Medical ophthalmologists (also known as ophthalmic physicians) are doctors who diagnose and treat medical eye conditions which are related to systemic diseases. This is an integrative specialty which serves to manage complex patient groups and bridge the gap between hospital ophthalmic services, inpatient medical care and community care. It requires a broad understanding of the human body and its relationship to diseases which can affect the eye.
“The Eye as a Window”, Prof Alastair Denniston, MOSUK meeting 2022, Cutler’s Hall.
Although the position of ‘ophthalmic physician’ was formalised in 1804 at the London Ophthalmic Infirmary, it took until 1995 for a formal Medical Ophthalmology training programme to be inaugurated. Shortly after, a group of ophthalmologists and physicians formed the Medical Ophthalmological Society UK (MOSUK) whose aim was to foster joint working between medicine and ophthalmology, and to stimulate interest in the speciality. Since 1999, there have been annual meetings held in different centres throughout the United Kingdom.
MOSUK meeting 2022, Cutler’s Hall.
This year’s meeting takes place on 22 March 2023, and showcases the interdisciplinary breadth of medical ophthalmology, highlighting how an ophthalmic physician might work alongside surgical colleagues in a myriad of ophthalmic subspecialties to ensure that patients are managed from an integrative perspective. In the morning, there will be an Orbital Inflammation Symposium, covering a range of orbital disease processes which might benefit from integrative care with lectures from Rheumatologist Professor David D’Cruz and ophthalmologists Susana Morley and John Bladen. The session will include diseases for which we are only just building a knowledge base, for example IgG4. Our annual guest lecture presented by Professor Omar Mahroo will cover inherited retinal disease, and provide an update on management and diagnostic dilemmas. In the afternoon, we will have a symposium on Mucous Membrane Pemphigoid from both the ocular and systemic perspectives, covered respectively by Professor John Dart and Professor Jane Setterfield.
The day will end with a free paper competition and an opportunity for medical students, trainees, or fellows to win a national prize.
We hope you can join us for what promises to be a fascinating and wide-ranging meeting.
More information and meeting details here.
