New Clinical Editor of Pharma

Optometry Australia has announced that Kerryn Hart has been appointed Clinical Editor of Pharma, Australia’s leading magazine in therapeutic optometry research and application.

Ms Hart is the magazine’s second Clinical Editor in its 10-year history, replacing the inaugural Clinical Editor, Associate Professor Mark Roth OAM who resigned this year.

Associate Professor Roth’s departure prompted an extensive review of Pharma leading to the decision to bring the role of Clinical Editor in-house to streamline publication management between this role and the Editor, Jeff Megahan. Issue planning, content development, author liaison, editing and design are now all under the one roof.

Ms Hart, a qualified optometrist and clinical skills teacher, joined Optometry Australia as Policy and Standards Advisor in March this year.

‘Pharma is highly valued by our members and I am excited to be involved in its ongoing success,’ she said.

‘We will be working to evolve the magazine in line with ocular therapeutic advancements and in particular, looking at developing a strong digital presence within the organisation’s new website. We also want to make it easier for members to complete the Pharma CPD assessment online.

‘This year the September issue of Pharma aligned with an Optometry Australia webcast on diabetic retinopathy providing the opportunity for members to obtain a combined nine CPD points.

‘We definitely have plans for similar issue/webcast alignment in the future.

‘Each issue of Pharma delivers six CPD points and it is our objective to deliver the majority of these as therapeutic points.’ Ms Hart said. ‘Reflecting this, the forthcoming December issue on anterior eye conditions with a focus on dry eye, will carry four therapeutic points.’

Ms Hart holds a Master of Public Health from the University of New South Wales and is a 2003 University of Melbourne Bachelor of Optometry graduate. She completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Ocular Therapeutics, a Postgraduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Optometry, also from University of Melbourne, and is completing a Graduate Certificate of Higher Education Teaching and Learning at Deakin University.

In addition to her dual roles at Optometry Australia, Ms Hart is a Clinical Skills Teacher in Optometry at Deakin University and works within the Australian College of Optometry’s specialist clinics.

She has worked and volunteered extensively overseas, particularly in Cambodia and Vietnam.

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