her walking home to see her kids. She was crying and jumping up and down. She was laughing and clapping her hands.
For the first time in their lives she was going to see the faces of her children. Her life was changed forever. As was mine. I will never forget the image of that lady dancing, smiling, laughing and crying as she skipped home in her new glasses.
I’ve told that story since – hundreds of times. I never get tired of it. I’ll never forget it. Accompanying aid trips to developing communities, I’ve since witnessed it myself – that expression of joy and wonder from people as bandages are peeled back from eyes that are free of cataracts for the first time in years, or having their refractive error corrected simply by putting on a pair of glasses.
You – every one of you reading mivision – have an incredible gift; you give the gift of sight. It is a life changing gift. It’s a modern day miracle and you do it every day.
When I speak to optometrists and ophthalmologists, who are now mates of mine, they say how easy it is to take that gift for granted. How it is easy to just rush through your day without giving much thought to the change that has occurred in that person’s life sitting in front of you.
One of our aims at mivision is to slow that ‘wow’ moment right down. To help you connect more with that moment when you see the expression on a person’s face change because their
world has just changed forever.
In this issue, we feature an eye health professional who had a ‘wow’ moment. Deakin University’s
Professor Harry Weisinger tells mivision of the liberating effects of undergoing laser refractive surgery.
Our lead story looks at Australian eyewear designers and the complex reasons behind their lack of prominence in optical retailing.
Dry eye is tackled in two articles – one offering CPD points through our online education centre. Guest ophthalmology editors Dr. Tim Roberts and Dr. Joe Reich provide their insights on what’s happening in cataract surgery; we report on developments in contact lenses; and the opportunities to improve patient outcomes with your OCT.
And, of course, there’s all the news from SRC 2014, news and fashion.
Enjoy slowing it right down.
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