Independent ECPs Weigh in on Scope of Practice Expansion in Vision Monday’s October Cover Story

NEWARK, N.J.—As rates of myopia, dry eye and diabetic eye disease climb across the U.S., demand for medical eyecare continues to increase. In the October 2025 issue, Vision Monday’s cover story “Optometry’s Expanding Scope: Bridging the Eyecare Gap” examines how independent optometrists are meeting patients’ needs, bringing in-office lasers, injections and minor surgical care to communities that need it most. Several experts including Richard Edlow, OD; Susan Keene, OD; Shane Laster, OD; Jeff Gamble, OD; Clayton Tyler Boyd, OD, FAAOMS; and Joseph Munsell, OD, spoke with VM for this issue about how an expanded scope of care has improved access, reduced costs and even added meaningful revenue, while educators and technology experts explain why modern training and safer, more precise devices make these changes feasible.