STAPLE Program®

Program Description

The Soft Toric and Presbyopic Lens Education Program^® (STAPLE) provides contact lens education through hands-on workshops to optometry students in the United States and Canada. Program participants gain valuable experience in fitting soft toric and soft multifocal contact lenses on patients recruited specifically for the event. Students learn in a collaborative environment, staffed by optometrists from their schools and local communities.

The STAPLE Program^® is a collaborative effort between CooperVision^®, Alcon, Bausch+Lomb, and Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.

Benefits of the Program

Opportunity for students to fit their first toric and multifocal lenses from the top four manufacturers, and learn about the specific technologies that make the lenses unique.
Gain pre-clinic experience fitting contact lenses on real patients and connect with industry experts at workshop events.

How the Program Works

Students are recruited by a student liaison or the school’s Cornea and Contact Lens resident to participate in the STAPLE Program^®. While students enjoy a meal, a practicing optometrist presents the lenses being used during the workshop as well as relevant fitting pearls. After the product education, small groups of students are assigned to a preceptor and two patients. Each student group will fit two different brands of contact lenses per patient, for a total of four lens evaluations. Sales representatives are available to assist in lens selection and provide specific product knowledge. The students perform insertion and removal of the lenses, visual acuities, lens fitting assessment at the slit lamp, and over-refractions. After the fittings are completed, the students, preceptors, sales representatives and guest speaker reconvene to share their contact lens fitting experiences.

WINK Productions organizes these events, orders extra diagnostic lenses and provides the individual fitting guides in the student handouts. There is no cost to the students or schools to participate.

Who Is Eligible?

Spring workshops are usually for students completing their second year of optometry school and Fall workshops are usually made up of students in their third year. For a full list of workshop events provided by the STAPLE^® program, please visit:
https://stapleprogram.com/workshop-dates.

Application Process

WINK Productions coordinates the entire program and patients are recruited through the optometry school and clinic.
WINK Productions sets up the workshop dates with each school, with an attempt to schedule when the program is most complimentary to the current contact lens curriculum. Check out their website for upcoming events:
https://stapleprogram.com/workshop-dates