Skip to main content

Former UMSL Resident Achieves National Prominence



Former UMSL Resident Achieves National Prominence


The soft toric and presbyopia lens education (STAPLE) program is an exceptional workshop-based program in which a prominent contact lens specialist is asked to provide a brief lecture followed by a hands-on workshop at Colleges of Optometry.  Every student has the opportunity to fit four toric lens designs (for the soft toric workshop) and four soft multifocal designs (for the presbyopia workshop).  Lenses are provided by Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, CooperVision, and Bausch + Lomb.  It is very noteworthy that three of the faculty that are part of the core faculty for STAPLE are former cornea and contact lens residents including Drs. Stephanie Woo(’12), Matt Kauffman(’13), and Rob Ensley(’14).   

The coordinator of the STAPLE program is Ursula Lotzkat who is especially impressed with our residency graduates: “A hallmark of the STAPLE program is providing guest speakers from clinical practice who share their expertise in the fitting and management of astigmatic and presbyopic patients. Former UMSL cornea and contact lens residents fill this role perfectly. Their contact lens training is exceptional, plus since they have all participated in the program as residents they really understand how to reach the student audience with practical education.”  Director of Residencies, Dr. Julie DeKinder, agrees: “The STAPLE program has been a huge benefit to our students for many years.  The opportunity to fit several lenses in a short amount of time not only increases the student knowledge of available lens designs and applications, but also boosts their clinical confidence.  For the past several years we have been blessed with truly outstanding cornea and contact lens residents.  This is truly evident by seeing several of them return to our school and go to other schools as a presenter for the STAPLE program.”  

 Most recently, Dr. Kauffman – who is part of the most prominent specialty contact lens practice in Houston while also serving as a contact lens clinical instructor at the University of Houston College of Optometry - provided the soft toric seminar and workshop at UMSL on September 27th and did an exceptional job and is excited to be part their educational team. “I had the unique opportunity to experience the STAPLE program as both an optometry student and as a UMSL contact lens residency-trained optometrist. I can say from experience that the program is very beneficial to the optometry school education program. Completing a contact lens residency at UMSL gave me more in depth experience of fitting the toric and multifocal contact lens designs utilized in the STAPLE program and has taught me how to effectively communicate and teach those topics to optometry students.”  

Dr. Matt Kauffman and Dr. Ed Bennett

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heart of America: A Great Annual UMSL Tradition

The 56th Annual Contact Lens & Primary Care Congress presented by the Heart of America Contact Lens Society was, once again, a great success and represented a great opportunity for College of Optometry students and residents to network, present posters, receive high quality continuing education, and help as monitors and graduates to have the opportunity to see their classmates and enjoy, not only the expansive exhibit hall but also customize their education based upon the five tracks of courses given simultaneously.  The faculty included two UMSL graduates, Drs. Rebecca Wartman(‘87) and Shane Kannarr(‘00) and Assistant Dean, Dr. Ed Bennett.  Likewise, the Heart of America Board of Directors had a significant UMSL presence with Drs. Sean Mulqueeny(‘91), Wes DeRosier(‘96) and President Craig Brawley(‘01).  Dr. Delaram “Deli” Shirazian(’16), currently completing the Kansas City Veteran’s Administration Medical Center residency program, was a recipient of a $2,0...
5 comments
Read more

UMSL Hosts Receptions at the Missouri Optometric Association and the American Academy of Optometry

An important part of a successful organization is to maintain engagement with our alumni as well as provide the opportunity for students and alumni to connect at various events across the state.  The College of Optometry has been hosting receptions as Heart of America, Optometry’s Meeting, and most recently at the Annual Meeting of the Missouri Optometric Association (MOA) and the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Optometry (AAO). The recent MOA meeting was in Branson, Missouri. Dean Larry Davis addressed all of the attendees with an update on the newly opened UMSL Patient Care Center. During his address, he discussed the ongoing fundraising. In addition, Director of Student and Alumni Services Nick Palisch, along with a great team of student ambassadors staffed the UMSL booth to meet with attendees. The College of Optometry also hosted a reception in Anaheim, California in conjunction with the Annual meeting of the AAO.  The AAO reception held on Nov...
2 comments
Read more

UMSL Hosts the 2017 Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators 34th Annual Educational Workshop

The UMSL College of Optometry was host to 56 contact lens educators from all of the Colleges in North America as well as 23 representatives from contact lens industry sponsors as host of the 34th Annual Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators(AOCLE) Annual Educational Workshop, held June 1 – 3.  The theme of the meeting was ““Scleral Lenses: The Good, The Bad, The Technology.” Guest lecturers included renown scleral lens innovators Drs. Christine Sindt and Jason Jedlicka.  Attendees had the opportunity to participate in workshops pertaining to scleral lens evaluation and fitting.  A highlight of the workshop was a tour of the new UMSL Patient Care Center.  The organizing committee consisted of Drs. Julie DeKinder, Vinita Henry, Ed Bennett, and Beth Henderson with Dr. DeKinder doing a wonderful job as Chair of the committee.  And she was very pleased to have this opportunity as she relates: “It was an honor to host the AOCLE at UMSL....
1 comment
Read more