SATURDAY 24TH OCTOBER

Modern progressive lenses represent a sophisticated integration of optical design, digital surfacing and individualised dispensing parameters. This lecture explores the optical principles underpinning contemporary progressive lens designs and examines how variations in corridor length, power distribution, unwanted astigmatism and lens personalisation influence visual performance. Participants will consider how prescription characteristics, frame selection, lifestyle and specific visual demands should guide lens selection. The session will provide a practical framework for matching progressive lens technology to individual patients to optimise adaptation, visual comfort and satisfaction.

Learning outcomes:

1. Explain the optical principles underpinning modern progressive lens designs and their impact on visual performance.
2. Select appropriate progressive lens designs based on patient lifestyle requirements, prescription characteristics, and visual demands.

Degressive and anti-fatigue lenses can provide valuable solutions for patients with intensive near and intermediate visual demands, yet inappropriate prescribing or dispensing can result in discomfort, poor adaptation and dissatisfaction. This lecture examines common pitfalls associated with these lens categories, including inappropriate add selection, misunderstanding of working distances, incorrect lens positioning and failure to adequately assess occupational requirements. Through practical clinical examples, participants will explore evidence-based strategies for improving lens selection, prescribing accuracy and patient outcomes.

Learning outcomes:

1. Identify common prescribing and dispensing errors associated with degressive and anti-fatigue lenses.
2. Apply evidence-based prescribing strategies to improve patient adaptation, comfort, and satisfaction.

This interactive workshop equips delegates with practical strategies to deliver consistent, evidence-based myopia management through effective collaboration between the optometrist and dispenser. Attendees will translate the latest research into everyday practice, strengthen communication with parents, and develop confidence in dispensing Essilor Stellest lenses using best-practice fitting techniques while addressing common dispensing challenges and parental objections.

Learning outcomes:

1. Implement a team-based approach that aligns the expertise of the optometrist and dispenser to deliver consistent, evidence-based myopia management.
2. Apply best-practice communication techniques when discussing myopia and myopia progression with parents. 
3. Translate research into everyday clinical practice.
4. Confidently dispense Essilor Stellest lenses using practical fitting and adjustment techniques.
5. Recognise common dispensing challenges including parental objections and implement solutions to improve patient satisfaction. 

The performance of sophisticated ophthalmic lenses depends heavily on the accuracy and consistency of the measurements used to prescribe, fit and dispense them. This lecture examines critical clinical measurements that influence lens performance. It also explores how structured practice systems, standardised protocols and effective communication between clinicians, dispensers and laboratories can reduce errors and improve efficiency. Participants will gain practical strategies for improving measurement accuracy and delivering more predictable patient outcomes.

Learning outcomes:

1. Demonstrate accurate measurement techniques that influence lens performance and patient outcomes.
2. Implement practice systems that improve consistency, efficiency, and dispensing accuracy.

Selecting the optimal lens solution is rarely determined by prescription alone. This interactive panel will examine complex real-world cases in which clinical findings, lifestyle requirements, frame selection, lens design, materials, coatings and dispensing parameters must all be considered. Drawing on multidisciplinary perspectives, panellists will discuss different approaches to lens recommendation and explore how emerging technologies can enhance individualisation. Participants will develop a more integrated framework for managing challenging cases and improving visual outcomes.

Learning outcomes:

1. Analyse complex patient cases to determine the most appropriate lens solutions.
2. Integrate clinical, dispensing, and technological considerations into lens recommendation decisions.

Concussion can produce a diverse range of visual symptoms and functional deficits that may significantly affect reading, mobility, concentration, balance and quality of life. This lecture explores common post-concussion visual disturbances, including accommodative dysfunction, binocular vision anomalies, oculomotor deficits, photophobia and visually induced dizziness. Participants will learn to recognise key symptoms and clinical findings, understand the role of interdisciplinary care and identify appropriate pathways for management, rehabilitation and referral.

Learning outcomes:

1. Recognise the common visual symptoms and functional deficits associated with concussion. 
2. Identify appropriate management, referral, and rehabilitation pathways for patients presenting with post-concussion visual disturbances.

Advances in digital measurement technology are changing the way ophthalmic lenses are fitted, personalised and optimised. This lecture examines the relationship between facial anatomy, frame position and lens performance, with particular attention to centration, vertex distance, pantoscopic tilt, face-form angle and other individual fitting parameters. Participants will explore how digital tools can improve measurement accuracy and consistency while supporting more sophisticated lens personalisation. The session will also consider the limitations of technology and the continuing importance of professional judgement and accurate frame fitting.

Learning outcomes:

1. Utilise digital measurement technologies to improve frame fitting and lens optimisation.
2. Evaluate the impact of facial anatomy and fitting parameters on visual outcomes and lens performance.

The traditional optometry practice model is being challenged by changing patient expectations, corporate competition, technological disruption and the increasing commoditisation of eye care and eyewear. This lecture examines emerging approaches to practice that prioritise clinical differentiation, specialised services, advanced ophthalmic optics and innovative patient experiences. Participants will explore opportunities to move beyond price-based competition by developing distinctive areas of expertise and creating sustainable models that deliver demonstrable value to patients.

Learning outcomes:

1. Assess emerging practice models and their implications for patient care and business sustainability. 
2. Identify opportunities to differentiate clinical services through innovation, technology, and specialised care.

Contemporary optometry operates at the intersection of healthcare and retail, creating both opportunities and tensions for practitioners and practice owners. This panel will examine the benefits and limitations of clinically focused and retail-oriented practice models and consider how each influences patient care, professional identity, commercial sustainability and service delivery. Through discussion of real-world scenarios, panellists will explore strategies for balancing ethical obligations, patient-centred care and commercial realities while maintaining professional integrity and practice viability.

Learning outcomes:

1. Compare the benefits and limitations of clinical and retail practice models within contemporary eye care. 
2. Develop strategies to balance commercial objectives with ethical and patient-centred care.

Warranty policies can significantly influence patient confidence, staff workload, profitability and the overall customer experience. This lecture examines the practical and financial implications of managing warranties within optical practice, including lens adaptation, manufacturing defects, accidental damage and remake policies. Participants will explore strategies for establishing clear, consistent and sustainable warranty systems that protect both patients and practices. Emphasis will be placed on communication, documentation, staff training and the distinction between genuine product failure, adaptation issues and inappropriate product selection.

Learning outcomes:

1. Identify the upstream clinical, optical and operational sources of remakes, and read the remake ledger as diagnostic data rather than as a cost line.
2. Apply a decision framework that distinguishes between clinical, research and practical "perfection" to select the level of technical complexity appropriate to the patient, the practice and the lab.

Modern ophthalmic lenses offer an increasingly sophisticated range of coatings, photochromic technologies and tint options designed to enhance visual performance, comfort, protection and aesthetics. This lecture examines the principles, benefits and limitations of contemporary lens enhancement technologies and their application across different patient populations. Participants will explore how lifestyle, occupation, environmental exposure, driving requirements, light sensitivity and individual visual demands can guide recommendations and improve patient satisfaction.

Learning outcomes:

1. Differentiate between modern coating, photochromic, and tint technologies and their clinical applications. 
2. Recommend lens enhancement options based on patient lifestyle, occupational needs, and visual requirements.

Prism is traditionally understood through its ability to alter the apparent position of an image, but its influence can also be considered as a broader field effect affecting visual perception, spatial orientation and posture. This lecture explores the theoretical and clinical concepts associated with prism as a field effect and examines how prismatic lens effects may influence visual processing and functional performance. Participants will consider clinical presentations in which prism may offer potential benefit, together with the importance of careful assessment, trialling and outcome evaluation in complex visual cases.

Learning outcomes:

1. Explain the concept of prism as a field effect and its influence on visual perception and posture. 
2. Assess when prism-related lens effects may provide clinical benefits in complex visual presentations.

Visual discomfort, light sensitivity and sensory overload can significantly affect some neurodiverse individuals, with symptoms varying considerably between patients. This lecture explores the potential role of specialised tint solutions in managing visual discomfort and sensory responses. Participants will examine the clinical considerations involved in assessing tint preferences and prescribing filtered lenses, including individual variability, environmental demands, functional goals and the limitations of current evidence. Emphasis will be placed on patient-centred assessment and cautious, outcome-focused prescribing.

Learning outcomes:

1. Identify situations where specialised tint solutions may improve visual comfort and sensory processing. 
2. Evaluate the clinical considerations involved in prescribing tints for neurodiverse patients.

This interactive panel brings together clinical, dispensing and technical perspectives to examine challenging lens recommendations across a range of real-world cases. Panellists will critically evaluate different approaches to lens coatings, tints  and patient communication, highlighting circumstances in which multiple solutions may be clinically reasonable. Participants will gain insight into multidisciplinary decision-making and develop practical strategies for achieving more predictable visual performance, adaptation and patient satisfaction.

Learning outcomes:

1. Critically evaluate lens recommendations across a range of real-world clinical scenarios.
2. Apply multidisciplinary perspectives to improve lens prescribing and dispensing outcomes.

Virtual and augmented reality technologies are rapidly moving from entertainment and research laboratories into education, health care, occupational training, vision science, and clinical practice. For optometrists, these technologies create both opportunities and challenges. Head-mounted displays place visual demands on patients that differ from conventional screens, including altered viewing geometry, accommodative-vergence conflict, binocular alignment demands, display latency, restricted field calibration, optical distortions, visual motion, and multisensory conflict. These factors can contribute to symptoms commonly grouped under computer vision syndrome, but in immersive environments they may also present as eyestrain, headache, binocular discomfort, nausea, disorientation, cybersickness, or reduced task performance.

This presentation will provide a clinically grounded framework for understanding visual comfort and performance in virtual and augmented reality. It will connect familiar optometric concepts — refraction, accommodation, binocular vision, ocular surface, eye movements, myopia-related near-work behaviour, and visual ergonomics — with the specific optical and perceptual demands of head-mounted displays. The session will also discuss how practitioners can assess patient suitability, recognise risk factors, advise on safe and comfortable use, and interpret emerging applications of VR and AR in clinical and research settings.

Rather than treating VR and AR simply as “new screens”, the presentation will argue that immersive displays represent a distinct visual environment requiring optometric expertise. As these technologies become more common, optometrists will be increasingly important in helping patients, educators, researchers, and industry understand how display design, visual function, and human perception interact.

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe the visual demands associated with augmented and virtual reality technologies.
2. Develop strategies to minimise digital eye strain and optimise visual comfort in immersive environments.

Generative AI (GenAI) is often discussed as a conversational interface. However, with the advent of more capable frontier models and improved work-ready integration capabilities, its role is expanding. This talk will discuss experience utilising GenAI as a development partner for domain experts who need tools that are too specific for generic educational software.

This presentation describes a case study from "OPTM2233 Optical Dispensing" taught as part of the Bachelor of Vision Science/Master of Clinical Optometry Program at UNSW, where detailed teaching requirements were translated into interactive, browser-based tools for tutorials, laboratory preparation and independent student practice. Examples include tools explaining cylindrical-lens focus, axis and power meridians; depth of focus and presbyopia simulators; lens-thickness and minimum-size-uncut calculators; focimeter familiarisation; decentration and prism; single-vision pre-edging; and pupillary-distance, fitting-height and frame-measurement trainers. 

The main contribution of generative AI was agile conversion of domain-specific teaching requirements into functional prototypes, followed by code troubleshooting, interface development and user-experience refinement through lecturer feedback. The presentation focuses on this development workflow rather than claiming proven educational efficacy and some observations on student utilisation and response. The talk will also consider potential clinical applications, including patient education, staff onboarding and validated optical comparison tools. It will emphasise that AI can accelerate prototyping, but does not replace optical expertise, verification, human-factors evaluation or clinical validation.

Learning outcomes:

1. Describe how virtual and augmented reality displays differ from conventional digital screens in their visual, binocular, accommodative, and perceptual demands.
2. Recognise common symptoms and mechanisms associated with visual discomfort in immersive displays, including eyestrain, binocular stress, accommodative-vergence conflict, visual motion sensitivity, and cybersickness.
3. Identify patient and device-related factors that may increase the risk of discomfort or poor visual performance during VR or AR use.
4. Apply optometric reasoning to practical advice on VR/AR use, including refractive correction, binocular vision considerations, session duration, display fit, interpupillary distance, and symptom monitoring.
5. Discuss the emerging role of optometrists in evaluating, prescribing for, and advising on immersive technologies in clinical, educational, occupational, and research contexts.

Artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape ophthalmic optics, clinical decision-making, lens design, diagnostic technologies and the delivery of vision care. This panel brings together diverse perspectives to examine current and emerging applications of AI and consider how these technologies may influence patient outcomes, professional roles and workforce requirements. Panellists will discuss opportunities for greater personalisation and efficiency alongside questions of accuracy, ethics, accountability and clinical oversight. Participants will be encouraged to critically consider how eye care professionals can engage with AI while preserving professional judgement and patient-centred care.

Learning outcomes:

1. Discuss current and emerging applications of artificial intelligence across ophthalmic optics and vision care. 
2. Assess the potential impact of AI on clinical decision-making, patient outcomes, and future workforce requirements.