Myopia Management

Presenter: June Dorsam, Public Health Science, Global Public Health Scholars

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I completed an internship at revolutionEYES optometry office in Ellicott City, Maryland for my Global Public Health Scholars Practicum. revolutionEYES is a privately-owned practice run by two optometrists who are members of Vision Source, a network of independent optometrists. I worked as an optometric technician (OD tech) where I pre-tested patients before they saw the doctor. Pre-testing consists of greeting the patient, writing down the patient’s eye history and making note of symptoms or changes to vision, and collecting data on their prescription through the auto-refractor. Pre-testing also includes taking retinal photos through the OCT/retinal camera and reading their current glasses prescription on the auto lensometer. The data collected is useful for the doctor to get a complete picture of the patient’s eye health. I also tested patient’s visual acuities with and without their lenses or eyeglasses. I checked the patient’s eye pressure and ran the Neurolens assessment which tests for eye misalignment. After recording these measurements, I gave the doctor a brief overview of the patient, emphasizing any surprising numbers or symptoms the patient noted. The internship allowed me to apply my global public health knowledge gained from the Scholars program. In Scholars, we talked about the social determinants of health, social, economic, and structural factors that affect one’s health status and overall well-being. Patients with a lower income were less likely to update their glasses prescription or purchase recommended eye care supplies. Economic stability affects patient’s ability to pay for vision correction and harms their ability to see. Making care accessible to all, especially those who are underserved is a fundamental aspect of public health. Myopia prevalence has increased within the last few decades as screen usage has increased. While myopia is prevalent in all countries, there are countries with higher prevalence rates than others. Specifically, Asian countries have the highest rates of myopia. Understanding health disparities as a medical professional will allow me to provide comprehensive care and address the patient's specific needs. I can apply topics of social determinants of health and health disparities to my future career as a Physician Assistant, where patients will have a variety different backgrounds, incomes, home lives, etc.