EssilorLuxottica has welcomed its newest crop of graduate optometrists with a three-day event incorporating two days of intensive learning at its EyeLaunch conference in March.
EyeLaunch marks the beginning of a two-year program designed to set up optometry graduates for success as they enter the workforce. Attendees at this year’s conference graduated in 2023 and came from across Australia and New Zealand for the event, held in Sydney.
“Optometry students graduate with a wealth of knowledge from their years in university. EyeLaunch was designed to provide the tools and resources to bring out the best of their eye care expertise within our practice setting,” said Sephora Miao, Senior Manager Eyecare Operations at EssilorLuxottica ANZ.
“Each year the learning content is updated to reflect our latest innovations.
“Eyelaunch is an opportunity for graduates to connect with their peers across ANZ and their support network in EssilorLuxottica, from senior leadership to human resources to Leonardo Education,” she said.
CAREER-LONG LEARNING
The EyeLaunch conference served as the cohort’s first experience of Leonardo, EssilorLuxottica’s bespoke continuing education digital learning platform, available to OPSM employees and EssilorLuxottica partners across the globe. Leonardo has delivered more than 5.3 million hours of education since its launch in 2021, earning its reputation as a leading educational point of reference across the industry.
Leonardo Education and Deployment Manager (Vision Care), Tim Nolan said coming out of university, the cohort was “patient ready” but the continuing education provided by Leonardo – both face-to-face at EyeLaunch and digitally through Leonardo – also helped them to be “practice ready”.
“We’re really trying to make them practice ready… how do you fit those great clinical skills you get (at university) into a practice environment to deliver the best possible experience to our patients,” Mr Nolan said.
“Another example, we look at how they can raise their profile on platforms like LinkedIn, how LinkedIn can help connect to like-minded individuals within and outside of the organisation to build a learning community within the eye care industry.”
He said the EyeLaunch attendees were “open and engaged” to the new style of learning presented at the conference. “It was quite an engaged group that want that interaction. They were open to questioning, open to being interactive throughout each part of the (conference).”
CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
A key highlight of the conference was a presentation by Dr Kate Gifford, peer educator and Director of Myopia Profile. She spoke on the latest advancements in myopia control.
“Our graduates loved hearing from her around clinical prescribing and communication. Another highlight was hearing from our EssilorLuxottica ANZ General Manager, Matteo Accornero, as well as Senior Vice President of Operations, Carl James, about our premium business strategy and the importance of great eye care,” Ms Miao said.
Networking aspects were not forgotten, with two evening events, including a spectacular harbour cruise.
New optometrist Annelise Kolf said the cruise event was “an amazing opportunity to connect to my peers, particularly the Australian graduates who I didn’t know well, and exchange experiences from our first weeks at work”.
“It provided reassurance that we’re all going through the same journey as we embark upon our careers. Our area eye care managers and professional service managers were also present, so they were able to provide reassurance that we are all thriving in our new environments.”
Another of the 2024 graduate team cohort, Jacob Escalada, described the EyeLaunch conference as a “transformative event”.
“Not only were we exposed to the latest eye care technology by EssilorLuxottica, but all graduates were encouraged to grow and develop our own personal brand.”
The EyeLaunch event “seamlessly integrated our development as practitioners, over the course of several CPD style talks mixed with games, that made us all feel confident and competent in our abilities as graduates,” Mr Escalada said.
