Meredith W. Morgan Eye Center

Dear Optometry Community, I am excited to share with you the news that our 3rd and 4th year students will be invited to rejoin our clinic faculty and staff in the resumption of our teaching clinics with on-campus learning starting today, Monday, June 8th. They will be the first cohort of students permitted back to campus since the start of the COVID-19 crisis. As students return to Berkeley and prepare to re-start clinical learning, we are happy to report that our clinic is r...amping up services. After having reduced our clinical operations to essential care and telehealth appointments in response to the original shelter in place order of March 10, our clinic has been incrementally increasing eye care operations over the last 2 weeks. These enhanced operations are in compliance with city orders, regional and state guidelines, and closely guided by the campus, University Health Services and City of Berkeley, Department of Public Health. Stay safe everyone! We hope to see you soon!

Ramping Up Telehealth In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Berkeley Optometry is now offering Telehealth appointments. Telehealth appointments are conducted via a private video conference between the doctor and the patient. While our clinic continues to provide essential in-person eye care for our community, to reach patients that are not able to come to the clinic, we have marshalled the expertise of our staff and the can-do nature of faculty to offer telehealth appointments.... This innovative approach to eye care, while not feasible for all conditions, expands our ability to see patients without actually being in the room with them. This provides an extra measure of safety and convenience for both our patients and our doctors. Within two weeks of the first shelter-in-place order, we were able to offer our first Telehealth appointment. So far, we have been able to consult with patients in our low vision, dry eye, and contact lens clinics; provide ocular disease care, sports vision, vision therapy and binocular vision evaluation; and provide urgent care triage. As of this week, we’ve done over 350 Telehealth appointments, and we expect this number to grow each day. Read more: https://optometry.berkeley.edu/ramping-up-telehealth/

Dear Optometry Community, I hope that you and your loved ones are healthy and safe. As we enter our fifth week of sheltering-in-place, I wanted to update you on our school’s evolving response to COVID-19. The last four weeks have challenged all of us in ways we could never have imagined. The members of Berkeley Optometry’s community have astonished but not surprised me, with their resourcefulness, resilience and kindness. Our faculty and students have shown incredible flexibi...Continue reading

In a gesture that demonstrates the admiration, respect, and concern felt for their colleagues, the class of 2020 will direct their $5,000 year-end gift to the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) for attending doctors, residents, eyewear specialists, and clinic staff. The PPE will be used to help improve the safety of Berkeley Optometry’s frontline caregivers, who are continuing to provide essential eye care services despite the Coronavirus pandemic. Read more: https://optometry.berkeley.edu/class-of-2020-to-purchase-p/

Kenneth A. Polse, OD, a professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry, weighs in on how to protect your your eyes from COVID-19 in the latest edition of Berkeley Wellness. https://www.berkeleywellness.com//protecting-your-eyes-cov

Coronavirus Update: Essential Eye Care Only Due to the Shelter at Home directive related to the coronavirus, Berkeley Optometry is providing essential eye care only. We are continually monitoring the situation and reviewing clinic operations. For patients that have essential eye care appointments, our clinic staff have set up screening procedures for individuals who come to the Eye Center who are at high risk and are showing symptoms. We are also following the campus hea...lth services directives for disinfecting exam room equipment between patient visits. If you have additional questions or need to cancel an appointment, please call us at 510-642-2020.

Coronavirus Updates: Eye Center Remains Open Berkeley Optometry clinic directors are closely monitoring national and local developments on influenza and coronavirus, and coordinating planning and response efforts with campus and public health officials. We are following evolving CDC guidance closely and instituting enhanced infection control measures in all clinical areas. At this time, the Eye Care Center remains open.... Regarding patient care, clinic staff have set up screening procedures for individuals who come to the Eye Center who are at high risk and are showing symptoms. If you have additional questions or need to cancel an appointment, please call us at 510-642-2020.

It's the final countdown! 2 weeks left until the Great American Eclipse. Get the facts on when, where and how to protect your eyes. #SolarEclipse2017

Has your child gotten his or her back-to-school eye exam yet?

Having too much to drink isn't the only cause for double vision. Learn about 6 other causes that you want to take seriously. http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/double-vision.htm

You don't need to be a surfer to have "surfer's eye." Find out if you're at risk of getting this eye growth called pterygium.

We love this "Seeing is a Gift" commercial from Think About Your Eyes. It's a reminder of how important it is to protect ours and our children's precious gift of vision. Check out their other new commercials here: www.thinkaboutyoureyes.com/videos

How to test whether or not you might be color blind

How to do the Amsler grid test...

5 Tips for Preventing Red Eyes in Photos http://www.allaboutvision.com/resources/red-eye-photo.htm