Las Vegas may be known as the gambling mecca of the United States, but it’s also getting a reputation for exceptional CE, as Vegas will once again host Vision Expo West (VEW), which will be held from Sept. 16 to 19. This year’s meeting will offer 320 CE credits for attendees and up to 31 credit hours per optometrist.

	Paul Karpecki, OD, and David Geffen, OD, discussed innovations in technology at last year’s Vision Expo West.

Course Highlights
Recognizing that sports vision is a growing specialty, VEW has a dedicated track for ODs interested in learning more about this niché. The courses will cover how to test, treat and train weekend warriors, little league coaches and even the elite pros. Topics include techniques to enhance athletes’ visual skills, testing of sports-related visual performance and how to correctly screen, diagnosis and manage a concussion. This track offers up to six hours of CE credit.

   The glaucoma track will offer a total of 16 CE credit hours this year, and boasts courses taught by world-class experts designed help you advance your ability to detect and monitor glaucoma without referring out to a specialist. “One of the most frequent comments I hear from my colleagues is, ‘I want to start getting involved with glaucoma, but there are so many new drugs, diagnostic instruments and treatment philosophies since I left school, it’s hard to know where to start,’” says Kirk Smick, OD, past chairman of Vision Expo’s Conference Advisory Board. “Well, this year’s Vision Expo West program committee has heard your remarks and has put together a super program with several new courses regarding the treatment of glaucoma,” says Dr. Smick. “We suggest you begin making plans now to take a whole list of courses, and then, when you return to your busy clinic, begin implementing several of the new ideas that you learned at Expo.” 

Another clinical highlight: 35 hours of anterior segment courses, which will include “Red Eye Round-Up,” by Paul Ajamian, OD, and Daryl Mann, OD; “Amniotic Membrane Workshop,” presented by Doug Devries, OD, and Greg Caldwell, OD; and“Anterior Segment OCT Applications in Contact Lens Evaluations,” by Jeffrey Sonsino, OD.

VEW Glaucoma at a Glance Wednesday, September 16 11C2 Building a Specialty Glaucoma Practice Within Your Practice (2 CE), 1:30pm – 3:30pm Speakers: Ben Gaddie, OD, and John Rumpakis, OD, MBA 12C2 New Directions in Glaucoma Diagnostics & Treatments (1 CE), 3:45pm – 4:45pm Speaker: Ben Gaddie, OD Thursday, September 17 22C2 Understanding the Structure/Function Duo in Glaucoma (1 CE), 8:30am – 9:30am Speaker: Murray Fingeret, OD 23C2 Progression in Glaucoma (1 CE), 9:45am – 10:45am Speaker: Murray Fingeret, OD 24C3 Clinical Conundrums in Glaucoma (1 CE), 11:00am – 12:00pm Speaker: Joseph Sowka, OD 24C4 Growing Your Practice with VEP Testing & Automated Pupillography (1 CE), 11:00am – 12:00pm Speaker: Craig Thomas, OD 25C2 Glaucoma Pearls & Grand Rounds (2 CE), 2:45pm – 4:45pm Speakers: Murray Fingeret, OD, Joseph Sowka, OD, and Ben Gaddie, OD Friday, September 18 31C7 Enlarged Optic Nerve Cupping: Differentiating Between Glaucoma & Compressive Optic Neuropathy (1 CE), 8:30am – 9:30am Speaker: Andrew Mick, OD 33C1 Separating the Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Is it Glaucoma or Not? (2 CE), 2:45pm – 4:45pm Speaker: Ron Melton, OD, and Randall Thomas, OD 33C2 Laser Procedures for the Management of Glaucoma & More (2 CE), 2:45pm – 4:45pm Speaker: Nate Lighthizer, OD, 34C4 The Other Glaucoma (1 CE), 5:00pm – 6:00pm Speaker: Andrew Mick, OD Saturday, September 19 43C4 Anterior Segment Disease & Glaucoma Jeopardy (1 CE), 11:00am – 12:00pm Speaker: David Sendrowski, OD

OSD Symposium
Another can’t-miss event is the Ocular Surface Disease (OSD) and Wellness Symposium, which will help attendees realize why an OSD practice should mirror a preventative care model. The symposium will also help you better recognize dry eye diseases and allow you to expand the quality and consistency of care you are providing by following easy-to-use dry eye disease recommendations. Jack Schaeffer, OD, Scot Morris, OD, and Marc Bloomenstein, OD, will present two courses during the symposium. The first—“Ocular Wellness and the Ocular Surface: Where Do We Go From Here?”—walks you through a plan, developed by 30 optometric leaders, for a dry eye strategy for all optometrists. The course will cover the processes of developing a strategy in your office, doctor and staff responsibilities and basic diagnostic and treatment modalities. The second course, “Ocular Surface Disease: Developing a Strategy for Diagnosis and Treatment of OSD,” will use case studies and a rapid fire approach to cover the advanced diagnostic and treatment strategies for a dry eye specialty practice. The presenters will also discuss the wellness initiative and its relation to OSD prevention. The symposium will offer three CE credit hours.

Contact Lens Forum
A Global Contact Lens Forum will offer six free credit hours and will cover profitability, disease management and technology, as well as forecast the future of contact lens care. The forum will include: 

• State of the Contact Lens Industry in 2015 by Barry Eiden, OD, Robert Davis, OD, Clarke Newman, OD, and Scot Morris, OD. 
• Contact Lens Practice—A Survival Guide Q&A Debate moderated by Louise Sclafani, OD, and panelists Dr. Davis, Dr. Newman and Dr. Eiden. 
• Contact Lens Challenges—Evaluation and Management Strategies by Michael A. Ward, MMSc, FCLSA.
• A Practical Guide to Contact Lens Practice by Drs. Morris and Newman.

Other clinical courses during the conference will focus on pharmacology (11 hours), posterior segment and macular degeneration (30 hours), and systemic disease and neuro (16 hours).

“There is not a better way to celebrate the beginning of fall than being in Las Vegas in September for Vision Expo West,” says Mark Dunbar, OD, co-chair of Vision Expo’s Conference Advisory Board. “Vision Expos educate more optometrists than any other optometric meeting. There is a smorgasbord of interesting topics delivered by the top lecturers in the country, more exhibitors than any other meeting and a great venue in which to learn and have a great time. Come join us—it will be the best meeting you attend all year.”

For more information, go to www.visionexpowest.com.