Optometry Archives - My Health Career

ATAR for optometry – Your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2022

Amanda Griffiths — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 19:00:43 +0000

There are 7 schools of optometry in Australia. These in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia, and Western Australia. The ATAR required depends on the pathway you take to become an optometrist. Depending on the pathway you take, it can take a minimum of 3.5 years to 7 years to become a registered optometrist.

Undergraduate entry into optometry

The following table shows the ATARs that were required to enter each undergraduate course at the beginning of 2022:

Please note that this is a rough guide only for future years as it changes from year to year depending on the applications each university receives. There are also changes from year to year on whether UCAT ANZ or an interview is required. For entry since 2018, UCAT ANZ has not been a requirement for any undergraduate optometry course. Requirements other than an ATAR, such as a personal statement may be required for entry into some courses, so be sure to check with each university.

Some universities may have a policy of “assumed knowledge” instead of pre-requisite subjects. For example, they will assume that you have the knowledge of 4 high school semesters of subjects such as Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry or English. Please note that other universities have pre-requisite subjects you need to have completed prior to entering their optometry programs.

Some universities may offer pathways to transfer into their optometry course from another one of their Bachelor degrees or from a Bachelor degree at a different university. There may also be specific pathways for students who wish to practice in rural and remote regions across Australia, and places for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students.

The University of Melbourne has a Chancellor’s Scholars Program for applicants who achieve an ATAR of 99.90 or better, or at least 90.00 for Indigenous students. They also have a guaranteed entry pathway into graduate degrees which applies to optometry for some students. The standard entry pathway involves completing an undergraduate degree in Biomedicine or Science, and entry into the 4 year Doctor of Optometry from these programs is competitive. Please look closely at the information on The University of Melbourne’s website regarding the various pathways.

Prior to starting clinical placements, requirements may include:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Postgraduate entry into optometry

There is a postgraduate pathway that available at the University of Melbourne and The University of Western Australia. They require an undergraduate degree with specific pre-requisite subjects and list courses which meet these requirements on their respective websites.

Prior to starting clinical placements, requirements may include:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Pathways to becoming an optometrist

Following is an infographic which provides an overview of the pathways to becoming qualified as an optometrist in Australia. For simplicity, it does not include the possibility of transferring into optometry from another course. For more detailed pathways information, go to our become an optometrist page.

Current list of approved programs of study to become an optometrist

If you would like to find courses to become an optometrist:
1. Go to https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Accreditation/Approved-Programs-of-Study.aspx
2. In Profession select Optometrist
3. In Country make the appropriate selection – for example, Australia
4. In Qualification Type do two separate searches. Firstly, select General and then secondly select General, Endorsement
5. Click Search for each Qualification Type search

More resources on My Health Career

Disclaimer

This information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances. My Health Career accepts no responsibility for ensuring that you enrol in a course that is right for you. Please do your own research to ensure that you enrol in the correct course, especially if you are considering an undergraduate biomedicine, health science or biomedical science degree as a pathway to a postgraduate course. This may include speaking with a careers advisor, guidance officer, career development practitioner, representatives of Optometry Australia, and admissions officers from the university or universities you are looking at applying to.

The post ATAR for optometry – Your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2022 appeared first on My Health Career.

Optometry 2022: The Profession’s Priorities in an Election Year

Amanda Griffiths — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 19:00:39 +0000

With 2022 being a year where there was a federal election in addition to the annual handing down of the federal budget, Optometry Australia has been advocating for the profession.

Pre-budget submission

Optometry Australia’s 2022-2023 Pre-Budget submission was centred on 5 measures. These were:

A focused eye health awareness campaign – $500K over 2 years
Building health professional awareness of eye health, focused on chronic health conditions – $500K over 2 years
Intravitreal injection collaborative care pilot in regional Australia – $500K over 2 years
Increasing the optometric domiciliary loading benefit for Residential Aged Care Facility visits – $500K per annum
Increasing funding for the Visiting Optometrists Scheme to improve access to eye care for First Nations peoples – $18.1 million over 5 years

Optometry Australia’s President Murray Smith said that many Australians being unable to access timely eye care and an ageing population was putting pressure on an already over-stretched tertiary eye care system.

‘A key part of the solution to ensure Australians have timely, affordable access to safe eye care is to make the best possible use of our highly skilled optometric workforce.

‘We can do this by ensuring Australians, and particularly those with chronic conditions like diabetes, are encouraged to access regular eye examinations so eye disease, often asymptomatic in its early days, can be detected early and managed effectively.

‘We also need to ensure that the skills of our optometrists are being used for the best benefit of the community. In Australia for instance, optometrists are unable to prescribe oral medications despite their counterparts in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and elsewhere doing so safely for many years,’ Mr Smith said.

He added that in other countries optometrists are also used to support treatment for vision threatening diseases such as macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease which require ongoing monitoring and treatment.

‘Conversely in many parts of Australia patients face significant issues accessing this type of ongoing care when more effective use of our skilled optometrists could help address this situation.

‘Achieving this will require supportive funding and regulatory change,’ said Mr Smith.

Pre-federal election

In the lead up to the federal election, Optometry Australia again raised the issue around domiciliary visits by optometrists.

According to Optometry Australia, for a cost of $0.93 per person annually, there would be a significant improvement to access to eye care in Residential Aged Care Facilities.

Optometry Australia President, Mr Murray Smith said, ‘This small investment – adding up to only $500,000 per annum – would encourage many more optometrists to provide safe domiciliary eye care services to vulnerable elderly and immobile Australians.

‘To achieve this requires a shift in MBS policy as the current rebate of $24.20 per domiciliary visit is grossly inadequate, leaving many optometrists out of pocket. The true cost requires an increase to $85 per visit’.

Mr Smith, said: ‘We want individuals and governments alike to recognise that your eye health is not a lost cause once you turn 65. While older people are more likely to develop a chronic vision disorder, early diagnosis and treatment can stop or slow the progression of many conditions.’

Post-federal election

Following the May 2022 federal election, Optometry Australia stated its intention to appeal to the new Labor Government to escalate eye health reform as part of its overarching health agenda, pointing out Labor’s pre-election campaign commitment to implementing primary care reforms costing close to $1 billion over 4 years.

In June 2022, Optometry Australia indicated that they intended to discuss fairer Medicare indexation with the Hon Mark Butler, Federal Minister for Health. They identified that an indexation increase of 1.6% for optometry item numbers in the Medicare Benefits Schedule lagged significantly behind the Consumer Price Index which rose 5.1% in the past 12 months (ABS April 2022).

CEO, Lyn Brodie, said that Optometry Australia fought hard to have optometry included in the MBS schedule in 1975 but since 1997 adjustments to the Optometric Medicare Benefits Schedule have continued to significantly lag CPI.

‘A freeze in indexation for optometry between 2013 and 2019, plus a 5% cut to MBS rebates introduced by the government in 2015, has resulted in Medicare rebates in real terms in 2022 being a decade behind where they should be today.’

Ms Brodie said that the gap between what optometrists can claim in Medicare rebates for patient consultations and the real cost of providing this service, has been widening for the past 35 years, but the real damage has been done in the past 10 years.

‘Optometrists will have no choice but to charge patients more and more out-of-pocket costs. There are already too many Australians who are unable to access the timely care they need and we believe lagging Medicare indexation will contribute to a national eye health crisis.

‘Any increase in fees a patient is asked to pay can result in them delaying, or ignoring, the need for regular eye examinations and this will put the eye health of many at risk.

‘With half of Australia’s population already suffering long-term eye conditions, Optometry Australia is doing everything in our power to seek the government’s commitment to reverse, not contribute to, this alarming statistic.’

The post Optometry 2022: The Profession’s Priorities in an Election Year appeared first on My Health Career.

ATAR for optometry – your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2021

Loc Nguyen — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 00:43:56 +0000

There are 6 schools of optometry in Australia. They are in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. The ATAR required depends on the pathway you take to become an optometrist. For most programs the successful completion of a Bachelor of Vision Science is required to gain entry into the Master of Optometry.

Undergraduate entry into optometry

The following table shows the ATAR / OP scores that were required to enter each undergraduate course at the beginning of 2021:

Please note that this is a rough guide only for future years as it changes from year to year depending on the applications each university receives. There are also changes from year to year on whether UCAT ANZ or an interview is required. For entry since 2018, UCAT ANZ (in 2019 UMAT was replaced with UCAT ANZ) has not been a requirement for any undergraduate optometry course.

Some universities may offer pathways to transfer into their optometry course from another one of their Bachelor degrees or from a Bachelor degree at a different university. They may also have sub quotas for students who wish to practice in rural and remote regions across Australia, and places for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students.

Prior to starting clinical placements, students may require:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Postgraduate entry into optometry

There is a formal postgraduate pathway that is available at the University of Melbourne. They require an undergraduate degree with specific pre-requisite subjects and list courses which meet these requirements on their website. The Bachelor of Biomedicine or Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne are a pathway for entry into the Doctor of Optometry. You will also require a GAMSAT score, Weighted Average Mark of 75% and show that you can meet certain English language requirements for admission to the Doctor of Optometry at the University of Melbourne. Please look closely at the information on The University of Melbourne’s website regarding the various pathways.

Prior to starting clinical placements, students may require:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Pathways to becoming an optometrist

Current list of approved programs of study to become an optometrist

If you would like to find courses to become an optometrist:

Go to https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Accreditation/Approved-Programs-of-Study.aspx
In Profession select Optometrist
In Country make the appropriate selection – for example, Australia
In Qualification Type select General
Click Search

More resources on My Health Career

Disclaimer

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ATAR for optometry – your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2020

Sab Ocampo — Sun, 02 Aug 2020 19:00:45 +0000

There are 6 schools of optometry in Australia. These in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory and South Australia. The ATAR required depends on the pathway you take to become an optometrist. For most programs the successful completion of a Bachelor of Vision Science is required to gain entry into the Master of Optometry.

Undergraduate entry into optometry

The following table shows the ATAR / OP scores that were required to enter each undergraduate course at the beginning of 2020:

Please note that this is a rough guide only for future years as it changes from year to year depending on the applications each university receives. There are also changes from year to year on whether UCAT ANZ or an interview is required. For entry since 2018, UCAT ANZ (in 2019 UMAT was replaced with UCAT ANZ) has not been a requirement for any undergraduate optometry course.

The University of Melbourne has a Chancellor’s Scholars Program for applicants who achieve an ATAR of 99.90 or better, or at least 90.00 for Indigenous students. They also have a guaranteed entry pathway into graduate degrees which applies to optometry for some students. Entry to the 4 year Doctor of Optometry is following a 3 year undergraduate degree which meets the university’s pre-requisite requirements. GAMSAT is not required for entry into the Doctor of Optometry if you meet the Grade Point Average (GPA) requirements in your undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne.

Prior to starting clinical placements, students may require:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Postgraduate entry into optometry

There is a formal postgraduate pathway that is available at the University of Melbourne. They require an undergraduate degree with specific pre-requisite subjects and list courses which meet these requirements on their website. The Bachelor of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne meets their requirements too. You will also require a GAMSAT score and show that you can meet certain English language requirements for admission to the Doctor of Optometry at the University of Melbourne.

Prior to starting clinical placements, students may require:

Immunizations
Completion of a First Aid course including CPR
A working with vulnerable people check
A police check

Pathways to becoming an optometrist

Current list of approved programs of study to become an optometrist

If you would like to find courses to become an optometrist:

Go to https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Accreditation/Approved-Programs-of-Study.aspx
In Profession select Optometrist
In Country make the appropriate selection – for example, Australia
In Qualification Type select General
Click Search

More resources on My Health Career

Disclaimer

The post ATAR for optometry – your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2020 appeared first on My Health Career.

An insight to an optometrist’s love for her career

Sab Ocampo — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 18:00:52 +0000

With Valentine’s Day coming up, we thought we’d ask health practitioners what they love about their profession. Here’s what optometrist Emma Slinger had to say for #loveyourcareer week….

What I love most about working as an Optometrist is the ability to solve people’s visual needs and therefore help my patients to do the things they enjoy. This can re-open their world of possibilities and create new adventures. Once I had a patient who was dismayed because she had given up her cross-stitch as her eye sight wasn’t good enough. We had to go beyond just simple glasses and were able to find a magnifying system that worked great for her cross-stitch and she was so appreciative.

Tell us about your most memorable patient.

The patient that sits most in my mind is the one who had been having problems for the past few years and gradually getting worse in terms of her fatigue and also decrease in muscle strength. She presented to me noticing some doubling of her vision and also complaining of her other various general health conditions. I was able to work out that she had poor muscle control that was atypical. With this information, she was able to be referred to a specialist that was finally able to provide her an answer with something she had been suffering from for years, with no previous diagnosis. She was so grateful for answers, I’ll always remember her extreme gratitude.

How do you motivate yourself to move forward and keep the passion burning for your chosen career if you experience burnout?

I have branched into practice ownership and having both the business and patient care aspects helps to keep me balanced. If one side of my work gets a bit intense, e.g. difficult patients or issues with cash flow, the other aspect offers a place to get my head off it and focus on something else.

What is something that can be improved that would make you love being an optometrist even more?

If, as an industry, there was more patient education performed on a regular basis about what optometrists are for and how skilled they can actually be. This would allow optometrists to really stretch their clinical skills more so.

Emma Slinger is an optometrist and owner at Eyecare Plus Karalee, which is an independent optometry practice. She has special interests in children’s vision, diabetic eye disease and myopia (short-sightedness) management.
Visit Emma’s website at: www.eyecarepluskaralee.com.au

ATAR for optometry – your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2019

Amanda Griffiths — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 19:00:44 +0000

There are 5 approved schools of optometry in Australia. These in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. The ATAR required depends on the pathway you take to become an optometrist. For most programs the successful completion of a Bachelor of Vision Science is required to gain entry into the Master of Optometry.

Undergraduate entry into optometry

The following table shows the ATAR / OP scores that were required to enter each undergraduate course at the beginning of 2019:

Please note that this is a rough guide only for future years as it changes from year to year depending on the applications each university receives.

At the time of publishing this article, the University of Canberra’s 5 year Bachelor of Vision Science / Master of Optometry did not appear on the Optometry Board of Australia’s list of approved courses.

There are also changes from year to year on whether UMAT or an interview is required. For entry since 2018, UMAT (in 2019 UMAT was replaced with UCAT) has not been a requirement for any undergraduate optometry course.

The University of Melbourne has a Chancellor’s Scholars Program for applicants who achieve an ATAR of 99.90 or better, or at least 90.00 for Indigenous students. They also have a guaranteed entry pathway into graduate degrees which applies to optometry for some students. Entry to the 4 year Doctor of Optometry is following a 3 year undergraduate degree which meets the university’s pre-requisite requirements. GAMSAT is not required for entry into the Doctor of Optometry if you meet the Grade Point Average (GPA) requirements in your undergraduate degree at the University of Melbourne.

Postgraduate entry into optometry

There is a formal postgraduate pathway that is available at the University of Melbourne. They require an undergraduate degree with specific pre-requisite subjects and list courses which meet these requirements on their website. The Bachelor of Biomedicine at the University of Melbourne meets their requirements too. If you are applying with an undergraduate degree from a different university you will also require a GAMSAT score and show that you can meet certain English language requirements for admission to the Doctor of Optometry at the University of Melbourne.

Pathways into optometry

The information presented in this article was correct at the time of publishing. Please check with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency for an up to date list of approved programs of study to become an optometrist in Australia: https://www.ahpra.gov.au/education/approved-programs-of-study.aspx?ref=optometrist. Please note that the therapeutic endorsement noted is included in all optometry courses in Australia, and pertains to the ability for graduates to prescribe eye drops to manage eye diseases.

More resources on My Health Career:

Disclaimer: This information is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances. My Health Career accepts no responsibility for ensuring that you enrol in a course that is right for you. Please do your own research to ensure that you enrol in the correct course, especially if you are considering an undergraduate biomedicine, health science or biomedical science degree as a pathway to a postgraduate course. This may include speaking with a careers advisor, guidance officer, career development practitioner, representatives of Optometry Australia, and admissions officers from the university or universities you are looking at applying to.

The post ATAR for optometry – your guide to the ATAR for every optometry course in Australia in 2019 appeared first on My Health Career.

The ultimate guide to career development for health professionals in just 4 simple steps

Amanda Griffiths — Thu, 16 May 2019 05:29:27 +0000

A treasure trove of knowledge for anyone in health who is serious about their career advancement was released recently. It was titled the Allied Health Career Pathways Blueprint, and it contains gems for anyone who has a background as a clinician and is looking to transform their career.

1. Understanding what you already bring to the table

Considering the 4 key blueprint principles are the perfect approach to getting underway, as they will encourage you to look at your starting point.

Firstly, the principle of value. In what ways do you add value to the organisation you are currently working in? If you really look, could you tease out a greater appreciation for what competencies you already have at your disposal? Is your greatest value in being efficient, do you have excellent communication skills, or are there additional proficiencies you have picked up along the way?

Secondly, the principle of building. What opportunities can you identify that will assist you in building on the skills you have to set the bar even higher?

Thirdly, the principle of progress. In the time that you have been in your profession, what has changed? How has progress taken place? How do you see yourself as part of the future progress in health care, potentially even at the cutting edge?

Fourthly, the principle of impact. How have you leveraged your skills in your current role, and where have you had the greatest impact? Have you improved the delivery of services, increased profits, been the catalyst for building a more cohesive team within your organisation, or had a significant impact outside your organisation?

2. Identifying your stream

The blueprint has identified 5 core work streams that health professionals may engage in when they are looking at the overall direction in which they would like to take in terms of career development. These are practice, education, research, management and strategy.

Practice involves being a clinician delivering patient care directly.

Education could take a number of forms ranging from providing instruction and education to patients and communities to health practitioners and students in clinical or academic environments.

Research could be at the level of systematic investigation to increase knowledge and establish an evidence base, or could be via translating research into practice.

Management could be in diverse ways such as leading and managing departments, service delivery, human resources or project funding.

Strategy might include leading change, developing and leading policy, implementing innovations, or transforming processes for an industry, sector or organisation.

3. Defining your future growth

The 4 levels of growth defined in the blueprint are gaining experience, further skills and knowledge, becoming an expert and being an acknowledged leader.
Gaining experience is the initial phase of acquiring your qualification and consolidating your skills.

Further skills and knowledge is the next phase where as a practitioner you develop a deeper breadth of experience and understanding within your profession.
Becoming an expert is where you deepen your knowledge and skill in a particular area.

Being an acknowledged leader is where you are recognised by your peers as someone able to guide and influence others.

4. Transitioning from where you are to a leadership role

Now that you understand what you bring to the table, have identified your stream and have defined the level of growth you wish to attain in the future, it’s important to consider how you are going to make this transition. Now is the time to step out of the model of the blueprint and use the principles to transform your career in a tangible way.

If you are currently a clinician and know that the predominantly academic areas of education or research aren’t the best fit for you, management or strategy would be excellent areas to look at. If you were to go down that path, you would need to develop further skills and knowledge on the way to becoming an expert or acknowledged leader.

The knowledge you would need to gain in order to make this transition might include health economics, health law, systems and policy, management, developing health systems and the application of strategies which advance managing patient care processes.

A postgraduate qualification could be an excellent investment in your career development and aspirations. The Monash Online Master of Health Administration has been developed with aspiring health care managers in mind with the course focusing on leadership, marketing, economics and management of the patient care process. This master’s qualification will also boost your health-specific knowledge with areas such as epidemiology and biostatistics being included.

The Master of Health Administration has been purposely designed to build upon your ability to lead and manage effectively in a health care environment. The fusion of the course units from The Faculty of Business and Economics with those from The School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine means that you will gain knowledge of both business and health care practices.

On completion of the course, opportunities that would be open to you as an expert or acknowledged leader would be in health care organisations including government and non-government organisations. You might find yourself in high-level roles in private or health and welfare service management, practice management or in the management of teams of health professionals.

Now you have access to the ultimate blueprint and means to develop your career in health. Now is the time to put your aspirations into action.

The post The ultimate guide to career development for health professionals in just 4 simple steps appeared first on My Health Career.

What are the big issues in health right now? An optometrist, occupational therapist and sonographer tell us….

MyHealthCareer-Editor — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 19:00:29 +0000

Young Optometrist Rose Huang on buying online

Glasses and contact lenses are a medical device and not simply something you can just “Add to Cart” yet a number of consumers are turning to online shopping for their optical needs.

Rose Huang

In a recent study by the American Optometric Association, researchers discovered that nearly half of all glasses (44.8 percent) ordered online either contained an inaccurate prescription or didn’t meet safety standards designed to protect the eyes. Consumers are forgoing the accuracy, comfort with a proper fit and individualised care which is offered at optometry practices. Before purchasing online always consider if there is a returns policy, warranties offered, shipping costs, extra costs, insurance covered and maintenance fees involved.

The beauty of purchasing your special pair of glasses from your local optometrist is that the necessary time has been taken to help you select and measure up your glasses in order to enhance your vision. If your temple breaks a few months later or a screw is loose, you can easily pop in to have these adjusted and fixed – often at no cost if they are covered under warranty. There’s a sense of familiarity and personalised care that you just don’t get with online shopping!”

Polio Community Officer and Occupational Therapist Stephanie Cantrill on a much overlooked condition

With an ageing population, there is much talk of increasing services for older Australians. What isn’t often taken into account, however, is that not all ageing is equal. Ageing with a disability often means more services and equipment are needed, and more specialist care is required.

Stephanie Cantrill

Polio is a much-overlooked disease in Australia, since – thankfully – we haven’t seen an outbreak for many years. However, there are thousands of people still living who contracted polio in childhood, whether here in Australia or elsewhere, and are now living with Late Effects of Polio/Post-Polio Syndrome. After years of relative stability, many people are experiencing increasing muscle weakness, declining mobility, debilitating fatigue, chronic pain and breathing and sleep issues.

As polio survivors age, their needs are often greater than those of the general ageing population. They may need customised equipment, more specialised services, and a tailored approach to healthcare. Along with other older people with disabilities, it is vital that their particular needs are taken into account, and that they are not subjected to a one-size-fits-all approach to care.

Sonographer Aarti Bajaj on patient expectations

Medical Ultrasound is a very exciting, vital extremity in the world of

Aarti Bajaj

diagnosis and Medical Imaging and being a Medical Sonographer, staying up to date with all the latest technologies keeps our profession challenging and exciting.

Newer state of art machines, faster technologies, all of it makes accuracy, care giving more efficient and less time consuming.

As much as all the new developments in the field of ultrasound imaging is a blessing, I believe we are unknowing making or consumers (patients) more impatient and less grateful towards the service they get.

Let me illustrate a couple of examples:

1. A patient has been given a referral by his/her medical practitioner to get an ultrasound done for abdomen 2 weeks ago. But he will come to the imaging practice one morning after 2 weeks, expecting the service to be done immediately, reported and sent to his doctors in a matter of couple of hours as he has a follow up appointment that very morning. Everything in society has been marketed in such a manner that we are subconsciously getting conditioned for instant answers and not realizing the multi layered process that goes behind it.

2. A patient with large body habitus comes for a morphology ultrasound examination for her fetus at the gestation age of 20 -22 weeks with the entire extended family. Of course in all wonderful marketing material that they see all around shows them beautiful images of the scan. But patient forgets that the scan is not an entertainment session. It is a very important diagnostic process where the sonographer needs to concentrate in ruling out any grave abnormalities or defects rather than achieving just pretty profile images and detecting the gender of the fetus. Like any medical scenario, empathy and understanding are the two most important aspects that brings the best out, but it must happen at both ends; both care giver and patient.

About the contributors

Dr Rose Huang earned her BOptom(Hons)/BSc(Hons) degree in the University of New South Wales School of Optometry and Vision Science in 2015. She is the current Chairperson of the Young Optometrists, an organisation focused on representing optometrists in their first decade of practice and addressing the needs of these young professionals to find their way in the optometric profession. At the same time, Dr Huang is currently practicing in an independent optometry practice in Malinda Halley. In her free time, she enjoys the company of her beautiful fur baby. Among her hobbies are climbing, boxing, footy, anything outdoors, and baking.

Stephanie Cantrill has a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy and Master of Public Health. Before she became a Polio Community Officer with Polio Australia, she worked as an occupational therapist. Currently, community information for polio survivors and their families/carers is one of her projects in the organisation. She is into travelling, writing, and eating delicious meals that someone else has cooked.

Aarti Bajaj is not only a sonographer, but the artistic director and lead performer in the forthcoming stage production, MEERA playing one-night-only at the Home of the Arts (HOTA) on the Gold Coast on Sunday, 4th of November, 2018.

Government announces $1 million budget in support of eye health and diabetes

MyHealthCareer-Editor — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 19:00:09 +0000

The federal government has announced a $1 million dollar budget for Diabetes Australia to develop the Preserve Sight program.

Being implemented in partnership with Vision 2020 Australia, Oculo and many other eye health and diabetes sectors, this initiative aims to track eye health through a national electric eye health record. It also includes an alert system targeting National Diabetes Services Scheme members missing out on recommended eye checks.

To further strengthen the development of the initiative, Specsavers Australia also matched the $1 million donation for the cause.

This project is only one among many initiated by the government due to its commitment to promote awareness and early detection of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. This includes:

$125 million budget through the Medical Research Future Fund for research funding focused on diabetes and heart disease.
$ 600,000 budget to increase awareness of the risks of type 2 diabetes

The government’s move was applauded by Optometry Australia CEO Lyn Brodie. She said, “We are pleased to be part of this program to protect the sight of Australians with diabetes and prevent their vision loss.

“This will drive more patients to optometrists and help to reduce the number of Australians developing diabetes-related eye diseases.

“Catching this disease early through regular comprehensive eye examinations, is critical as if left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness,” Ms Brodie said.

Diabetes Australia CEO Professor Greg Johnson said too many people with diabetes are needlessly putting themselves at risk of vision loss due to not having regular eye examinations.

“Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in working age Australians. We are pleased the Australian Government and industry partners are supporting this important initiative. Other industry partners are expected to contribute funding, and ongoing government funding will be sought for a five-year program,” Professor Johnson said.

“There are around 600,000 Australians with diabetes who are missing out on the recommended eye checks that would enable early detection and early treatment to prevent blindness.”

Vision 2020 Australia CEO Judith Abbott said the program will be helpful in establishing a national system to support eye checks for all people with diabetes.

“This will benefit the 1.2 million Australians with diabetes who are registered with the National Diabetes Services Scheme, providing them with alerts and reminders to have eye checks and creating electronic records that include retinal photos to help coordinate their care.”

“The program will encourage people with diabetes to visit existing optometry services and specialist ophthalmic service providers for Medicare-funded eye checks and early interventions,” Ms Abbott said.

Celine Zhang, Publications Officer at Young Optometrists NSW/ACT says:

“It is fantastic to see an additional support system to promote awareness of eyecare for Australians with diabetes. Timely and effective eyecare is crucial to help prevent vision loss from diabetes-related complications. We are lucky to live in a country where all optometrists are able to provide diabetic eye examinations. With more diabetics being alerted when they are overdue for an eye assessment, this will hopefully reduce the physical, emotional, financial and economical burden of the disease. We hope that the media presented to the public is not skewed towards certain groups of optometrists; and instead, encourage Australians with diabetes to attend their local optometrist for regular eye health assessments.”

Selective editing of reviews: illegal or not? AHPRA draws the line

MyHealthCareer-Editor — Sun, 09 Sep 2018 19:00:36 +0000

In light of a recent incident where an organisation was publishing only positive reviews from consumers, AHPRA has published further guidance for advertisers of regulated health services to clarify which review or testimonial editing practices are deemed illegal.

AHPRA stressed on the importance of advertisers being responsible of their advertising obligations in accordance with the law. The have said that editing reviews or testimonials to be false and misleading is unlawful.

AHPRA CEO Martin Fletcher said “If advertisers edit reviews or testimonials there is a high risk that the edited reviews will become misleading or deceptive. Only publishing complete and unedited reviews that are not testimonials will help advertisers to avoid breaching the National Law.”

The following practices considered misleading are:

editing a review that is negative to make it positive, as this falsely presents the feedback
editing a review that has a mix of negative and positive comments so that the published review only has positive comments, as this falsely implies that the reviewer only had positive feedback, or
editing a review so that it no longer accurately reflects all the reviewer’s feedback and presents an inaccurate or false impression of the reviewer’s views.

Aside from the guidelines set forth by AHPRA, the organisation together with the National Boards also released a testimonial tool that will help determine what reviews can and can’t be published.

Martin Fletcher added, “Reviews that don’t refer to the clinical aspects of care are not considered testimonials and, therefore, may be allowed. But even if the review doesn’t breach the ban on using testimonials to advertise, the advertiser may be breaking the law on misleading and deceptive advertising if the review is misleading because it has been edited or does not reflect all the feedback received. Given the significant potential for consumers to be misled, we will consider strong enforcement action where advertisers don’t meet their obligations.”