This week, Dr Alison Chiu was honoured to present to more than 1,200 general practitioners at the HealthEd conference in Sydney, one of Australia’s leading medical education events for GPs and healthcare professionals (HealthEd). Her talk focused on dry eye disease - a condition that affects millions of Australians, yet is often underdiagnosed and undertreated.

Why Talk to GPs About Dry Eye?

GPs are usually the first point of contact when people experience eye discomfort - whether it’s dryness, watery eyes, grittiness, intermittent blurred vision, or irritation. By helping GPs recognise and manage dry eye early, patients can receive timely care before symptoms become severe or chronic.

Dr Chiu’s message was simple: dry eye is not just a nuisance, it’s a medical condition that can affect both everyday comfort and long-term eye health.

The Surgical Connection – Why Dry Eye Matters Even More for Cataract & Refractive Patients

Dry eye doesn’t just cause discomfort. For people considering cataract surgery or refractive surgery (such as LASIK, SMILE PRK), or ICL surgery (implantable contact lenses), untreated dry eye can have a major impact on results.

• Accurate Measurements: A stable tear film is essential for precise eye scans and lens calculations. If the surface is unstable, the numbers can be wrong, leading to less accurate surgical outcomes.
• Visual Quality: After surgery, untreated dry eye can blur or fluctuate vision, even if the procedure itself was perfect.
• Happy Patients: Addressing dry eye before surgery helps ensure smoother recovery, clearer vision, and greater satisfaction.

This is why Dr Chiu integrates ocular surface health into every step of the surgical process at Pure Sight Eye Surgeons.

A Holistic Approach to Eye Care

Dr Chiu’s presentation to GPs highlighted the importance of teamwork. By recognising dry eye at the primary care level, GPs can make a real difference in their patients’ comfort and in setting them up for future eye health success.

As a surgeon, Dr Chiu draws on this experience every day: combining advanced cataract and refractive techniques with careful attention to the ocular surface to give patients the best possible vision outcomes.

You can read more about Dr Chiu’s role as a HealthEd expert here: Dr Alison Chiu – HealthEd Profile.

About HealthEd

HealthEd is Australia’s leading education provider for GPs and healthcare professionals. With over two decades of experience, HealthEd delivers trusted, evidence-based learning through national seminars, webcasts, podcasts, and online modules. Their mission is to keep clinicians at the forefront of best practice, supporting better care for patients across Australia.

Dr Chiu was honoured to contribute to this respected platform, engaging with a large audience of GPs committed to advancing patient outcomes in primary and specialist care.