No abstract

A U.S. Army Optometry team was dispatched as part of the Africa Crisis Initiative to Uganda to provide vision care to a battalion-size task force of the Ugandan Army. Their mission was to ensure vision readiness of the unit and to promote humanitarian good will. Of the 692 soldiers refracted, 117 required spectacle correction to be vision ready. One hundred one records were available to be examined. The distribution of ametropia among this population is consistent with other studies of Third World countries.

Planning for the effective delivery of eye care, on all levels, depends on an accurate and detailed knowledge of the optometric workforce and an understanding of demographic/behavioral trends to meet future needs of the public. PURPOSE:The purposes of this study were to assess the current and future supply of doctors of optometry and to examine in-depth trends related to (1) demographic shifts, (2) sex-based differences, (3) differences in practice behaviors in between self-employed and employed optometrists, and (4) the concept of additional capacity within the profession. METHODS:The 2017 National Optometry Workforce Survey (31 items) was distributed to 4050 optometrists, randomly sampled from a population of 45,033 currently licensed and practicing optometrists listed in the American Optometric Association's Optometry Master Data File. A stratified sampling method was applied to the population of optometrists using primary license state, age, and sex as variables to ensure a representative sample.RESULTS: With a response rate of 29% (1158 responses), the sample ensured a 95% confidence interval with a margin of error of <5%. Key results include finding no significant differences between men and women for hours worked (38.9 vs. 37.5), productivity (patient visits per hour, 2.0 vs. 1.9), or career options/professional growth satisfaction with 65% for both. The data indicate a likely range of additional patient capacity of 2.29 to 2.57 patients per week (5.05 to 5.65 million annually profession-wide). CONCLUSIONS:The optometric workforce for the next decade is projected to grow 0.6 to 0.7% more annually than the U.S. population. The study found additional capacity for the profession more limited than previously suggested. Findings also illustrate an evolving/equitable workforce based on sex, in terms of both productivity and satisfaction. The trend toward employed versus self-employed was marked with 44% reporting they are employed, up from 29% in 2012.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy recently adopted the MCU-2/P Chemical-Biological Mask to replace the M17 series of protective masks. Visual field plots were generated on a patient wearing each of these respirators. Although both resulted in a decrease of the visual fields, the magnitude of restrictions was far less with the MCU-2/P Chemical-Biological Mask.

PurposeTo compare the effectiveness of an educational board game with interactive didactic instruction for teaching optometry students elements of the core optometric curriculum.MethodsForty-two optometry students were divided into two GPA-matched groups and assigned to either 12 hours of game play (game group) or 12 hours of interactive didactic instruction (lecture group). The same material from the core optometric curriculum was delivered to both groups. Game play was accomplished via an original board game. Written examinations assessed change in knowledge level. A post-intervention opinion survey assessed student attitudes.ResultsThere was no significant difference in pre- or post-intervention test scores between the lecture and game groups (Pre-test: p = 0.9; Post-test: p = 0.5). Post-intervention test scores increased significantly from baseline (Game group: 29.3% gain, Didactic group: 31.5% gain; p<0.001 for each). The score increase difference between groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.6). The post-intervention attitude survey did not reveal any significant between group differences (p = 0.5).ConclusionsOur results indicate that an educational game and interactive didactic instruction can be equally effective in teaching optometry students basic and applied science. Furthermore, both modes of instruction have the potential to be equally engaging and enjoyable experiences.