Gender Inclusive Eye Care (ACO GIEC)
Available from: 27/01/2026 (AEDT)
Where to publish: https://profession.aco.org.au/
Provider: Australian College of Optometry
Contact: Shazia Tahseen, [E] cpd@aco.org.au, [P] 03 9349 7546
Activity Outline
ACO's Gender inclusive Eye Care is a 4-week intensive short course, covering a range of topics, including current status of research and patient care-based insights from optometry, ophthalmology and allied health.
Learning Objectives
- Increase the knowledge of optometrists around gender diversity and understand why gender affirming and respectful care is necessary
- Provide simple strategies to be respectful and affirming in your clinical practice and provide simple strategies to be respectful and affirming in your clinical practice
- Provide an overview of the themes related to LBGTIQA+ eye health that emerges from initial data analysis
- Understand the individual and organisational requirements to support a culturally safe environment for members of the LBGTQIA+ community within an optometry practice
- Discuss how the facilitation of a culturally safe environment for LBGTQIA+ community improves access to healthcare for LGBTQIA+ community members
- Understand the pathophysiology of idiopathic intracranial hypertension and understand the diagnosis and management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension
- Discuss the new evidence-based definitions of DED, MGD and potential risk factors
- Interrogate blind spots: Examine why the field still struggles to separate sex-based from gender-based risks in DED and MGD
- Step into complexity: unpack the unsettling realities of intracrinology, hormesis, and the paradoxical roles of sex hormones.
- Challenge hormone narratives: Test long-held beliefs by dissecting how oestrogen and androgen shape ocular surface health, with a focus on MGD.
- Explore how sex, gender, and gender-affirming hormone therapy disrupt traditional prevalence patterns, symptom profiles, and care-seeking behaviours in DED and MGD.
- Provide a basic introduction to gender affirming speech therapy for optometrists
- Recognise the diverse communication styles that can reflect each individual’s unique gender identity and expression, with a focus on the intersectionality between gender and neurodiversity. This includes understanding how gender diversity and neurodivergence can shape and influence communication in various ways.
- Model clinical conversations, both routine and non-routine, that arise in the process of caring for gender diverse patients
Max CPD hours awarded: 3.5
Session Information
| Name |
|---|
| Introduction to gender diversity and respectful care: why it's important and simple ways to achieve it |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| No |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 1 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 1 |
| Name |
|---|
| Rapid review: Eye health in the LGBTQIA+ community |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| No |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.5 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.5 |
| Name |
|---|
| Advocacy for LGBTQIA+ eyecare: how optometrists can get involved |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| No |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.25 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.25 |
| Name |
|---|
| Idiopathic intracranial hypertension as an atypical presentation in gender-diverse community |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| Yes |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.75 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.75 |
| Name |
|---|
| Dry eye and Meibomian gland changes in gender-affirming care |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| Yes |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.25 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.25 |
| Name |
|---|
| An introduction to gender affirming speech therapy |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| No |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.5 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.5 |
| Name |
|---|
| Respectful conversations in gender inclusive eyecare |
| Clinical? |
| Yes |
| Interactive? |
| No |
| Therapeutic? |
| No |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module |
| 0.25 |
| Duration of CPD Session/Module inclusive of Assessment Component |
| 0.25 |