NOA January Sightline Newsletter

Glaucoma Awareness Month

Message From our President

Glaucoma Awareness Month &

MLK Birthday

Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the United States. Glaucoma has no noticeable symptoms in its early stages, and vision loss progresses at such a gradual rate that people affected by the condition are often unaware of it until their sight has already been compromised. (AAO.org)

According to Glaucoma.org., It is estimated that over 3 million Americans have glaucoma, but only half of those know they have it. (1)

In the US, more than 120,000 are blind from glaucoma, accounting for 9% to 12% of all cases of blindness. (2)

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world, according to the World Health Organization.

After cataracts, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness among African Americans. (1)

Blindness from glaucoma is 6 to 8 times more common in African Americans than Caucasians. (3)

African Americans are 15 times more likely to be visually impaired from glaucoma than Caucasians. (4)

The most common form, open-angle glaucoma, accounts for 19% of all blindness among African Americans compared to 6% in Caucasians. (5)

Other high-risk groups include people over 60, family members of those already diagnosed, diabetics, and severely nearsighted people.

Estimates put the total number of suspected cases of glaucoma at over 60 million worldwide. (6)

Glaucoma accounts for over 10 million visits to physicians each year. (7)

In terms of Social Security benefits, lost income tax revenues, and health care expenditures, the cost to the US government, is estimated to be over $1.5 billion annually. (8)

Sources: (1) The Eye Diseases Prevalence Research Group, Arch Ophthalmol. 2004; Prevent Blindness America; (2) National Institutes of Health; Quigley and Vitale, Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1997; (3) Javitt et al., Undertreatment of Glaucoma Among Black Americans. N Eng J Med 1991; (4) The Salisbury Eye Evaluation Study, Arch Ophthalmol 2000; (5) Racial differences in the cause-specific prevalence of blindness in east Baltimore. N Engl J Med. 1991; (6) Quigley and Broman "Number of people with glaucoma worldwide in 2010 and 2020", 2006; (7) Center for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics, 2010 & 1995; (8) NEI, Report of the Glaucoma Panel, Fall 1998

Remind everyone; Glaucoma Awareness Month this January (and every mo.), the National Optometric Association urges the public that the best defense against developing glaucoma-related blindness is by having a routine, comprehensive eye exam.

By the way, Happy New Year!! We have had an interesting 2022. Coming out of COVID-19 (but not really), we have all undergone mental exercises, testing patience, health issues, and loss. As healthcare providers, we should show strength (no weakness) and still be able to handle our most difficult patients. But, on the contrary, I found this weakness to be a strength. When we suffer through sadness, depression, disappointment, and sometimes despair, it develops us so we can glean from it and share, so others can empathize and aid in our restoration. Amid many negativities in this world, I have also witnessed great humanity and altruism. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK Day Jan.16) has summed it up in these quotes; I challenge you to read each of these 16 quotes and pause to ponder their true meaning.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes:

"The ultimate measure of a man/woman* is not where he/she* stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he/she* stands at times of challenge and controversy." * (my emphasis)

"Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. I can only be what I ought to be once you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

"People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

"History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."

"The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea."

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education."

"I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you."

"We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

"We are not makers of history. We are made by history."

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals."

"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."

"We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love."

"We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."

National Optometric Association

Is Seeking Volunteers!

Interested?!

Click Here to Apply!

January Question

Do You Recommend Laser Treatment as First Line Therapy for Glaucoma Patients?

If so, When/Why?

Email your answer to

mainoffice@natoptassoc.org

Find The Sources That Will Help Provide You With Life-Long Learning

Sandra Juarez Fortenberry, OD, FAAO, ABO Diplomate,

is the new dean of Rosenberg School of Optometry and the first Hispanic female dean of an optometry school in the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry network. She understands the many challenges that optometry students have today – and she has a special affinity for those who are the first-generation college undergraduates and optometry school students, as she was. Her parents worked hard to provide her with opportunities, but she also had to create those for herself. For example, in her final year of undergrad, she did not get accepted to an optometry school program. Rather than change her goals, she moved to Houston and enrolled in a six-week pre-optometry program for economically disadvantaged or underrepresented minorities and provided support for first-generation college students, where she learned new test-taking skills and learned how to incorporate her 35-hour a week job during undergrad years into her application.

After completing a community-based family practice residency and working in a medical facility, she joined the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry (UIWRSO) in early 2010, as it was just being established. She was part of the team working on the school’s initial accreditation as well as its 2022 reaccreditation. She was honored as the American Optometric Association Young Optometrist of the Year in 2013 and has served on the Texas Optometric Association board and as its president in 2019-2020.

The advocacy, clinical, education and legislative skills she has cultivated over the past decade serve her well at this moment when new optometrists must be able to adapt to changing environments. ODs in Texas and many other states have recently been successful in expanding their scope of practice, meaning that students have to leave optometry school with even more skills and knowledge. On top of that, as dean, she wants to create higher levels of engagement with faculty, the community and even industry because eye care today is so dynamic.

Students can only be prepared for the environment of today, and that’s where networks of organizations and industry can be so important. As a school, our role is to deliver strong fundamentals and teach students how to use the tools that they already have in order to become effective life-long learners. “We all need each other,” Dr. Fortenberry says. That’s true in a practice setting where “you need a receptionist and support staff as much as you need a doctor. And it’s true of the post-graduate setting, where we need industry to share its research and development and advocacy groups to help us gain access to it, and those organizations need us. It takes a village.”

YOU’LL BE OK

Dr. Fortenberry strives to have “an understanding heart” to students’ struggles, but she also seeks to remind them that this current pace isn’t what they’ll face forever. “Balance is a great thing, but now is the time for sacrifice. That tilt toward 50/50 balance will come, but maybe for now, it’s 20/80.” She particularly wants to encourage students that the sacrifices they make now will mean that they can be part of this profession that provides such critical eye health services.

The other major lesson that she hopes students leave with it that it’s OK to relax but not get lax. “Our students are overstimulated,” Dr. Fortenberry says. Today’s optometry students are exposed to even more pressure to succeed, not just as ODs but as practice owners and managers, salespeople and even social media influencers. “There is information coming from everywhere. We need to provide more support to our students.”

She encourages them to reach out. “It’s important you know where to go for information as a student,” she says. “Know your limitations and when to ask for help. You can talk to an OD, another student, faculty and staff or even support structures, like advisors and therapists, depending on what you need.

ABOVE ALL, FOCUS ON THE PERSON

Just as she knows that students are not just the sum parts of their academic records, Dr. Fortenberry wants students to focus on the whole patient – not just the eyes. “There’s a whole body we are treating,” she says. “We need to remember to treat all bodies—ours included.” So look for help where it’s offered. She credits Allergan for understanding that the more support for all optometrists, students included, the better off the profession will be. She says that Marcy DeWalt, executive director of professional relations for Allergan, has been a strong source of support for the profession and especially for female students and ODs. DeWalt has been involved in various events and women’s panels, and Allergan has been a supporter of the Women in Optometry Leadership Conference since its beginning. This continuous and ever-expanding network of support has only made Dr. Fortenberry more excited for the future generation of ODs.

“Becoming a doctor of optometry includes knowing how to become a lifelong learner,” she says. “It’s a four-year degree, but think of all the things we’ve learned in the industry in the last 50 years. There is no way we can possibly teach you everything in four years. We all need to keep learning.”

Thank you to everyone who joined us on December 16th for the

NOA Region 3 CE Lecture, "Systemic Drugs and Dry Eye"

presented by Dr. Stephen Summerow

Save the Date

Early bird special is extended to 1/15/2023!!!!

Take advantage of the discounted rate!

Click here to register for 2023 NOA Conference

Click here to reserve lodging at the Westin Resort

Click Here to Volunteer!

Happy New Year!!!

KNOWLEDGE ROUNDS!!

Can these optical illusions fool your vision??

Try this quiz to find out!!!

Which word do you see?

REAR

WARE

NEAR

MARE

Which word do you see?

WALK

WAIT

WAKE

WEPT

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE NATIONAL OPTOMETRIC ASSOCIATION!

Join the legacy of "Advancing the Visual Heath of Minority Populations." NOA is committed to delivering eye health services and education to diverse, underrepresented, and underserved communities on an equal and equitable basis.

Visit our Website

Please Email the NOA Main Office For any career opportunities or items for sale that you may have!

mainoffice@natoptassoc.org

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Email mainoffice@natoptassoc.org

with your name and memory!

Employment Opportunities

OPTOMETRIST

MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER BRONX, NY, US

This is a wonderful opportunity for an Optometrist to work at multiple school-based health centers as part of a multidisciplinary team which includes medical, nursing, dental, mental health, and community health services. The optometrist will serve children and adolescents ages 3-24 and will provide screening, full examinations, and assessment/treatment for ocular problems. We are fortunate to have a partnership with a national eyeglass provider and are able to offer each child who needs glasses a free pair!

Must be a NYS licensed O.D. Diagnose and treat vision problems, eye diseases, prescribe eyeglasses, and limited medication for ocular disorders.

The Department of Ophthalmology credentials all eye care providers in the Montefiore system. Eligible for faculty appointment in the department if you are full-time and participate in resident or medical student teaching and/or research. Although you will be employed by our School Health Program, the Chair of Ophthalmology with Montefiore Medical Center is part of the interview process.

Department: School Health Program Bargaining Unit: Non Union Campus: MMG Employment Status: Regular Full-Time Address: 450 St. Paul’s Place, Bronx

Shift: Day Scheduled Hours: 8 AM-4:30 PM Req ID: 186450

Click Here to Apply

NSU Oklahoma College of Optometry

Clinical Assistant Professor of Optometry - Ochelata REP

Clinical Assistant Professor of Optometry - Jay REP

Associate or Assistant Professor of Optometry (Tenure Track)

Clinical Assistant Professor – Optometry

Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry is accepting applications for a full-time clinical faculty position. Experience in full-scope Primary Care is required. The position is non-tenure track with responsibilities for providing direct clinical care and clinical teaching.

Applicants’ qualifications must include the O.D. degree and eligibility for licensure in Oklahoma. Preference will be given to applicants with advanced academic degrees, residency training, extensive clinical experience, or teaching experience. We have two clinical faculty positions available at this time at the Jay and Ochelata rural eye program clinics.

Salary commensurate, with excellent benefits.

To apply for a faculty position using our online application system, please use the following link: https://nsuok.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home and search for optometry positions.

Questions concerning the positions may be directed to:

Nathan Lighthizer, O.D.

lighthiz@nsuok.edu

Assistant or Associate Professor – Optometry

Northeastern State University invites applications for a tenure track faculty position in the NSU Oklahoma College of Optometry.

Responsibilities

This position is a combined assignment with direct patient care, clinical education duties, and didactic classroom activity. The clinical assignments will be in the NSU Oklahoma College of Optometry clinics.

Experience

Experience in full-scope Primary Care is required. Preference will be given to applicants with advanced academic degrees, residency training, extensive clinical experience, or teaching experience.

Education Requirements

Applicants’ qualifications must include the O.D. degree and eligibility for licensure to practice the full scope of Optometry in Oklahoma.

Salary commensurate, with excellent benefits.

To apply for a faculty position using our online application system, please use the following link: https://nsuok.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home and search for optometry positions.

Questions concerning the positions may be directed to:

Nathan Lighthizer, O.D.

lighthiz@nsuok.edu