Stage set for BCLA 2023

2023 BCLA Medallist, Professor Eric Papas

The first in-person British Contact Lens Association (BCLA) clinical conference and exhibition in four years will open its doors this Friday.

The three-day meeting at Manchester Central (9-11 June) will offer CPD lectures, live demonstrations, practical hands-on workshops, an industry exhibition and a social programme with BCLA Celebrates on the Saturday evening.

The speaker line-up includes keynote presentations by Frank Schaeffel and Dr Gregory Sawyer, the BCLA Medal Address by Professor Eric Papas, and the Irving Fatt Memorial Lecture delivered by Dr Sonia Trave-Huarte.

As well as offering some 45 CPD points in a range of domains, the conference will introduce a new initiative in the form of micro-credentials: bite-sized chunks of learning enabling delegates to develop knowledge and skills in specific areas. The micro-credential certificates offered this year are: Advanced Contact Lenses, Dry Eye, Myopia Control and Ocular Health.

Micro-credential certificates will be awarded at the close of the conference to those who have gained the necessary credit, to a maximum of two certificates will be achievable. The certificates can then be displayed in practice to highlight to patients specific additional skills and knowledge in specialist areas.

Myopia, dry eye and much, much more

BCLA president, Neil Retallic, and chief executive, Luke Stevens-Burt, will open the conference on Friday 9 June before lectures commence. Dr Gregory Sawyer will present his keynote lecture in the morning on, ‘The art of contact lens comfort’.

Free papers on contact lens discomfort, specialist lenses and the tear film will run across the day in a ‘Cutting edge track’, in parallel with workshops/peer review sessions on topics such as scleral lenses, lid examination (including meibomian gland dysfunction and demodex), and contact lens compliance.

ABDO’s clinical lead, Max Halford, and head of CPD, Alex Webster, along with Dean Dunning, will lead a peer review on ‘Ageing dilemmas and contact lens wear’.

Day two of the conference will have a focus on dry eye – with a morning session on the Dry Eye Wheel devised by Professors Jennifer Craig, Lyndon Jones and James Wolffsohn. Other lecture topics range from ‘More advanced understanding of the tear film and its interfaces with a contact lens’ (Dr Sawyer) to ‘How well do you know your ocular lubricants’ by Etty Britton.

Dr Kate Gifford

There will be free paper sessions on myopia, and contact lenses and anterior eye, plus separate peer review and workshop tracks running in parallel. These will chiefly focus on myopia management and include, for example, ‘Compelling cases in myopia management’ peer review by Kate Gifford and Paul Gifford, and ‘Multi-function instruments for myopia management: a review of current instruments and their capabilities’ workshop with Debbie Jones and Jill Woods.

The final day of the conference will again have myopia control/management to the fore – with Frank Schaeffel giving his keynote presentation in the morning on, ‘Visual clues for emmetropisation and mechanisms of myopia control’. Paul Gifford will look at the ‘Latest on ortho-k for myopia control’, with International Myopia Institute 2023 White Papers and more.

Two free paper sessions will cover presbyopia and toric contact lenses, and contact lens materials, with workshops and peer review offering more on the Dry Eye Wheel, punctal plugging, intense pulsed light and tear film biomarkers, plus assessing lid wiper epitheliopathy.

The conference will draw to a close on Sunday with Professor Eric Papas presenting his BCLA Medal Address, ‘How football, luck and good people saved me from the golf course’, followed by the announcement of the Best Poster Competition and Diane Gould Photography Competition winners.

Catching up with friends and colleagues

A welcome drinks reception will take place from 5.30pm to 6.30pm on the Friday evening in the exhibition hall, enabling delegates and exhibition visitors to catch up after a busy opening day whilst visiting the stands.

On the Saturday evening, BCLA Celebrates will be held at the Imperial War Museum North. The event will begin at 7.30pm with a drinks reception on arrival followed by a buffet, plus entertainment until midnight.

During the evening, the BCLA presidential chain of office will be handed over to Rakesh Kapoor, and the 2023 BCLA Awards presented. These will include Dry Eye Management Practitioner of the Year, Myopia Management Practitioner of the Year, Hospital Optometry Practitioner of the Year, Young Contact Lens Practitioner of the Year, and the Industry Award.

Visit www.bcla.org.uk