NSU College of Optometry to host 5-State Area Symposium

(Tahlequah, Okla.)--Northeastern State Universitys Optometric Student Association and College of Optometry will be hosting the annual 5-State Area Symposium on Saturday, Feb. 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 pm in the University Center, Tahlequah campus.

The event is held each year, catering primarily to area optometrists in the five-state region; however, the symposium also serves as a stage for eight optometry students to share their knowledge in an optometry competition known as Grand Rounds. All proceeds of the event go to the Optometric Student Association.

Dr. Leland Carr, who will be leading the Grand Rounds portion of the symposium, explained that each optometry student is required to create a presentation as part of their coursework, and the top eight presentations, which are deemed most useful educationally, are selected to present during the symposium. A panel of three judges will be on hand during the event to judge the presentations, and all eight presenters will receive a scholarship in various amounts based on judging.

This years event will feature five presentations by NSU-affiliated speakers accompanying the Grand Rounds:

• Dr. Kelly Boucher: No Eye-No Problem Clinical treatment and management for patients with prosthetic eyes
  
  
• Dr. Emily Bruce: Safety in Eyecare OSHA regulations for the optometric practice
  
  
• Dr. Jason Ellen: Pearls of Knowledge Gleaned from 15 Years of Teaching Optometry Residents Interesting cases and bits of wisdom on what NOT to do, or what to do better next time
  
  
• Dr. Monte Harrel: Ocular Surface Disease: New Paradigms in Diagnosis and Treatment and Cases That Taught Me Lessons: Neuro to Binocular Vision
  
  
• Dr. David Lewerenz: An Overview of Inherited Retinal Conditions

This event sees 200-250 optometry professionals in attendance each year and offers a unique and useful opportunity for those in the profession.

Attending this symposium allows for those in the profession to earn their required annual hours of continuing education in February, when all hours must be met by the end of June in the state of Oklahoma, Dr. Leland Carr, professor of Optometry at NSUOCO said. Most other providers don't emphasize early spring time opportunities to get these hours, so were providing an opportunity for members in the professional community to get their hours completed early in the year.