The World Council of Optometry (WCO) and Alcon are partnering with the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) to expand access to digital dry eye educational resources for university instructors and students around the world.
Through the partnership, IACLE members can directly access resources from the WCO and Alcon dry eye initiative through the IACLE Teaching Online Platform (IACLETOP) learning management system.
Dry Eye Tools for Educators
IACLE’s membership includes more than 1,100 instructors across 86 countries and more than 600 academic institutions. Among the resources available to members through the partnership is the recently updated WCO Alcon Dry Eye Wheel. The interactive tool incorporates the latest recommendations from the Tear Film & Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop III report, or TFOS DEWS III. It organizes dry eye care around three steps: mitigation, measurement, and management.
“IACLE’s involvement with the WCO Alcon Dry Eye Wheel allows its members to directly access this resource and share this with their students, helping the next generation of ECPs to be patient care ready,” says Craig Woods, BSc (Hons), PhD, FAAO, FBCLA, executive manager of educational development at IACLE.
IACLE members will also have access to the Dry Eye Management Map, an interactive tool designed to help eye care professionals, educators, and students navigate dry eye disease management using an evidence-based approach. Both resources are available in multiple languages, including Arabic, Chinese, French, and Spanish, with additional languages to follow.
Supporting the Next Generation of ECPs
The organizations say the partnership is intended to make current dry eye education more readily available to instructors and their students as the condition becomes an increasing concern worldwide.
“By expanding access to the WCO Alcon dry eye initiative through IACLE, we can help equip educators and students around the world with the latest tools that support consistent, patient-centered care today—and create new opportunities to advance dry eye education in the future,” says Dr. Carla Mack, Alcon global head of professional education and development.
“Dry eye disease is a growing issue worldwide, so it’s critical that educators easily be able to access the program tools and use them to educate the next generation of ECPs,” adds Cindy Tromans, BSc (Hons), PhD, FEAOO, WCO president.