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Doing a systematic review: a users’ guide for foundation doctors

Research is increasingly important for junior doctors and systematic reviews (SRs) are a great place to start. Carrying out an SR can help a doctor demonstrate commitment to a specialty, develop research skills and get results quickly. This article aims...

Leadership and management in optometry: why is it important?

The General Medical Council recognises that leadership and management is essential for every doctor, and provides guidance detailing management and leadership responsibilities [1]. Indeed, management and leadership is part of the core training for all medical trainees. However, to date,...

See sweet to C-suite: Carrie MacEwen

The business world tells us, “Know your why.” But increasingly, we live in a society where people think, “Why bother?” In this interview, David wants to know what makes Carrie MacEwen tick, and why she bothered to get involved locally,...

An introduction to research governance

Research is the process of acquiring new generalisable knowledge and should be fully integrated into health care work. There is a growing drive to encourage and further develop evidence-based practice in ophthalmology so that staff and patients benefit from improved...

Optometrist found guilty of manslaughter

To start our new Optometry section, editor Janet Pooley takes a look at the tragic death of Vincent Barker and asks what lessons can be learned. In August, Optometrist Honey Rose was found guilty of the manslaughter of eight-year-old Vincent...

Tackling diabetic retinopathy globally through the VISION 2020 LINKS Diabetic Retinopathy Network

It is abundantly clear that the burden of diabetes is rapidly increasing, as there are now 415 million adults with diabetes in the world, with a projected rise to 642 million by 2040 [1]. This equates to 1 in 10...

Rb-NET: a network to save life and preserve vision in children in Africa

Responding to need is a key element underpinning the VISION 2020 LINKS Programme [1]. It is embedded in the process through which LINKS are established, with institutions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) first defining their priority areas of training...

Advanced Glaucoma Surgery Course in Africa through the Juba-Bournemouth VISION 2020 LINK

In order to enhance specialist skills, particularly for South Sudan, the Juba-Bournemouth VISION 2020 LINK has been offering week-long intensive ophthalmic specialist training for the last three years, in collaboration with the University of Nairobi, the College of Ophthalmology of...

Redeployment during the COVID-19 pandemic: personal accounts from four ophthalmology trainees

We once believed that the coronavirus would not penetrate the safe confines of the United Kingdom, like so many outbreaks before this. Once the news came that this pandemic descended into our hospitals, the anxieties about redeployment began. Many of...

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...