November 1, 2025
By Vishakha Thakrar, OD, FAAO, FSLS
Photo provided by Dr. Thakrar
With the recent and long overdue launch of myopia control spectacles in the United States, the entire myopia management category is poised to rapidly grow. Now is the time to get ahead of the curve. Myopia control glasses will enable more primary care clinics to incorporate myopia control into their daily clinical services. As demonstrated in other countries, increased awareness in myopia control contact lenses and atropine therapy will follow.
As practitioners, one of the primary objectives is to educate your staff and inspire passion within your team. Your staff members should mirror your passion for myopia management because this passion will influence every area of patient care.
Start with Why
Why is slowing myopia progression important? Myopia has become a significant public health concern.1 With decreased outdoor time and increased near work for children, the prevalence of myopia continues to rise. Post-pandemic device-related habits have likely worsened the situation.
Myopia is not simply a matter of increased nearsightedness over time. It can lead to sight-threatening complications later in life, including myopic macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts and retinal detachment. Articles like “Myopia Control: Why Each Diopter Matters”2 outline the importance of slowing myopia progression. Summarizing and discussing this article with your staff can help them understand the diseases associated with myopia and why intervention is critical.
We, as optometrists, have the unique ability to slow or even prevent the onset of myopia-related eye disease. Sharing this information with your team allows them to become important participants in your practice’s mission. If staff members view myopia care as “just another service,” patients may not be convinced of the importance. Conversely, when the team demonstrates genuine belief in the importance of slowing myopia progression, families are far more likely to trust the process, adhere to treatment and refer others.
Share the ‘Why’ Through Patient Stories
Passion can also be built through connection. After 15 years of offering myopia management in my clinic, we have many success stories to share with the team. Sometimes I am still amazed how effectively certain devices like myopia control glasses and contact lenses can alter myopia progression in our most at-risk patients. Not only do I display this enthusiasm to my patients, but also to my team. These real patient stories and cases allow the team to emotionally connect to our patients’ journeys.
How Do We Treat Myopia?
Your team cannot be passionate about something they do not understand. Lead in-office training sessions and incorporate educational materials from journals and trade magazines on various treatment options including orthokeratology, soft multifocal contact lenses, atropine drops, and spectacle interventions. The team should have foundational knowledge on each treatment modality and why they are effective at controlling myopia.
Education by Sales Representatives
When a new device becomes available, I review the supporting clinical studies to ensure confidence in its myopia control efficacy before prescribing it. After analyzing the data, I collaborate with the manufacturer’s sales representatives to provide comprehensive staff training. Manufacturers of myopia management ophthalmic lenses and contact lenses have done an excellent job of creating sales aids, discussion points and team education. However, these resources are often underutilized. Lunch and learn sessions and one-on-one meetings are great ways to engage your team. Sales representatives are trained to teach each team member how to communicate the value and benefits of new technology, and how to troubleshoot effectively.
Empower Staff as Educators
Parents often have more questions after leaving the exam room. A confident and empowered team can fill this gap by reinforcing the doctor’s message. Provide them with:
- Educational materials: Brochures, handouts, important studies or website materials to share with parents.
- Autonomy to educate: Encourage them to answer questions instead of deferring back to the doctor.
When staff become trusted educators, they feel more ownership of patient outcomes, which, in turn, strengthens their passion.
Create a Myopia Management Champion
Not every team member will start at the same level of enthusiasm. Identify those who naturally gravitate towards myopia management—possibly a technician fascinated by axial length measurement or a contact lens technician and/or optician who enjoys discussing contact lens and ophthalmic lens technology.
In my office, we rely very heavily on our contact lens technician and optician to discuss myopia management with our patients. By elevating internal myopia champions, passion spreads organically throughout the team.
Reinforce Culture and Communication
Passion must be nurtured continually. Clinics that successfully incorporate myopia management into their systems create enthusiasm by utilization of:
- Visual reminders: Posters, charts and graphs to demonstrate patients’ progress
- Weekly huddles: To share quick updates, new studies or patient success stories
By embedding myopia management into the culture, staff perceive it as critical service within the practice.
Invest in Continuous Growth
Keep staff engaged by investing in their growth. Send team members to conferences or workshops on myopia management. Bring sales representatives back periodically to provide retraining and best practices to your team. When staff see that their professional development is valued, they reciprocate with deeper engagement and loyalty to the practice.
Conclusion
Passion is contagious. When every team member understands their role in the success of patient care, the practice will transform. Through education, inspiration and empowerment our team can become valuable partners in ensuring that myopia management is more than a service—it becomes part of the mission.
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Dr. Vishakha Thakrar is the founder of Vaughan Vision Centre, an advanced specialty contact lens clinic, myopia, and dry eye clinic in Vaughan, Ontario. The practice focuses primarily on scleral lenses fitting, full-scope myopia management, vision therapy, and advanced dry eye treatment. Dr. Thakrar completed a Cornea and Contact Lens Residency at the New England College of Optometry. She then went on to become the Director of the Contact Lens Service at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic. She later helped establish the Contact Lens Clinic at the Kensington Eye Institute in Toronto. Dr. Thakrar has been fitting OrthoK lenses, scleral lenses, and treating ocular surface disease for over 20 years. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Scleral Lens Society. She has spoken and written extensively for many years on contact lenses, dry eye disease, corneal disease, and myopia management. |
References
1 Holden BA, Fricke TR, Wilson DA, Jong M, Naidoo KS, Sankaridurg P, Wong TY, Naduvilath TJ, Resnikoff S. Global Prevalence of Myopia and High Myopia and Temporal Trends from 2000 through 2050. Ophthalmology. 2016 May;123(5):1036-42. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006. Epub 2016 Feb 11. PMID: 26875007.
2 Bullimore MA, Brennan NA. Myopia Control: Why Each Diopter Matters. Optom Vis Sci. 2019 Jun;96(6):463-465.doi: 10.1097/OPX.000000000000136 7
