GIVING RECOGNITION TO THE BEST OF THE BEST: THE ACADEMY AWARDS

We all appreciate a kind word or a note of recognition for our efforts and accomplishments. Particularly when the acknowledgement is from someone we admire or value in a special way. When professional achievements are honored by a respected group of accomplished colleagues, this is usually the source of exceptional pride. Thus, our Academy seeks to honor those who have achieved noteworthy levels of sustained excellence with significant contributions to the profession of optometry or the field of vision science. Chris Johnson and the Awards Committee will soon begin deliberations to identify those who will be honored at our Awards Program on Friday, October 25, 2013 in Seattle, WA.

This cannot happen, however, without first identifying those individuals who deserve our thanks and recognition for their high level of devotion and attainment. So take this opportunity to review the criteria for our awards and nominate qualified and deserving individuals. Their contributions have gone unappreciated long enough! The deadline for the submission of nominations for our Academy and American Optometric Foundation awards is April 1, 2013.

In addition to our traditional awards listed below, the Academy has a new award—the Vincent Ellerbrock Clinical Educator Award.

Vincent Ellerbrock Clinician Educator Award – recognizes a distinguished clinician who has made outstanding and sustained contributions to the Academy’s Lectures and Workshops Program. Individuals considered for this award will be widely recognized by both Academy peers and the profession for their clinical expertise and willingness to share their knowledge for the benefit of improved patient care. Awardees are required to be active in direct patient care. Additional contributions to the ophthalmic literature relative to sharing clinical knowledge may also be considered.

***

Charles F. Prentice Medal Award - recognizes a distinguished scientist or clinician scientist in recognition of a career-long record of advancement of knowledge in vision science. The recipient need not be a Fellow of the Academy nor an optometrist.

Glenn A. Fry Award (AOF) - given to a distinguished scientist or clinician scientist (typically mid-career stage) in recognition of the quality, significance, impact, and relevance to optometry of his or her current research contributions. The recipient need not be a Fellow of the Academy nor an optometrist.

Irvin M. and Beatrice Borish Award - recognizes an outstanding young scientist or clinician scientist (usually in the first 6 years of their career) who has shown exceptional promise to conduct independent research directly related to etiology, prevention, detection, diagnosis, or management of clinical ocular disorders. The recipient need not be a Fellow of the Academy nor an optometrist.

Essilor Award for Outstanding International Contributions to Optometry - recognizes an individual(s) or organization whose direct efforts and contributions have resulted in unquestionably significant and extraordinary advances in optometry and eye care internationally.

William Feinbloom Award - presented to an individual who has made a distinguished and significant contribution to clinical excellence and the direct clinical advancement of visual and optometric service and thus, the visual enhancement of the public. The recipient need not be a Fellow of the Academy nor an optometrist.

Carel C. Koch Memorial Medal Award - awarded to a person who has made outstanding contributions to the enhancement and development of relationships between optometry and other professions. The recipient need not be a Fellow of the Academy nor an optometrist.

Eminent Service Award - honors those who have rendered extraordinary and/or distinguished long-term service to the Academy.

Honorary Fellowship - honors individuals who are not Academy Fellows for distinguished contributions to the Academy and/or the science and art of optometry.

Life Fellowship - recognition to Fellows who have rendered distinguished service to the science and art of optometry.

Also included, but nominated by deans and presidents of the Schools and Colleges of Optometry is the Michael G. Harris Family Award for Excellence in Optometric Education (AOF) and the Julius F. Neumueller Award in Optics (AOF).

May we have your nominations, please?

[To Top]

THANK YOU FOR SHARING...WE ARE LISTENING!

I have a confession to make. I am not really a survey person. Political poll results have never and probably never will include my opinion. My lack of cooperation with completing surveys includes department stores, sandwich shops, hotels, airlines, and new products. Occasionally I am tempted to put aside my resolve that my opinion is not really all that important to the world and I give in to the process of sharing my impression of the product or service. Then about half way through the survey there is a question regarding the issue that motivated me to start the survey in the first place; however, to my eternal frustration there is no answer consistent with my opinion. A few may be close, but not close enough! So rather than give an answer that does not truly reflect my opinion, I do not complete the survey and remind myself why I should not have started the survey in the first place. There are only a few exceptions to my no survey policy and that includes professional organizations that I truly value, which includes our Academy.

Your Academy staff, annual meeting volunteer leaders, and board of directors spent a great deal of time reviewing the results of the post-meeting survey from the recent Academy Meeting in Phoenix. More than 38% of meeting attendees completed the survey. Based on your responses, the Academy staff and volunteers are considering what corrective action or program enhancements might be enacted to improve our annual meeting. In addition, each and every response to the open ended questions and comment sections were reviewed.

We heard you loud and clear that while you are willing to provide us with course evaluations to improve and maintain the quality of our course offerings at future meetings, you do NOT want the course evaluations to be required. While evaluations are critical for ongoing improvement, they will no longer be made mandatory. The exhibit hall lunch program will be improved to serve the growing number of attendees at the meeting. Consideration to slightly alter the exhibit hall hours to allow more interaction between our attendees and our exhibitors is underway. You reminded us that as our Plenary Session has grown, there is a clear need for more screens positioned so that everyone can comfortably see the slides during the presentation.

There were many other helpful comments that we will take to heart as we continuously strive to improve the quality of our annual meeting and the service we provide to our Fellowship and the profession. My favorite response to the reason for attending the meeting was “desire to support the Academy.”

Thank you for taking the time to provide us with your valued input. Furthermore, I would like to encourage those who adopted my usual non-survey participatory strategy to please let us know what you are thinking—positive reinforcement or valued suggestions for improvement are welcome here.

[To Top]

ACADEMY TRADITION V. CHANGE

There is nothing unique about our Academy in this regard: human beings are resistant to change. Change forces us to abandon our “tried and true” ways and move into a new zone of uncertainty where the outcome appears to be unclear. Uncertainty makes us uncomfortable. There is the tendency for us to abandon the new initiative without giving it a fair trial and to retreat to our old familiar habits, even if they are less effective than the proposed change.

Nevertheless, it is clear that change is inevitable. This has been well documented since ancient time as Heraclitus in 513 B.C. observed, “There is nothing permanent except change.” We all recognize that our Academy must change in order to grow and remain relevant to our profession. So how do we reconcile this conflict between the certainty of change and our comfort with the status quo?
This reminds us of the old baseball adage: you can’t steal second base with your foot on first. Yet, we can’t be complacent with both feet safely placed on first base. We need to be comfortable taking a lead off first, be vigilant for any attempt to pick us off, and choose wisely and decisively on which pitch to attempt to steal second.

While being respectful of the culture and treasured traditions of our Academy and our profession, we must embrace change that moves our organization and profession forward. One clear example is the decision to move our annual meeting from the time-honored and traditional Academy dates in early or mid-December to the present October/November time frame. There has certainly been some downside to this change, such as the conflict with other local and regional meetings.

But as busy as things might have been for those of us who attended our meeting in Phoenix in October this year, just think how nice it has been to have the last two weekends at home as you and your family prepare for your holiday celebrations. No working on posters and courses over Thanksgiving. No pre-holiday fatigue from just having arrived home this last weekend. Furthermore, since this change was implemented six years ago, our Academy has had five of our most successful meetings. Undoubtedly, this decision has also afforded Happier Holidays for our Academy Fellows, staff, and our families.

Happy Holidays to all, and a very happy, healthy New Year!

[To Top]

TEMPE THOUGHTS

On the Sunday morning following the Phoenix Academy Meeting, as many of you dashed to Sky Harbor Airport or discovered your stay in Phoenix was extended due to superstorm Sandy, I was strolling across the Mill Street Bridge in Tempe with Jack, Seth, Eric, Ben, Channing, Alexis, and their families, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances. Over 16,000 of us participated in the Arizona Walk for Autism Speaks raising $1.4 million to fight this disorder whose clinical presentation, social challenges, and research prospects were so eloquently summarized to us during our Plenary Session by Drs. Ricki Robinson and David Amaral.

Planes flying overhead caused my thoughts to drift to my Academy Fellows returning home after joining us for another successful meeting. This was our third largest meeting with over 3,000 optometrists and 5,000 total registrants. High quality courses, superb symposia outlining critical clinical thinking to improve patient care, thought provoking clinical case presentations and clinical studies in the poster sessions, papers providing new discoveries in clinical and vision science, and a robust exhibit hall are the essence of our meeting. All of you who contributed to the success of this meeting should be congratulated. Yet, the formal induction of 204 new Fellows of the Academy was the pinnacle of the event. At the banquet we welcomed them into our Fellowship along with their commitment to life long learning and expanding their knowledge to provide improved patient care.

When we turned for the return trip across Tempe Lake, my attention returned to those walking with me. The love and concern of friends, family, and neighbors was evident as all were united in this common case. As I walked with Kyla discussing the new school and program that her son started attending this year, it became clear that she and her husband were firmly dedicated to a long-term commitment to make the best life possible for their son. And while all parents strive to make a good life for their children, the added challenge of having a son with Autism Spectrum Disorder requires a constant and full commitment to that vision.

Then my thoughts and reflections drifted back to my Academy week. What is the level of our commitment to our Academy and our profession? Is it one of convenience that can be disrupted by the first sign of discomfort? Or is it a more robust commitment that can be sustained and enhanced by professional and personal challenges?
[To Top]

OCTOBER 2012: LOST (AND FOUND) IN TRANSLATION

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so you may have seen a lot of pink signs, t-shirts, and calls for participation and contributions in various venues around your community. I became more aware of the disease than ever last month.

I have invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. I had my annual, routine mammogram on September 4th followed rapidly by digital mammography, ultrasound, and needle biopsy, was diagnosed September 18th, and had a partial mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy on September 28. I will start either chemotherapy or radiation as soon as I get home from the Academy meeting. Either way, radiation and many years of aromatase inhibitor treatment are on the docket for sure.

I am experiencing the full force of translational research, or what we at the Academy have “visioned” as “Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Practice” for many years, albeit it in oncology instead of optometry. When my surgical oncologist says, “The 20-year results for lumpectomy and radiation are the same as for mastectomy,” all I can see is someone presenting a survival analysis from a randomized clinical trial or case-control study at a national conference and the hundreds of women who were in that study. When I hear, “Your tumor will be sent for genotyping to help us make the chemotherapy decision,” I envision bench scientists toiling late into the night and on weekends to gather results, write papers, receive grants, and translate their results into the very real life preserver and treatment opportunity I am being offered. My medical oncologist is a true clinician-scientist with a basic science laboratory and an active clinical practice; he probably received the equivalent of an Ezell Fellowship from his professional organization way back when.

When breast cancer survivors on Facebook know their tumors’ estrogen, progesterone, and HER2neu receptor status, it means that doctors have spent countless hours educating their patients about the structure and function of cell receptors and the latest therapies to combat those cells’ growth.

It’s the same in optometry. Maybe the stakes are lower for us compared to oncology, or maybe not, at the end of the day. Patients deeply fear blindness.

Next week in Phoenix, you will stroll through the Exhibit Hall, trying out the latest equipment and comparing new devices across manufacturers. You will take notes furiously during a paper or poster or lecture on a topic that directly affects a patient you saw last week and resolve to call her to update her care when you get home from the Academy meeting. You will listen, rapt, while a colleague in the hallway relates his recent clinical experience before providing your own insights on his patient. You will translate today’s research into tomorrow’s practice, in some way, as soon as you get home.

Now that I’m a bit over the initial shock of diagnosis and surgery, I am doing okay and will welcome your words of support in Phoenix, even as I offer my own to Fellows who have been through this themselves. I just got cleared to resume regular activities postoperatively. I took a beginning watercolor class this weekend. I successfully rode a 25-mile breast cancer awareness bicycle ride Saturday, and I am following my doctors’ recommendations (including, “Don’t fall off your bike”) and living my life with my customary cynicism, joy, negative-energy-you-can-feed-off, sleeplessness, and love.

It has been an unparalleled honor to serve these past two years as the President of your Academy. I wish incoming President, and dear friend, Bernie Dolan, all the best.

[To Top]

A NEED TO KNOW BASIS

Students have been on my mind lately. I've made school visits to the Illinois College of Optometry, am visiting the School of Optometry at Inter-American University tomorrow, and head to the Indiana University School of Optometry in mid-September. I've had the good fortune to go to Pacific University, SUNY, and the University of Houston during my term as Academy president, and, of course, I work with Ohio State's optometry students every day. These interactions always energize me. Regardless of institution, the students are excited about optometry, overflowing with information and ideas, and seem to have newly discovered our Academy.

Our optometric institutions are our profession’s lifeblood, our future, even our destiny. We all became optometrists at one of them, and they are different in many respects but bond us with their similarities, too.

Recently, I was at a brown bag lunch organized by Fellow and Faculty-Student Liaison Committee Chair, Jeff Walline, for six Ohio State students who competed for and have completed a research rotation, through a grant from the National Eye Institute. Several other US optometric institutions host the same program. The lunch was attended by Fellows (and optometrists/faculty members) Andy Hartwick, Dean VanNasdale, and Don Mutti, too. The conversation turned to how each of the faculty members had decided on graduate school and a career in academia.

Andy related a colorful story that involved tent camping, a poster about the OD/MS program at the University of Waterloo, and undergraduate research observations on the mating habits of beetles. Dean recalled a random email about a retinal imaging training opportunity, and I decided that a PhD might be the best path for me, in part because I thought I might have some leadership chops. Don simply said, “I just needed to know stuff.”

I’ve been thinking about that ever since. Isn’t that why our Academy exists, when all is said and done? Optometrists become Fellows because they … need to know stuff. Students come to the Academy meeting because they… need to know stuff. The American Optometric Foundation (AOF) subsidizes residents, students, and faculty endeavors based on the applicants’ descriptions of their… need to know stuff. Scientists pursue research, conduct experiments, write grants, and publish papers because they…need to know stuff. Editor, Fellow, and Past President Tony Adams dedicates himself to Optometry and Vision Science every month because his readers… need to know stuff.

Our American Academy of Optometry, its Annual Meeting, its journal, and its academic charity all continue to thrive because the optometric profession needs to know stuff to satisfy our innate curiosity about the eye and visual system so that we can take better care of our patients. Come join us. If you’re a candidate, finish up the Fellowship requirements. If you’re a student member, become a Student Fellow. If you’re a scientist non-member (or you know one), take advantage of the free non-member scientist registration opportunity in Phoenix this year by contacting Fellow Shaban Demirel, Chair of the Vision Science Section. If you’re a Fellow, pick a Special Interest Group and become active or find a Section and start that Diplomate process. If you’ve never donated to the AOF to support a young person’s need to know, do so now. Read and/or contribute OVS.

Lastly, this year in Phoenix, there’s a unique opportunity to celebrate the life of one of us who needed to know stuff, every day. Come to this year’s Borish Festschrift, featuring Borish award winners and Borish Ezell fellows, on Saturday, October 27, in Room 122 A-C of the Phoenix Convention Center. Irv would love to know you’re there.

P.S. I thought you might like to know. I biked a 160-mile charity ride, the Pan Massachusetts Challenge, earlier this month. It’s the trip I’ve made every year since 2005, but I suffered a concussion riding it in 2011. I finished the event this year, in record time for me, without visiting the emergency department at Cape Cod Community Hospital.

[To Top]

WISHING WELL

The House of Delegates at the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) meeting in Chicago in July saw the induction of Ronald L. Hopping, OD, MPH, FAAO, as President of the AOA, accompanied by First Lady Desiree T. Hopping, OD, FAAO. As everyone well knows, he followed in the footsteps of his father, Richard Hopping, OD, FAAO, a past-president of the AOA, to create the first parent-child AOA presidential pairing. Our own Academy can also lay special claim to Dr. Ron. In addition to being a Fellow, he is a Diplomate in the Section on Cornea, Contact Lenses & Refractive Technologies, an achievement of which he is rightfully proud. We are at least that proud of him. Congratulations, Ron!

Following a rousing inaugural parade into the House for Ron that included Texas music and flags and a lot of rompin’, stompin’ cowboy boots, Ron delivered an inspirational speech. In it, he promoted the importance of a vital, healthy, actively-advocating-on-behalf-of-our-profession American Optometric Association. He told the assembled audience that they “drink from wells they did not dig,” while exhorting them to help maintain our profession’s healthy advocate.

Wow, I thought, what a lovely turn of phrase. Did Ron write that? If I’d asked him, I know he would have said, “No, you idiot.” A quick look at the Google Machine yielded this reference, from Deuteronomy 6:11. I love the poetry of the American King James Bible (always have, from childhood), which goes like this, “And houses full of all good things, which you filled not, and wells dug, which you dug not, vineyards and olive trees, which you planted not; when you shall have eaten and be full.

In our lives, we all drink from wells we did not dig, both personally and professionally. (Naturally, there are holes we’ve dug ourselves into, but that’s a story for another day.) Our own Academy house is beautiful and well stocked with good things. Your AAO housekeepers, in the form of valued staff and dedicated volunteers, including the hardest working Board of Directors in show business, are busy planning the Annual Meeting in Phoenix where you will all eat olives and drink wine and intellectually fulfill yourselves. Come join us, AOA President Ron Hopping and his Board of Trustees, and 5,000+ of your closest friends at Academy 2012 Phoenix.

[To Top]