Dr. Nate Fellowship in Myopia Control

Dr. Nate earns his Fellowship in the International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control.
 

I am excited to share that I am now a full-fledged Fellow of The International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control (IAOMC), a non-profit organization of practitioners and academics devoted to the science and education of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control. Since I have offered myopia management options for over a decade, becoming a Fellow has long been a goal of mine.

• Ortho-K (short for Orthokeratology) is a non-surgical procedure using specially designed contact lenses to gently reshape the curvature of the eye to improve vision.
• Myopia is a progressive visual disorder that results in poor distance vision. If the myopia is severe, it will impair near vision as well. Myopia is also known as “near-sighted” or “Short-sighted".” Options exist to help limit the progression of myopia as a child grows.

According to the Academy, these are qualities of a Fellow:

• Fellows have undergone advanced training and rigorous testing to demonstrate their level of expertise in myopia control and orthokeratology
• A Fellow is the gold standard and represents the highest level of knowledge, ethics and patient care in the myopia control.
• Fellows serve as mentors and role models for other practitioners as well as the general public.

 

This was a year-long process which included presenting multiple complex case reports, passing both written and oral exams. The exams were supposed to take place at the annual meeting in Seattle in April, but the meeting was canceled due to COVID -19 and the testing process had to be completed remotely.

 

There are approximately 150 Fellows of the The International Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control around the world. And  I am one of only a handful that have earned 3 fellowships in the International Academy of Orthokeratology, the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, and the American Academy of Optometry.
 

I have learned a great deal in the process of becoming a fellow and I look forward to using this knowledge to better help my patients.

 

Yours in vision,

- Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, FAAO, FCOVD, FIAOMC