Rob Kloepfer, OD, runs EyeDrKloepfer on Instagram. Image courtesy of Dr. Kloepfer.
ALBERTA, Canada—While we’re all practicing keeping our distance, people all over the world are turning to social media to come together. Social media is full of ways to connect: for fun, for work, and for education. When you think like Rob Kloepfer, OD, does, Instagram provides the perfect platform for all three. Dr. Kloepfer is a Canadian optometrist who practices at Downtown Vision Care in Calgary, Alberta and Seema Eye Care Centre, also in Calgary. In addition, he serves as governance chair for the Alberta College of Optometrists and lectures across Canada. Formerly, he also served as secretary of the Calgary Society of Optometrists. Right now, Dr. Kloepfer is working reduced hours, seeing patients who require immediate care. In addition, he says this “has been a time to build a plan for personal and professional development goals in 2020. On that list is pursuing further education, both for myself but also my passion for teaching.” But all this work doesn’t mean Dr. Kloepfer can’t find time for fun—he uses his Instagram account with nearly 5,000 followers, EyeDrKloepfer, as a platform to educate, connect, and have fun.

More Images
Due to the pandemic, Dr. Kloepfer is practicing reduced hours and seeing patients who need immediate care. Image courtesy of Dr. Kloepfer.

  
On EyeDrKloepfer, Dr. Kloepfer shares his lectures and quizzes.
Most of the time, EyeDrKloepfer is chock-full of quick, funny, educational videos related to a variety of different conditions, and right now is no different. But with most—if not all—of his followers practicing social distancing, Dr. Kloepfer has been coming up with
ways to keep everyone connected when they’re stuck inside. Namely, he’s been developing and hosting Eye Jeopardy.

The idea for Eye Jeopardy, which Dr. Kloepfer hosts on Instagram Live, came about last year. He told VM, “The idea of Eye Jeopardy reaches back to last year as I was preparing more lectures. I wanted to have something much more interactive and fun instead of a simple PowerPoint presentation.” Now that most of those lectures and conferences have been cancelled or postponed due to the pandemic, Dr. Kloepfer decided to take Eye Jeopardy onto Instagram Live instead. He said, “I decided I would try a live version of the lecture with Instagram that would be much different than the various podcasts or webinars ongoing at this time. What better way to interact with your social media audience and have some great laughs along the way than a classic game show!”

While putting the game together, Dr. Kloepfer kept his target audience of opticians and students in mind. The goal, he said, was to “have more clinically relevant clues instead of strictly textbook knowledge with some fun twists along the way.” Eye Jeopardy included a full board and categories like “Urgency vs. Emergency,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Ocular Anatomy,” and “Mixed Bag.” Participants submitted their answers via the chat function on Instagram Live. At first. Dr. Kloepfer planned to go live for half an hour, and see where things took him. In the end, he told VM, “everyone was so great interacting and enjoying the game so we continued for over an hour to finish the entire board.”

 
Eye Jeopardy participants answered questions via the chat function on Instagram Live.
 
Eye Jeopardy included a full board and categories like “Urgency vs. Emergency,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Ocular Anatomy,” and “Mixed Bag.” 
After his first success, Dr. Kloepfer hosted Eye Jeopardy again on Thursday, April 23. The second time, he
kicked things up a little: “There were very smart students, doctors, and opticians that joined the initial game so I realized my questions need to ramp up in difficulty… My goal moving forward is to have a good mix of question difficulty for anyone wishing to join.” The second game went as well as the first. He said, "The game was great. Different participants than the first game, I added audio clips to add some fun, and harder questions! Great engagement overall."

In addition, he sees even more interactive games in the pipeline. He told VM, “Though I don’t want to give too much away, I also have another popular game show board ready to go for another twist to quarantine learning! Depending how long this pandemic lasts, there may be quarantine education round three with a different game show version other than Eye Jeopardy.”

The goal for Eye Jeopardy was to bring the optical community together for some fun—and Dr. Kloepfer definitely achieved that. Although we cannot gather together now the way we’re used to, Dr. Kloepfer sees things like Eye Jeopardy as a way to keep interacting and learning no matter what, as well as a way for him to learn new ways to teach and lecture. He said, “In the last
several years my passion for teaching has increased tremendously. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to lecture across Canada which I hope continues to expand along
with this Instagram page. I try to bring a unique angle to teaching so I’ll continue to push the conventional boundaries for learning either in-person or virtually.”