1. We want answers NOW and we don’t want to pay for it.

We know this because information shared regarding patient cases on social channels has increased exponentially. We have shorter attention spans and can learn well in small bites of information. But these tools can cause more harm than good. Keep reading to understand why.

2. We learn best from experiences, not lectures.

A recent poll amongst optoms showed that most of them learn best from experiences, rather than reading books or sitting in lectures.

3. BUT, Existing social channels are not regulated and could cause more harm than good.

There is no oversight when it comes to patient data, confidentiality, and consent, and clinicians very rarely follow industry standards, putting them at risk of litigation and not respecting patient confidentiality.

4. Clinicians often doubt their confidence in patient management.

A recent poll amongst optoms showed that 93% of optoms occasionally doubt their patient management. We are humans so that’s understandable, but it can affect clinician confidence and patient management.

5. It can get lonely sometimes.

We know that sometimes you need a helping hand. Being anxious or doubting yourself has the opposite effect and causes poor patient management.

6. Many optoms get CPDs last-minute before the end of the year.

This is a problem because it shows that continuous learning (or last-minute learning) is only done because they need it, not because they want it. Cramming things in for the sake of it is not productive, nor effective.

7. AI is a game changer but can be harmful if not used right.

More and more clinicians are using tools such as ChatGPT, Google, and social channels for clinical advice. These tools have been shown to be useful but can also be harmful because information is not always accurate. That’s why we believe in technology and AI but only when combined with research and clinical expertise.

8. Clinician bias is a huge problem for the health system.

You could ask 100 optometrists what their management would be for a specific patient scenario and you will be surprised at how much it would vary. This is because every patient comes with a different history and every optometrist comes with different experiences. No one answer is 100% correct but it’s closer when you have an engaging community behind you and technology guiding you.

Improving ongoing education digitally will of course raise questions regarding privacy and security as well as adhering to industry standards. We understand this and therefore take the following measures.

1. Patient data
When asking for help to advance your learning through experiences there may be times where you will want to share patient images. We allow the sharing of images, only if it is anonymized (no patient features are shown). We expect and prompt users to do this at the time of upload, however, we have in-built machine learning technology that can detect facial features and text in images. If so, most of the time this will disable the option to upload them in the first place or an internal review will take place before sharing if the technology raises any doubts. Although we take these measures, we expect you to adhere to the consent process outlined by regulatory bodies as stated in our terms [here].

2. Security/privacy
How do you know the app is secure with your personal data, comments, or images? We use Google Cloud Platform to make sure data is encrypted in transit and at rest. It’s the same infrastructure that banks use to allow for security and scalability. We also comply with GDPR rules for all data we store.