As the GPLI inches closer to its 40^th year, 2024 may, in fact, be the most productive year for new programs and resources. This includes modules pertaining to the novice GP practitioner (“I Have a GP Wearer in My Chair: What Do I Do?”), increase in specialty clinical contact lens clinical externships, new scholarships for past cornea and contact lens residents, the potential for a second clinical symposium for Fellows and rising stars in the cornea and contact lens area, expansion of our eye care professional membership program – which already has over 700 members – introduction of a complimentary student membership to include a package of fulfillment items in addition to the resources available in the ECP membership, and many more. Two years ago the GPLI consisted of only myself, and a small amount of time allotted to the CLMA Administrative Director, Pam Witham. Now we have a full-time Administrative Director in Beth Anderzhon and an Associate Director in the form of a very well-respected leader in the profession, Dr. Tom Quinn. We also have a very supportive Board of Directors, and an outstanding Advisory Board, consisting of many of the foremost contact lens specialists in the world. We also have no less than 13 committees including both our Advisory Board members and a number of rising stars in the profession. As with any other organization, we are driven by industry support as well as donations from eye care professionals. The “Donate to GPLI” button takes you to our support page which makes it quite simple to provide support. A downloadable brochure is also available which can be provided to any patients who have benefitted from GP or custom soft lenses as well as any companies who may consider supporting the GPLI. Thank you, as always, for considering this request.

The GPLI always includes very popular webinar topics from our renown Advisory Board members every month. October and November will be no different with multifocals from Dr. Tom Quinn and keratoconus from Dr. Karen Lee. That said we also attempt to include more specialty presentations that may not impact as many ECPs but pertain to an important topic that needs to both be addressed and most certainly represent an important addition to our archived webinar library. That was very true of our webinar on September 19^th on the topic of “Color Their Eyes, Color Their Lives: Tinted and Prosthetic Contact Lens Applications for Your Patients” from Dr. Anita Gulmiri. Dr. Gulmiri’s presentation was outstanding and I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in including a much needed and life-changing modality into their practice.

As you saw in August’s newsletter, the GPLI hosted its 25^th Cornea and Contact Lens Resident Symposium – a huge milestone! 25 classes of residents who have gone on to become some of the best and brightest specialty contact lens practitioners have “walked the halls” of the GP Lens Institute. This very special annual event is also GPLI’s highest budget item each year, with the cost to host each resident around $3,000. The bottom line, though, is this program is WORTH IT.

To help support both the GPLI’s annual resident symposium AND the residents beginning their specialty contact lens journey, you can give back to GPLI, pay it forward to a current resident, or both!

Whether you’re alumni of the GPLI resident symposium or just a caring individual, we believe this is a worthy cause where you can truly make a difference in the landscape of specialty contact lens fitting.

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