Press release: ABDO opens bookings for the ABDO hybrid clinical conference

The Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO) has opened bookings for its third clinical conference.

The ABDO hybrid clinical conference will be held across the autumn of 2025, this year on the theme of dry eye with a special focus on the role of the dispensing optician within the multidisciplinary practice team to support this area of clinical practice.

There are 24 interactive CPD points available across the whole hybrid conference, with 14 from the practical days at the ABDO NRC.

ABDO will be initially offering three webinars to enable an up-to-date understanding of dry eye and approaches to its management in 2025.

These webinars are:

• Anatomy by Dr Alison Alderson
• Chemistry and ocular lubricants by Dr Manbir Nagra
• Dry eye management by Dr Sònia Travé-Huarte

ABDO is offering two face-to-face dates at the ABDO NRC for the practical element of the conference education, on Sunday 12 and Monday 13 October. The same education will be offered on each day to enable more ABDO members the opportunity to take part. The interactive workshops include:

• Dry eye and triage – this interactive session will require you to work with your peers to explore presenting signs, symptoms and patient queries, to allow you to appropriately provide support and management to the dry eye patient
• What’s in the bottle and what else? – Exploring a range of ocular lubricants and other management strategies, this workshop will get you hands on to better understand which product is appropriate for which patient and how to provide the right advice and guidance to ensure compliant and effective use
• Dry eye and technology – working with our partner sponsors, this session will enable you to understand the innovative technologies that are available in eyecare practice to support the diagnosis, management and monitoring of dry eye
• Escape room – taking place in our exhibition area, you will be challenged to work with your peers to obtain knowledge and insight in the field of dry eye to escape to new levels of clinical practice

To complement the face-to-face events and webinars, ABDO will be providing online peer review and a Journal Club in the area of dry eye throughout September, October and November.

Alex Webster, professional development director, says, “We are excited to bring our 2025 hybrid conference to the ABDO members, where we will explore the area of dry eye. This field of clinical practice has developed so much in recent years, from the amazing research taking place to assist our understanding of the causes and management of dry eye and ocular surface disease, to the phenomenal technology emerging into high street practice to support improving patients lives.

“ABDO members play key roles in communicating effectively with their patients with dry eye to support their understanding of their conditions and management strategies, as well as picking up on signs and symptoms during their everyday patient interactions. As we see more and more practices establish dry eye processes and clinics, our members need to understand where there are opportunities to expand their scope of practice and play their part in the multidisciplinary team providing dry eye patient care.”

Find out more about the ABDO clinical conference here.

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