Education
Myopia SOS: Advice from your Agony Aunt & Uncle Real Talk and Real Solutions for Challenging Myopia Management Moments.
Myopia Profile Presents;
Myopia SOS: Advice from your Agony Aunt & Uncle
Real Talk and Real Solutions for Challenging Myopia Management Moments.
Myopia Profile and Ocumetra are excited to launch Myopia SOS: Advice from your Agony
Aunt & Uncle, a new podcast series hosted by two globally respected leaders in myopia management: Dr. Kate
GiOord and Dr. Ian Flitcroft. With their signature blend of clinical expertise, candour, and a dash of wit, Kate and Ian tackle the complex realities of managing childhood myopia—oOering eye care professionals practical, realworld strategies to handle even the trickiest cases.
The show will launch one episode every 2 weeks on myopiaprofile.com/podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
In British vernacular, an Agony Aunt or Uncle is someone who gives advice to people sending in problems or questions, traditionally to magazines or newspapers. In this first-of-its-kind Agony Aunt and Uncle podcast format, Kate and Ian bring decades of combined clinical, academic, and communication expertise to address the nuanced questions practitioners face every day.
About the Hosts:
Dr. Kate GiOord is an internationally recognised optometrist, researcher, and professional educator. She is the co-founder of Myopia Profile, a former President of Optometry Australia, and a passionate advocate for evidence-based, accessible myopia management.
Dr. Ian Flitcroft, is a consultant paediatric ophthalmologist based in Dublin and Co-Founder & Chief Innovation OOicer at Ocumetra. A noted researcher and speaker, Ian brings both scientific rigor and storytelling charm to the series.
Sneak Peek from Episode 1:
In a powerful reflection on the slow uptake of evidence into practice, Dr. Ian Flitcroft highlights the delay in myopia management adoption:
“It’s been well proven that it takes 17 years to move from something obvious in research to widespread clinical practice. But in the case of myopia management? It’s been 37 years since the breakthrough moment that showed environmental factors could drive myopia—and we’re still catching up.”
Ian draws a parallel to Nobel Prize–winning Australian scientist Barry Marshall, who famously swallowed a glass full of Helicobacter pylori to prove it causes ulcers:
“Marshall proved his point in 13 years. Honestly, if I could swallow a glass of something to prove myopia
management works—and say, ‘Look, my eyeballs have grown 10% in two weeks’—I would.”
A sobering but witty reminder that we can’t aOord to let outdated thinking delay care for our youngest patients.
What to Expect Each Episode:
- Real-life clinical dilemmas and case discussions
- Insight into what works (and what doesn’t) in practice
- Evidence-based conversation from the front lines of myopia care
- Communication tips to get parents and patients on board
- A touch of humour, humility, and humanity
First Episode: https://www.myopiaprofile.com/podcasts/myopia–sos–part1–oQ–the–naughty–step Have a Case That’s Been Bugging You?
Got a myopia management challenge you’d love Kate and Ian to weigh in on? Submit your anonymised case to be featured in a future episode!
Email podcast@myopiaprofile.com to send it in.
