Amorette Hanna, OD, creator of
Eyecing on the Cake
NEW YORK—While many eyecare practices use the internet to help inform their patients, individual ECPs have taken to telling their own stories and sharing professional perspectives via blogs, vlogs and Instagram accounts. These are created specifically to educate the public about eye health and eyewear trends in ways that are fun, personal and creative.

Amorette Hanna, OD, owner of RDU Family Vision in Morrisville, North Carolina, started her blog, called Eyecing on the Cake, in May of 2014. “My first job out of school was a little bit disenchanting, so I was looking for a way to remind myself what I liked about my profession and to encourage myself to keep learning,” explained Hanna. “Thus, Eyecing on the Cake was born—a blog featuring the unlikely duo of eyes and cupcakes.”

Hanna primarily uses the blog to educate people about vision and eye health issues, although she says it also gives her an opportunity to research current developments in the industry. She’s a self-proclaimed “wannabe artist,” so writing blog posts and sharing her eye-inspired cupcakes works well as a creative outlet.

Updated about once a month, Eyecing on the Cake covers topics such as glaucoma, myopia control, prosthetic eyes and more. And of course, to honor Hanna’s love of cupcakes, there is a photo gallery entirely dedicated to her cupcake creations.

“I want to make eye health more accessible to everyday people. I try to write my blog with that in mind. My goal is to make the content interesting and easy to understand, but also to provide links to studies and articles for those who are more inquisitive and want more substance,” she said.
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Eyecing on the Cake blog
 This myopia graphic demonstrates the many ways in which
Hanna likes to incorporate cupcakes and eye education.

Currently, Eyecing on the Cake gets anywhere between 600 and 800 hits a month, while Hanna’s coinciding Instagram account, where she posts bite-sized pieces of optical information, has over 550 followers—a mix of patients, friends, strangers and fellow ECPs who often repost her content for their own patients.

Hanna’s blog also comes in handy when informing her patients about their eyes. “I will sometimes email patients a link to a post on my blog if it relates to their condition. I find I do that a lot when discussing myopia control with parents. The blog post expresses my thoughts in greater detail than I can go into during an exam, and it also references studies and articles so patients and parents can see where my information is coming from and understand my recommendations,” Hanna said.
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Hanna’s cupcake creations are often replications
of retinal diseases, like this cupcake
portraying central retinal vein occlusion. 		The Eyecing on the Cake Instagram account
features Hanna’s eye-inspired cupcakes,
eyecare facts and eye-related accessories.

Check out Eyecing on the Cake to read Hanna’s blog and admire her ability to feature macular degeneration and cupcakes in the same post.

Watch for other bloggers, vloggers and instagrammers in upcoming editions of VMail Weekend.