GP Lens Institute

We have almost 3000 GP specialists with their area(s) of specialty listed to assist you when you need to refer a patient or for patients looking for a GP specialist as this resource is also available on our consumer site: contactlenses.org. If you are interested in signing up to be a referral GP lens practitioner, you can do so at https://www.gpli.info/locator-submit/.

Specialties Include:
General GP Contact Lenses
Bifocal/Multifocal Contact Lenses
Contact Lenses for Irregular Corneas
Corneal Reshaping / Orthokeratology
Scleral Lens Designs

Webinars, FAQ and Guides to All Specialty Lenses (https://www.gpli.info/education-by-lens-type/)

Choose from the following categories of specialty lens education:

Bitoric / High Astigmatism – Includes lens calculators, the Mandell-Moore and Newman guides, FAQs on when and how to fits torics, and more.

Corneal Reshaping – A wealth of webinars on overnight ortho-k and myopia control!

Keratoconus / Post-Surgical – Post-surgical FAQs and nine webinars dealing with irregular cornea.

Presbyopia / Multifocals – Includes the “Building Your Practice with GP Multifocals” guide, FAQ, grand rounds and 10+ archived webinars.

Scleral Lenses – 20+ webinars, troubleshooting FAQ, help with insurance claims and sample patient education.

Soft Specialty Lenses – 10 webinars on soft and hybrid specialty lenses.

Spherical GP Lenses – Includes the popular Click ‘n’ Fit interactive educational module, webinars, FAQ, troubleshooting, and more.

The GPLI holds a Cornea and Contact Lens Resident Symposium each year, typically in August, held at one of the colleges of optometry. This is a hybrid program, with online education accessible prior to the in-person event. The in-person event is a three-day program consisting of workshops, panels, and lectures.

GPLI produces two newsletters. One is a monthly e-newsletter highlighting recent webinars and other programs. GPLI’s "The Advisor" is a members-only online journal co-edited by respected clinicians and researchers Drs. Jennifer Harthan and Melanie Frogozo. Designed to offer concise, easily digested and clinically relevant information, new issues of "The Advisor" are released every other month.

The GP Lens Institute is supporting an enhanced student and doctor experience by helping establish new externship sites focused on specialty contact lenses. The GPLI will provide resources such as webinars and digital access to practice advice for efficient and successful integration and mentorship. This can be a rewarding experience for doctors, students, and patients. The goal of this initiative is to create 50 new sites, which would result in approximately 200 fourth-year students obtaining specialty contact lens experience by the end of three years. Each practice will work with an associated College of Optometry to determine specific requirements.

This comprehensive online module for the novice GP lens fitter is currently under development. It will include how to evaluate a GP wearer with a number of decision-making trees pertaining to spherical and bitoric lenses as well as how to communicate and care for GP lenses. The complete module will contain four comprehensive sections.

GPLI's ECP Membership is a new program that offers several benefits for a low annual fee. The primary goal of this program is to engage more practitioners with the GP Lens Institute and access premier educational resources. Benefits include: free printed materials, Coding and Billing Module, Staff Module, Building Your Practice with GP Multifocals, archived webinars, free quarterly COPE-approved webinars, bi-monthly educational journal (“The Advisor”), access to recent Cornea and Contact Lens Resident Symposium presentations, quarterly GPLI podcast (“GPLI Radio”), member directory, and more.

GPLI provides grand rounds workshops at various schools of optometry each year. These workshops educate students on the fitting of specialty contact lenses. GPLI is planning on expanding the schools program.

GPLI provides several awards annually. The Robert B. Madell Clinical Excellence Award is given to a fourth year student at each school of optometry in North America each year. It rewards a student who demonstrates excellence in fitting specialty contact lenses. GPLI also presents several awards to professional individuals who demonstrate excellence in various areas including contact lens education, specialty contact lens fitting, keratoconus, anterior segment disease, and service to the GPLI.