Emergency physicians must be comfortable evaluating and treating a wide range of ophthalmology-related emergencies, said Jason R. Knight, MD, FACEP, vice chair of ED operations and medical director of the emergency medicine residency program at Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix.

In Dr. Knight’s Tuesday session, “Essential Ophthalmologic Procedures and Examinations,” attendees will review ophthalmology fundamentals that often present to the emergency department. “It’s a good session to attend and review an entire semester of ophthalmology compressed down into a rapid-fire, 50-minute interactive lecture,” Dr. Knight said.

“It’s a good session to attend and review an entire semester of ophthalmology compressed down into a rapid-fire, 50-minute interactive lecture.” —Dr. Knight

One reason that ophthalmologic knowledge is so important for emergency physicians is because ophthalmology tends to be a Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., specialty, and a number of practices don’t even accept after-hours calls, Dr. Knight said. When treating patients, the emergency physician often must determine if an ophthalmic emergency exists and whether a specialist needs to come into the ED, if patients can follow up the next day, or if they can follow up on a nonemergent basis as an outpatient.

Missing critical eye findings in patients can have devastating consequences, such as strokes, Dr. Knight said.

Dr. Knight’s presentation will also cover use of the slit lamp, foreign-body removal, strokes, PanOptic ophthalmoscopes, Tono-Pen, visual field testing, retrobulbar hematomas, ocular ultrasound, fluoresceins, Seidel testing, fundoscopic examination, and eye medications.

Vanessa Caceres is a freelance medical writer based in Florida.

Dr. Knight

Essential Ophthalmologic Procedures and Examinations

Tuesday, Oct. 27
8–8:50 a.m.
Room 210 ABC