I cant imagine what its like for O.D.s who have been in practice for 30 years or more. If youve changed with the times, your professional life certainly has not been boring. Newbies probably wouldnt recognize the office of yesteryear compared with todays modern optometric practices.

Ive been working with optometrists for only 10 years and yet the practice patterns and technology of the 1990s seem worlds away. The level of education that O.D.s now receive far exceeds that of a decade ago, as does the level of sophistication apparent in todays more modern products and targeted ophthalmic drugs and other therapies.

As the editors compiled the manuscripts for this months issue, the radical sea change in optometry became even more apparent. This months cover focus is the 8th Annual Dry Eye Report. Ten years ago, most articles on this topic were limited to how you could distinguish between dry eye and allergy. While it was certainly an important piece of the puzzle, critical in appropriately managing patients, our understanding of the disease processes associated with dry eye is now so much more advanced. As a result, so are the available treatments.

In this months continuing education program, The Inside Track on the Bodys Attack, optometrist Lloyd Pate discusses systemic autoimmune conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis and Sjgrens syndrome) that are associated with dry eye. Sometimes, optometrists can be the first doctors to recognize these systemic conditions in patients. Thats certainly a far cry from Does It Burn or Does It Itch?

Also included in this months special dry eye coverage: optometrists Jerome Legerton and John Schachet provide a detailed explanation on how to Look at the Whole Picture." Rather than consider the eye in isolation, Drs. Legerton and Schachet recommend that optometrists take a complete approach to dry eye careincluding nutritional evaluation as well as vocational and avocational issuesin addition to the normal battery of tests.

But, proof that the profession has advanced is not at all limited to advances in our understanding of dry eye in particular, or even the ocular surface in general. Consider, for example, the options available to cataract patients a decade ago, compared with the high-end procedures and products that are available today. Similarly impressive is optometrys expanding role in comanaging cataract patients. In An Expanded Menu of IOL Options, optometrists Christopher Quinn and Michael Veliky take you through the maze of IOL selectionan area of expertise that O.D.s are now being called upon to explain to patients and, in many cases, determine for ophthalmologists.

As you can see, optometry has changed quite a bit in recent years. Youve accomplished a lot and you should be proud of it. And, in the event that all of these changes make you feel your age, this months issue contains one more goodie that O.D.s are becoming increasingly involved with: Botox (see What Can Botox Do for Your Patients).