The International Orthoptic Association (IOA) is the global voice of the orthoptic profession and is made up of 15 national professional organisations and six associate organisations. The IOA World Orthoptic Day aims to boost the visibility of the orthoptic profession and promote the activities of orthoptists locally, nationally, and internationally.

World orthoptic day and the associated week-long celebrations help to increase the awareness of orthoptists and the association and the truly global impact of orthoptics. A key part of this is the annual, international photography contest, where all orthoptists and orthoptic students are asked to take out their cameras and cellphones and join in the fun.

Previous competition entries have shown real flair and creativity, using lots of different techniques to stage the perfect orthoptic-themed photo, said the Association. This year’s theme is ‘Reflections in orthoptics,’ which can be interpreted in any way as long as the image represents an aspect or aspects of orthoptic science. Entries for this year’s contest close on 20 May 2018. This year, the Association is also running a ‘World Orthoptic Day Selfie Contest’ where orthoptists are asked to send in a photo of themselves relating to orthoptics in clincial practice, such as wearing a patch, using a prism or an occluder, or anything. The prize for the most original entry is an 16GB iPad mini. Entries open on World Orthoptic Day on Monday 4 June and close at 11.00pm GMT on Friday June 8th.