At this year’s PECAA Annual Meeting, the K-DISK team asked doctors to complete one simple sentence: “Dry eye is…”.
Their goal was to discover how optometrists explain dry eye using everyday language that patients can actually understand. They challenged attendees to step in front of the camera and describe the ocular surface, tear film and the importance of treatment using analogies and real-world examples, avoiding all medical terminology. This was a difficult task. Seventy-two ODs bravely accepted the challenge, delivering unscripted answers with zero preparation and only seconds to think before the camera started rolling.
Every doctor who participated received a dry eye sample kit made possible through the generous support of K-DISK team industry partners at Hilco Vision/Bruder, Ocusoft, and The Dry Eye Drink. Their contributions helped turn a fun booth activity into a community-wide effort to advance patient education and engagement around dry eye. Among the standout submissions was PECAA Regional Leader Steven Chander, OD, whose winning analogy captured exactly what we were hoping to uncover: a simple, memorable way to help patients understand that dry eye is more than an occasional irritation requiring symptom relief. It’s a chronic condition that affects the health and function of the ocular surface and often requires a comprehensive treatment strategy. Watch Dr. Chander’s winning 15-second submission, as well as submissions from runners-up Emily Bee, OD, and Alireza Somji, OD, and why their analogies rose above the rest.