The Escape Room and gamification of ophthalmology teaching

Recently, there has been an interesting development in medical education and its ‘gamification’. Educators are constantly looking for new ways to engage their students by adding a friendly element of competition, as evidenced by the great success of online education...

Part 1: The Arclight Project – Frugal tech for sight

The Arclight Project is a mix of frugal design, manufacturing, distribution, teaching, research, and advocacy, all wrapped up in a social enterprise based at the University of St Andrews. The project is driven by the high burden of needless blindness...

Virtual ophthalmic conferences: learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic was the catalyst for a number of paradigm shifts in numerous industries. The demand for proxies that follow social distancing measures created a hotbed for digital solutions and transitioned these to social convention. In the aftermath, the...

The All Eyes Foundation

At its core, All Eyes Foundation (AEF) wishes to help bring vision back to Iraq, and it intends to do this through ophthalmic subspecialty training, mentoring and infrastructure development. Based in Najaf, just over 100 miles south of Baghdad, the...

Hidden eyelid laceration following blunt trauma

A paediatric case report of a hidden eyelid laceration following blunt trauma. Blunt injury to the eyelid can result in a multitude of issues, such as damage to the eyelid margin, lacrimal system and surrounding orbit [1]. These can often...

A unique case of macular burn from ‘toy’ laser

The first laser was created in 1960 and its name is an acronym for ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’. Laser technology has been used for medical, industrial, research and entertainment purposes in a variety of fields following extensive...

Photophobia: an unusual symptom of a pituitary macroadenoma

Introduction Photophobia, defined as ‘an abnormal intolerance to light’, is commonly associated with a range of both ocular and neurological pathologies such as dry eye, blepharospasm, corneal pathologies, cataracts, uveitis, retinal dystrophies, optic neuritis, migraine, meningitis, and traumatic brain injury...

100 years since Sir William Duke-Elder graduated from the University of St Andrews

With sincere thanks to Andrew King, Ophthalmic Optician and owner of Andrew King Opticians near Glasgow, for his extensive research into Duke-Elder’s life.' Sir William Stewart Duke-Elder. Photo credit: Edward Irvine Halliday, Institute of Ophthalmology. In the world of ophthalmology,...

The REAL Clinic: a dual-purpose model

Naveen and Robbie discuss the benefits that come with a clinic offering both ophthalmic and plastic / cosmetic surgery services at REAL, a purpose-built clinic near Battersea Power Station, South London. Not unlike plastics / cosmetic surgery, ophthalmology is changing....

Blinded by an Ofsted inspection

Introduction The Association of Health Professions in Ophthalmology (AHPO) is a charity, whose objectives are to promote the practice, education, training and research in ophthalmology and vision science in the UK. The extraordinary developments in diagnostic equipment and technologies have...

The work of RNIB and ECLOs

With more than 2,000,000 people in the UK living with some degree of sight loss and over 300,000 registered as blind or partially sighted, it is important for anyone living with sight loss to know they’re not alone. At what...

Observership in Dar es Salaam

In this report, both authors present their personal experiences of an observership at the Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) Hospital, a large regional teaching hospital located in Dar es Salaam, with a particular focus on resource management, attitudes...