Vision Care Academy, the educational institute of Sri Lanka’s largest eye care solutions provider Vision Care, celebrated its Optometry Day and Annual Scientific Session on 13th June with an event that was successfully carried out on a virtual platform in keeping with the health guidelines given out by the authorities.

Held under the theme "Vision with Reality", the event highlighted Vision Care’s ability to adjust to the realities of today’s “new normal” triggered by the pandemic and demonstrated the company’s commitment to enabling a platform to promote eye care amongst the general public and share best practices in collaboration with eye care experts. The event witnessed the enthusiastic participation of around 200 Vision care staff and Vision Care Academy students. The event was graced by the presence of Chief Guest Dr (Mrs) Irrugalbandara - Pediatric Ophthalmologist and the Guest of Honor Vidya Jyothi Professor Rohan W Jayasekara. The objective of this annual event is to continue the education, awareness and knowledge sharing of all matters related to the field of Optometry while fostering students’ interest and encouraging them to devote themselves to research studies. This event is also the official Graduation Ceremony where certificates are awarded to the students who have passed out of Vision Care Academy on successful completion of their respective courses.

Addressing the online audience, Vidya Jayarathna - Head of Vision Care Academy stated, “The Optometry Day and Annual Scientific Session is the main event of the Vision Care Academy's calendar and I am pleased that we have been able to carry out this year's event on an online platform. For the past several years, the wonderful students and staff of the Academy have worked with passion and dedication to ensure that this optometry and visual science educational event is always carried out on par with international standards. Despite the challenging circumstances of this year, I am proud to state that they have done an exceptional job once again to migrate the whole event on to an online platform with great success.”

During the event, numerous educational sessions were held on a variety of topics related to the field of Optometry including Diagnostic in Optometry, Ocular Diagnostic, Binocular Vision & Vision Therapy, General Optometry & Low Vision, Ocular Surface & Contact Lens, and also Hearing Care. The sessions were conducted by expert speakers Dr.Jennifer Acton - Senior Lecturer, Optometrist & Director of Recruitment and Admissions, School of Optometry and Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Professor Madhuwanthi Dissanayake - Professor & Consultant Eye Surgeon, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, and Mrs. Ananth Lakshmi - AGM-ECP Training & Development, Professional Services Department, Essilor India Private Limited.

The expert Panel of Judges comprising Dr. (Mrs) Ganga Thennakoon, Dr.(Ms) Nirodha Jayawickrama, Dr.(Mrs) Vasanthika S. Thuduwage, and Mrs. Ananth Lakshmi meticulously evaluated the large number of Research Papers put forward by the Vision Care Academy students. Several special awards were presented to the winners Ravindu Deshan (Best research of the year), Shayani Koshila (Best innovation of the year) and Jayatharshani Kaneshan (Best poster of the year).

Vision Care Academy was established in 2008 with the objective of providing in-house training to Vision Care employees. Today, it has evolved into a fully-facilitated training institute that offers a world-class educational experience in Optometry. It has a highly-qualified well-experienced lecture panel and also brings in lecturers from leading Universities in Sri Lanka to give the students the most comprehensive education in Optometry. Vision Care Academy conducts 4 full-time courses on eye and hearing care under the supervision of Tertiary and Vocational Education Committee (TVEC). They are Certificate program for Ophthalmic Assistants (COA), Certificate program for Audiometrians (CAD), Certificate program for Dispensing Opticians (CDO) and Diploma program for Optometrists (DOP).