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Sustainability in eyecare: Climate action in eyecare

Climate change will cause disruption to critical eyecare services and increases in rates of eye disease around the world. The International Agency for Prevention of Blindness has recommended 10 key areas of action on how the eyecare sector can address...

Ophthalmology clinical teaching and research fellowships: a pathway into ophthalmology specialty training

Ophthalmology is known for being one of the most competitive medical specialties in the UK, with 6.8 applicants per post in 2021. In fact, the competition ratio has drastically increased in recent years, rising from 5.73 in 2020 and 3.24...

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...

Modern practice options for UK ophthalmologists

When I spoke on setting up private practice at the annual United Kingdom & Ireland Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS) meeting in November ’23 there was a lot of interest in different types of practice models. If we...

Planes, trams, and auditoriums: Beware predatory conferencing

Predatory open-access journals and predatory conferences are considered the two main areas of predatory infiltration in academic medicine that are of growing concern [1–7]. Unsolicited publishing requests from potentially predatory publishers occur frequently among faculty in ophthalmology [8]. Predatory conferencing...

The lived experience of benign essential blepharospasm

Benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) is a rare neurological condition which causes involuntary sustained or intermittent muscular contraction of both eyelids and upper facial muscles which cause closure of eyelids, abnormal facial expressions and distress [1]. The term dystonia is an...

Simulating the visual impairment symptoms of age-related macular degeneration in virtual reality

A new virtual reality application visually simulates age-related macular degeneration and demonstrates its progression over time including some Charles Bonnet syndrome hallucinations. Introduction Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in developed countries with the prevalence of...

Strengthening the signal: Advancing oculomics research for systemic health insights

Oculomics, the study of how ocular structure reflects systemic health, is poised to become an integral tool for predicting, triaging, and diagnosing a wide range of diseases. By analysing data from the eye, particularly the retina, healthcare providers can gain...

‘Phaco-plus’ procedures at forefront of modern glaucoma management

Glaucoma and cataract increasingly present as a ‘two-in-one’ surgical opportunity. In the UK, new modelling suggests ~1 million adults aged ≥40 may currently have glaucoma, with a projected rise to ~1.6 million by 2060 as the population ages and demographics...

Astigmatism correction in cataract surgery: Why are we still hesitating?

Toric spectacle lenses were first described in 1847 by George Biddell Airy, and their adoption was, presumably, gradual at that time. Today, correction of astigmatism with glasses is routine. In a recent survey, 87.2% of spectacle prescriptions contained at least...

Are hospital cataract services managing more complex cases?

An audit of referral pathways and case mix in hospital cataract services. Cataract is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, causing severe visual impairment, particularly within ageing populations [1]. Gradual lens opacification impairs contrast sensitivity, visual acuity and overall...

From monofocal to premium: Understanding the expanding landscape of intraocular lenses

For many years cataract surgery was framed almost entirely as a restorative procedure. The goal was straightforward: remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a clear one, restoring distance vision and allowing the patient to function comfortably with reading...