What happens when an ophthalmologist and optometrist get chatting in a pub, over a couple of pints of Guinness, about how they could create something educational and entertaining for ophthalmologists and optometrists? The answer is the Eyes on Tomorrow podcast.
Dermot Keogh is an optometrist and I, John Ferris, am an ophthalmologist in Cheltenham. Although we have worked together closely for many years, we are very much aware that our two professions have not always had the most harmonious of relationships. Being brought up in Ireland in the 1970s and 80s, one of us north and the other south of the border, we know how counter-productive division can be. However, we also know how much more can be achieved by working together and the benefits of listening to and learning from other people’s perspectives, and this is the ethos behind Eyes on Tomorrow. Like Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell on The Rest is Politics podcast, if we have a difference of opinion we strive to “disagree agreeably.”
John Ferris (left) and Dermot Keogh (right).
Each episode features a relaxed conversation with a leader and innovator in ophthalmology or optometry, during which we discuss their work, how it has shaped our everyday practices, their influences and often unconventional career paths, as well as their thoughts about what innovations lie just over the horizon.
We have had some fantastic guests since the podcast launched in July 2024. Peter Scanlon talks about how looking after young diabetics in the 1980s, blinded by undetected diabetic retinopathy, was what drove him on to set up the first digital diabetic retinopathy screening program and how he helped develop this into a national screening program. He also shares some interesting insights into how he has dealt with NHS bureaucracy!
Keith Barton, who we interviewed in his native Belfast, explains how he became a glaucoma consultant in Moorfields despite doing a corneal fellowship in Miami, and why trabeculectomy is still the go-to procedure for patients presenting with advanced glaucoma. Keith also talked about the influential Trab vs Tube studies and the LiGHT Study, not forgetting the unexpected tribute he received from a rock and roll megastar!
Lyndon Jones, Director of the Centre for Ocular Research and Education in Waterloo, Canada talks about the expanding role of optometry into therapeutics, the importance of managing ocular surface disease before and after cataract and refractive surgery and exciting new developments in the field of medicated contact lenses. Although he loves life in Canada, Lyndon still misses British pubs, curries and M&S sausage rolls!
Our World Sight Day episode featured Hunter Cherwek, VP for Clinical Services for ORBIS, talking about how ORBIS is using its Cybersight educational platform, virtual reality simulation, and AI, in combination with a myriad of community-based projects, such as women-led Green Vision Centres, to tackle the burden of avoidable sight impairment. Hunter’s inspirational work struck a chord with listeners and to date there have been over a thousand downloads of this episode.
So, if you are wondering what to listen to on your commute to and from work, or when you are out for a walk or relaxing at home, follow Eyes on Tomorrow on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Visit our website (https://eyesontomorrow.substack.com) where you can also subscribe to the podcast to get access to bonus audio and a monthly newsletter, with carefully curated content related to the topics covered in that month’s podcast. Twenty percent of all proceeds from the newsletter will be donated to Orbis UK, our charity partner.
We are very grateful to Théa UK for their generous support and to Matt and Louise Hill at Rethink Audio who produce the podcast.
COMMENTS ARE WELCOME
