07/07/2025
2025 OAPA Annual Conference - CME #7
Thursday, October 23, 2025 from 3:45-4:45 p.m.
“The Hills Have Eyes: Evaluating Eye Emergencies in Rural, Remote, and Emergency Settings with Point-of-Care Tools"
Presented by Katharine Lee, MS, PA-C, Marshall University
Learning Objectives:
- Describe key anatomical and physiological features of the eye relevant to the evaluation and management of ocular emergencies.
- Identify and assess common acute eye conditions, including traumatic and non-traumatic presentations (e.g., vision loss, eye pain, foreign body, red eye) in rural, remote, and outpatient environments.
- Demonstrate a systematic approach to evaluating eye emergencies.
- Recognize time-sensitive and vision-threatening conditions, such as retinal detachment, globe rupture, and understand appropriate triage and referral strategies.
- Utilize point-of-care ocular ultrasound (POCUS) for the evaluation of select ocular emergencies, including probe placement, safety considerations, and interpretation of findings (e.g., retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage, optic nerve sheath diameter).
- Apply clinical reasoning to guide treatment decisions and coordinate evacuation or referral when managing eye emergencies in austere, low-resource, or geographically isolated environments.
Speaker Biography:

Kate Lee, physician assistant and Assistant Professor at Marshall University’s PA Program since 2022, hails from Appalachia and lives in Gallipolis, Ohio. A 2017 graduate of A.T. Still University, she began her career in emergency medicine in rural Georgia and has gained diverse experience in hospital medicine, telehealth, obesity medicine, aesthetics, and family practice. Passionate about rural healthcare, she focuses on point-of-care ultrasound, ECG interpretation, trauma care, neurology, and OB/GYN. She is currently pursuing a wilderness medicine fellowship.
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