Q&A: Inder Paul Singh, MD, explores technician empowerment via the Academy Technician Training Platform

The American Academy of Ophthalmic Professionals, in collaboration with Alchemy Vision, recently launched the Academy Technician Training Platform.^1-3 Designed to support technicians and other allied eye care professionals, the platform offers video-driven training across a range of skills—from basic competencies to advanced diagnostics.^1-3 It accelerates employee onboarding, helps develop COA-certified staff, strengthens key interpersonal skills, and allows practice managers to track team progress—all aimed at improving efficiency and elevating patient care.^1-3

Attendees of the American Academy of Ophthalmology 2025 annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, will have an opportunity to preview the technician training platform on Sunday, October 19, at 10:30 am, as part of the Academy Theater, Hall WB1, Booth 2761.

The Eye Care Network caught up with Inder Paul Singh, MD, president of The Eye Centers of Racine and Kenosha in Wisconsin and founding medical advisor for Alchemy Vision, to learn more about the platform and how it has made a difference in his practice.

Note: Transcript edited lightly for clarity and length.

You’ve had some first-hand experience with the Academy Technician Training Platform. Could you start by sharing what the platform is and its key functionalities?

Inder Paul Singh, MD: The American Academy of Ophthalmic Professionals partnered with Alchemy Vision, which is a company that has really tried to focus on video-based learning that’s fun, that’s consistent for all practices. The idea came about basically a few years ago during COVID-19…to create a platform that’s easy for new people who don’t have any experience with eye care at all, and see if we can get them to train to a basic level of understanding. In other words, be able to standardize a training program for every clinic out there. The idea was, can we take anybody off the street and give them enough education through a video-based learning platform to get them up to speed, to then be proficient enough to start working in a clinic. And then you create different levels of kind of education. You have a basic level, then you have a second level, third level, so we can get even more and more in depth as needed as well.

A huge issue for our practice was how to standardize education. A tech would come in, and another tech would train that tech, and if that tech was busy, then another tech would train, and everyone’s doing things differently, and it was hard to standardize things. People had different levels of education depending on their experience they had with that given week, and it was just all over the place.

LEARN MORE: AAO 2025: Technician training platform expands education opportunities in ophthalmology

What Alchemy Vision has done for us, and hopefully other practices out there, is give that basic level of standardization. Think of it almost like going to medical school…to give enough basic foundational knowledge so that we can learn more eye care. It’s like learning a language. I think Alchemy Vision gives the language and the understanding in the context, so that every practice can then tailor those technicians to their specific practice as well. We found it to be invaluable.

What difference has this platform made in your day-to-day practice, and could you give an example of how it’s helped?

Singh: When we look at how important our technicians are, they’re playing a more integral role and part of our practices in general. It’s not just trying to get people through the door. It’s about can they help educate, can they think on the fly. We want to have people who understand why they’re doing something. Why are they doing an OCT? Why are they doing a visual field and why is it so important for that iTrace or whatever diagnostic they have that has to be good quality? What does it look at? What is it trying to teach us as providers? What are we trying to help understand so we can make decisions.

The more our technicians understand, they will understand the why, understand what questions to ask, and how to interact with our patients. The better the flow, the better they are at trying to find out what’s important to the patient. Then they can direct us and direct the patients to us in a more concise way, so that when we’re in the room, a lot of the education has been done. The right diagnostics were done.

I have a great example. A patient came in saying their vision had gone down and they couldn’t see as well. I entered the room, and I was about to ask, Can we get an OCT? And the technician already did it. I’m like, why? She said, “Well, the patient’s vision went down, and I learned that you can get swelling after surgery, and that’s called macula edema. And so I did an OCT in case you wanted it.”

So already I had that OCT done, versus me having to buzz and get them to do that test. What does that tell you? It helps the patient—less time for the patient. No. 2, it helped me not to have to buzz and wait, so I was more efficient, and the patient had a better experience because everyone knew what they were doing.

It’s examples like that when the technician understands why, understands the situation, and can then direct the patient better and help you as a provider, the overall experience and overall flow, and efficiency are better. That’s one example of where I think Alchemy Vision has helped.

How does building that deeper understanding among technicians affect their confidence, motivation, and the way they approach their work?

Singh: When you understand how important education is to our technicians, not just in how well they can perform in our practices, it empowers them. It gives them a sense of not only pride, but a sense of appreciation for what we do every single day. When you understand the why behind everything we do, everything has meaning, and once you have meaning, then all of a sudden you have more ambition and more sense of empowerment to do the best job you can. When you can think on the fly, then everything starts to work in motion. Alchemy Vision gives that basic knowledge base and then we take it from there and add more to that.

What role do you think a platform like this will play in shaping the future of ophthalmology, both for the care team and for patients?

Singh: Just the constant advancements in new content, working with industry as well, and trying to get more specific technology on the platform so people can learn about various diagnostics. We can train on specific diagnostic tools, whether it’s biometers or topographers or OCTs or whatever it might be, so that way you have less stress on other technicians, the staff, and the office to have to train.

It’s also building a community. Having this interactive community allows technicians to learn from other technicians and other practices. So now you start to share ideas and share thoughts, and that’s what we see in ophthalmology. That’s why we love going to meetings, because it allows us the opportunity to learn from other practices and know that we’re not alone in our barriers and other concerns that we face every day. There are a number of ways having a digital platform allows you to upload more content, share ideas, share real-time questions, update live trainings, and have providers come on there and share their thoughts as well. Those are all ways that we can build a community and get more interaction.

Before we wrap up, are there any insights or points you’d like to share that you feel are important for our audience?

Singh: It’s so important to make sure that we are not forgetting how impactful our technicians can be to our practices. Constant education is one of the many things that we can do, and it’s easy. I like to teach. I like to learn. I like to go to every meeting possible, but I sometimes forget that my staff needs my time and attention. I think it’s something that we forget, at least I forget, as a provider—it’s great to travel and teach everybody else, but stay home and teach your technicians and your staff as well. This is one of the ways that we can help.

It is also hard to do a training in just one 3- or 4-week course, and then you’re done. This is reiterating the content, and then also supplementing that with other courses. I think it’s going to be a positive for everybody.

REFERENCES

1. Academy Technician Training Program. American Academy of Ophthalmology. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://store.aao.org/technician-training-program

2. American Academy of Ophthalmology establishes new membership group to support allied health professionals. News release. American Academy of Ophthalmology. July 5, 2023. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/academy-establishes-new-allied-health-group

3. Azucena F, Baugh M, Jozwiak B, Shultz M, Singh IP, Troendle T. Technician training for the modern practice. AAOP Webinar Recording. June 24, 2025. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.aao.org/clinical-teams/education/video/technician-training-modern-practice-webinar