OPT Visionary - Winter/Spring 2015

PAGE 6 News Blasts Class of 2015 students Nathalie Findlater and Marcelo Moya. By Class of 2015 Students Marcelo Moya and Nathalie Findlater IDEA Initiative Offers Interprofessional Collaboration We didn’t know what to expect when we signed up for NSU’s Interprofessional Diabetes Education and Awareness (IDEA) Initiative. We knew it would take time from our studies and families, but we had no idea how the IDEA program would impact our mind- sets. We were somewhat doubtful on how it was all going to come together. At the orientation dinner, we both looked for familiar faces and were hoping that the assigned seating would place us together so we would have someone to talk to. Fortunately, we were forced to mingle with other health profession stu- dents. This provided us another opportunity to net- work and gain a better understanding of what the other professions really do. Different groups of students and faculty members from several NSU colleges were formed to create community workshops to educate residents of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. These work- shops covered topics such as power over diabetes, diabetes and medication management, diabetes and eye health, diabetes and children, diabetes and healthy eating, and diabetes and exercise. The pro- gram’s purpose was to build an educational presen- tation from a multidisciplinary perspective to a specific problem—diabetes. Although at first it seemed like another assignment in our busy student schedule, it showed us how important it is to see the big picture. Diabetes is one of the most prevalent and devas- tating diseases. The IDEA Initiative’s focus of a mul- tidisciplinary approach was excellent in helping expand our understanding of the management and treatment of diabetes. In optometry, it is easy to focus on how everything relates to the eye. This fo- cused approach has obvious benefits; however, it limits us in understanding the full aspects of a dis- ease such as diabetes. Optometry is not the only health profession that takes a targeted approach as most health professions do this as well. What we re- alized from the IDEA program is that it is easy to find our niche and lose focus of the bigger picture in car- ing for our diabetic patients. We walked away from this experience with the knowledge that it takes many health disciplines or a village to manage a sin- gle diabetic patient. Now that we are in our fourth-year clinical rota- tions, we see it play out daily. Many of our diabetes patients are referred to us by their primary care physi- cian. We communicate with their primary care physi- cian, describing any pathology found in the eye that suggests further evaluation of their systemic treat- ment. We cannot provide the best care for our pa- tients without looking at their complete physical well-being. This approach will also increase the re- ferrals and can help build a strong patient base. Through the IDEA Initiative, we were able to see how the audiologist, renal specialist, podiatrist, pharma- cist, and optometrist can all play an important role. Diabetes patients need a wide scope of treatment, and it is our duty as clinicians to help educate and refer them for proper treatment. The IDEA program gave us the opportunity to ex- perience another aspect of caring for patients through educating the community. Those that came to the workshops were able to ask questions and gain a better understanding of the disease from many different aspects. They learned the importance of the many providers needed to manage their health. It was a great experience to really reach out to the community. It is one thing when patients seek us out for care, but when we reach out to them, we are tak- ing a more intentional role in providing that care. National Eye Institute Awards Major Grant to NSUCO By Jeremy Katzman, M.B.A., APR, Associate Director of Public Affairs The National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health has awarded up to $556,532 to NSUCO in- vestigators to study the relationship between the vi- sion condition, convergence insufficiency, and reading performance and attention. The grant will fund the Convergence Insuffi- ciency Treatment Trial—Attention and Reading Trial (CITT-ART), which is a national multicenter clinical trial that involves optometry, ophthalmology, psychi- atry, and education in determining how this eye- teaming problem impacts a child’s attention and reading performance. Convergence insufficiency is a common vision disorder in which the eyes turn slightly outward when a person is reading or doing work close to his or her eyes. “Children who have convergence insufficiency sometimes suffer from poor reading performance and attention problems,” said Rachel A. “Stacey” Coulter, O.D., M.S.Ed, principal investigator for NSUCO’s re- search team. “As the first large-scale randomized clinical trial to study this problem, outcomes of this study could lead to new therapies for some children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and read- ing problems. We are very excited that the National Eye Institute has funded our grant application, and we look forward to enrolling children into the study this fall.” The College of Optometry faculty research team consists of Dr. Coulter, Annette Bade, O.D., M.S., Pamela Oliver, O.D., M.S., Gregory Fecho, O.D., Erin Jenewein, O.D., M.S., Deborah Amster, O.D., Yin C. Tea, O.D., Jacqueline Rodena, O.D., and Nicole Pat- terson, O.D., M.S.Ed. NSU is one of seven clinical sites participating across the United States. Other sites include Akron Children’s Hospital in Ohio, Bascom Palmer Eye In- stitute in Miami, Marshall B. Ketchum University in Fullerton, California, Ohio State University, Salus University in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, the State University of New York, and the University of Ala- bama at Birmingham.