Ep. 2: EyeCon 2022: Come for the speakers, stay for the sun

Save the dates for the Optometry Times® Eyecon 2022 meeting.

Friday, December 16, and Saturday, December 17, will see optometrists convening in Marco Island, Florida, to discuss the latest advances in diagnostic tools and treatments and share their experiences in this southwest Florida subtropical paradise at the JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort.

Related: Ep. 1: EyeCon 2022: Join the fun in-person at Marco Island

Optometry Times®' EyeCon 2022 co-chairs Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry in Birmingham, Alabama, and A. Paul Chous, MA, OD, FAAO, a diabetes eye care specialist in Tacoma, Washington, sat down with Ben Casella, OD, FAAO, chief optometric editor for Optometry Times® to chat all-things EyeCon 2022.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity:

Casella:

Oh man, I'm already excited about it, and I'm just one state north in Georgia. Having never been to Marco Island, I looked it up and I kind of feel like I'm legitimately going somewhere tropical.

It's gonna be great CE, looks like great shows, looks like great Italian food, clear water. That's like three my food groups right there.

Nichols:

Yeah, and our speaker group is really fantastic.

We have a lot of repeaters from who were last year's speakers and some of the panels, and then we have a bunch of new speakers, as well.

And what our audience might not know is it's a joint meeting. So there's an ophthalmology meeting happening concurrently.

We have some overlap of keynote sessions, and there'll be opportunity to network and meet some colleagues that are ophthalmologists, as well as industry.

So we're definitely looking forward to the great mix of folks that are going to be on Marco Island.

Chous:

I'm excited about the keynote because Kelly and I, and the 2 ophthalmology chairs, are going to be talking about new technology, including things like artificial intelligence, a bunch of new drugs that are on the horizon and, you know, things that might potentially really change our practices.

Nichols:

Yeah, hopefully, collaboratively, which would be fantastic.