Open source and tele-manufacturing for ophthalmology

Open source or crowd-sourcing and crowd-collaboration are concepts almost always associated with software and public online projects such as Wiki project. Never had I imagined that my team would apply the same principle in ophthalmology. Just less than a month...

Refractionist’s shoulder?

After hearing the letter-box, I walked to the front door and stooped down to collect my latest edition of Eye News. I winced. Still, at least it would give me something to pass the time on this, my first day...

Simulated ocular surgery

See also Simulated ocular surgery - strabismus surgery and Simulated ocular surgery: pars plana vitrectomy and scleral buckling surgery This is the first of a series of articles that will have three aims. Firstly, to demonstrate why simulated ocular surgery...

The ophthalmologist’s elbow: a potentially painful point of contact

Three months ago I leant, in the customary manner, on the box of my indirect lens at the slit lamp to examine a patient’s fundus. An acute and severe pain in the tip of my elbow immediately interrupted me. I...

Patient and public participation shapes biomedical research and access priorities in eye health

Patients, clinicians and clinician-scientists play a valuable role in shaping the future of vision research. Limited funding demands targeted research initiatives that ultimately will shape health policy and practice to secure progress in improving patient outcomes in eye health. This...

Complex Biometry Clinics: a new service development

In this article we describe a new local service development, the ‘Complex Biometry Clinic’ at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Retrospective data analysis of patients referred between October 2012 and October 2013 was performed. The aim was to provide a one-stop service...

Comic leaflets: an innovative method of patient education

Nowadays almost everyone has been exposed to comics, especially during childhood. In a way, this is a natural form of progression from children’s story books, which also contain words and pictures. This exposure has helped us to develop the graphic...

An eyeful of independence

Scots will decide this September whether or not Scotland should be an independent sovereign state. “As all key areas of our business are already fully devolved, it’s very much business as usual for us,” noted a spokesperson for Healthcare Improvement...

What to expect when meeting a statistician

There are a growing number of statisticians working closely with ophthalmologists. They have different training but they are driven by the same goal: to perform high quality evidence based clinical research [1,2]. In a perfect world we would simply conduct...

NICE drugs: an update on what’s good to go

Treatment options recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must be readily available for use in the NHS of England and Wales. This article provides an overview of recent guidance from NICE and summary advice issued...

Letter from America: Orbit and oculoplastic fellowship, University of California, San Diego

I was the fortunate recipient of the 2012 Keeler Scholarship, granting me the incredible opportunity to undertake a fellowship at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) in orbital, oculoplastic and reconstructive surgery. My fellowship mentors were the renowned Professor...

Innovations in ophthalmology: what can the innovations of the past teach us about tomorrow?

BUOS Prize Essay – 2nd prize winner for 2013 submissions Introduction An essay titled Innovations in Ophthalmology might choose to focus on the history; from cataract couching to femtosecond lasers, ophthalmology has had no shortage of topics worthy of discussion....