Have you ever watched someone cross-stitch, or do needle-point? I recently had the joy of observing my teenage daughter create such an artwork. She separated all the threads into the various colours, and then started to follow the instructions carefully.
After what seemed like an eternity of painful fingers, thumbs and the removal and replacing of stitches, she announced, “This is never going to come together!” Obviously, some witty comments from her father helped to ‘improve’ the situation, though maybe more responsible for putting the ‘cross’ into cross-stitch! However, she persevered and eventually completed the complex design. And to be honest, it still looked pretty random, messy with irregular threads and most unlike the expected outcome. I really didn’t know what to say, until she turned it over, and the intended real image was revealed in all its’ glory.
I wonder if you can relate to this. You thought everything would work out beautifully at every stage of your career, and now you are doubting the purpose of it all. Your New Year’s resolutions have long evaporated, and you can’t even remember what you were hoping to achieve, never mind seeing progress. Maybe you only see all the messy threads, rather than the completed pattern. Well, let this ‘behind the scenes’ peek into Eye News encourage you. Some of the issues have a unifying theme, and it is easy to write an editorial linking the relevant articles together. The pattern is clear, whether you are looking at it from the front or the back. But sometimes there is no obvious theme, and you are scrambling to knit it all together around tenuous links. At first glance, this seems to be one such random issue, yet each individual article stands alone as a beneficial educational resource and of great value.
Eyecare professionals are used to looking back in order to look forward, and Eye News Feb/Mar 2024 provides a potpourri of topics to expand your horizons, regain perspectives and renew interests outside your immediate field. You can look back to 100 years ago since Duke-Elder graduated, courtesy of Andrew Blaikie and Andrew King, or look forward to a bright future of interventional glaucoma options through a changed mindset by Gus Gazzard’s team. Trainees (and trainers) can avoid mistakes by learning from others’ experiences of the refraction exam, be more aware of the diagnostic and treatment challenges of anterior segment lesions, and benefit from greater training use of donor cornea tissue. New tech reviews, the relationship between corneal clarity and statin use, and innovative approaches to dry AMD provide positive glimpses of the future, while damage from retinal toy laser burns and the impact of resource limitations and inequalities of ophthalmic care provide food for thought. There is a smorgasbord of opportunities to supplement that new awareness through engaging with the extensive educational calendar of events. Maybe by pulling on some of those threads, they may stimulate you to see and shape a new pattern for ophthalmic care in your location.
And in the beauty of all this, the diverse mix of articles come together to form a seamless Eye News Feb/Mar 2024. Themeless but seamless, so to speak! So, ignore the apparently loose threads, turn it over, and enjoy the unique pattern of all things ophthalmic for your edification, education and enjoyment. There really is something for everyone, in the rich tapestry of life at Eye News.
David Lockington
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