Victoria Conference 2023: Staying up-to-date on ophthalmic surgery options

Ami Halvorson, OD, shared highlights from her 2023 Victoria Conference presentation, "Seven wonders of the ophthalmic surgery world," while onsite with Peg Achenbach, OD, FAAO, Executive Director of Global Ambassador Strategies Ophthalmology and Optometry for MJH Life Sciences®, the parent company of Optometry Times®.

The 2023 Victoria Conference, presented by the Pacific University College of Optometry, was held July 13-16, 2023, in Victoria, BC.

Peg Achenbach, OD, FAAO:

We are here at the Victoria Conference, sponsored by Pacific University College of Optometry. And I'm here with Dr. Ami Halvorson, and she gave a lecture on the, "Seven wonders of the ophthalmic surgery world." Can you give us a summary of that lecture?

Ami Halvorson, OD:

Yeah, thanks so much. Just since I've been in comanagement for about the last 9 years or so—my practice setting—and just in that time, I've seen so many surgeries evolve.

And there's so much on the horizon right now that I thought it might be a good idea to update on my colleagues and audience members on different surgery options that are available. Even if they're not involved with the surgical process themselves, I think there's a lot of value in being able to prime their patients for what's ahead with surgery, and then also when they returned back to their practice—being able to smoothly guide patients in that postop period.

So I talked a little bit about what IOL options are available for cataract surgery, including proper patient selection for toric IOL, presbyopia correcting IOLs, and then newer technology, including the light adjustable lenses. [I] talked a little bit about glaucoma managements that [are] available: SLT, as well as MIGS, that are available to patients. And then floater laser treatments. So it was a nice well-rounded topic, hopefully, for people.

Achenbach:

Yeah, great, because all of those topics are really interesting to practitioners right now. So thank you. And tell me a little bit about what you think about the Victoria Conference and how long you've been involved.

Halvorson:

Actually, this is my first time and so I'm very new to the conference, but I've always wanted to go so I'm happy to be here. After lecturing, I love that we have some availability in the afternoons and so I'm looking forward to getting out and exploring a little bit, from shopping to taking in the beautiful views. It's something I'm I'm looking forward to coming back again.