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The Optometric Extension Program Foundation (OEP) is a valuable
resource for students. OEP offers information regarding behavioral
vision care to optometrists as well as the public. OEP provides
hundreds of hours of continuing education at locations around the
U.S. There is an online
store for books, CDs and vision therapy equipment. The website
also provides current
references
and resources.
OEP is
an international, nonprofit organization dedicated to gathering and
disseminating information on Vision. OEP is dedicated to advance
human progress through education in the behavioral aspects of vision
care.
The
Optometric Extension program has provided post-graduate education to
Optometry since 1928. Over 4,000 optometrists, vision therapists and
optometric students in more than 25 countries around the world
currently subscribe to a variety of educational programs.
OEP
provides education in various formats to optometrists, students of
optometry, vision therapist, and the public. Approximately 50
professional educational seminars are offered annually covering
various topics on behavioral vision care. Space is often available
for students at a minimal cost. These seminars are a great place to
network, and learn about different aspects of behavioral vision
care.
Regional Clinical Seminars (RCS) highlight a leader in a specialty
area providing in-depth information via 12 hours of lecture and
workshops. Programs are held annually at several sites around the
U.S. including Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Denver, Seattle,
Kansas City, MO and Santa Ana, CA.
The
OEP Clinical
Curriculum series of educational seminars provides in-depth
clinical courses to introduce and/or enhance the optometrist’s
knowledge of the concepts and philosophy of behavioral vision care:
prevention, prescribing and vision therapy. The Clinical Curriculum
consists of four courses with a total of 126 hours of education.
OEP also sponsors a series of annual regional Congresses and
Forums. A complete listing of educational meetings held under the
auspices of OEP is available on the Foundation’s
calendar.
Public Education
OEP
produces a series of patient information
pamphlets
on a variety of eye and vision issues. Patients often appreciate an
independent, third-party source of information on issues raised
during a vision evaluation. Specifically pointed to visual
performance, binocular vision and learning related visual problems,
these pamphlets are used by optometrists, and many school clinics
around the world to reinforce the information provided to patients
and parents of patients during the evaluation.
In
addition, OEP publishes or distributes a series of publications
written for the lay public that provides in-depth information on
vision, visual performance and learning related vision problems.
Many OEP Clinical Associates maintain a patient library with these
and other articles and publication to lend or give to their
patients.
Publications
OEP
publishes educational books distributed to Clinical Associates.
Monographs are in depth texts by single authors covering research
and the scientific information available. Behavioral Aspects of
Vision Care are topical volumes published each year. Their purpose
is to bridge the gap between the research and its application in
patient care.
Topics
include myopia, accommodation, pursuits and saccades, lenses and
prisms in therapy, vision perception, working with special needs
patients or seniors. Behavioral Aspects of Vision Care also include
juvenile delinquency, traumatic brain injury, and strabismus and
amblyopia.
The
Journal of
Behavioral Optometry (JBO) is published by OEP bi-monthly. This
frequently honored, refereed publication includes clinical articles,
research papers, and practice development information. | 
