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Specialty-driven EMR for paperless clinical environment – insights for an informed choice

Deployment of specialty-driven (or specialty-specific) electronic medical record (EMR) systems across UK ophthalmology units appears to be growing rapidly at the expense of generic, multiuse digital technology packages. Experience further suggests that open source systems can play a significant role...

A revolution in modern genetic testing for the clinical management of ocular disease

Recent years have seen a huge increase in our understanding of the genetic factors underlying a wide variety of eye diseases. This has included common conditions such as glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration, as well as those conditions which have...

The International Council of Ophthalmology: what is it and is it useful for UK ophthalmologists?

ICO Director for Examinations and Assessments, Simon Keightley, explains the history and role of the organisation today, as well as outlining recent changes to the ICO examinations. The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is the only international medical specialty organisation...

A pituitary tumour from 1927

The author shares a clinical case from Edinburgh Royal Infirmary’s archives. It is not often in the course of a clinical career that one gets the opportunity to review a patient who had been treated by a pioneer neurosurgeon some...

A focus on Pakistan’s growing eye care needs: over 43 million patients treated for curable blindness free of charge

With 90% of the world’s visually impaired living in developing countries, Pakistan is no exception to this on-going global healthcare challenge. Despite massive leaps over the last few decades in targeting this issue, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that...

Ophthalmic learning through the lens of cognitivism and constructivism

Learning in ophthalmology is multi-faceted, from understanding the fundamentals of eye anatomy and physiology to higher order skills such as performing cataract and vitreoretinal surgery. Having a strong foundation in the basics is a necessity for higher order knowledge synthesis,...

Irido-corneal endothelial syndrome: an overview

Irido-corneal endothelial (ICE) syndrome is a rare group of eye related disorders that constitute three different clinical entities: Chandler syndrome (CS), essential / progressive iris atrophy and iris naevus / Cogan-Reese syndrome. ICE syndrome is sporadic in its presentation as...

Reflections on designing and delivering an undergraduate ophthalmology teaching programme

Dr Alexander Strother reflects on his time designing and delivering a classroom-based programme to ensure that medical students know how to take comprehensive ophthalmic histories from patients. Working as a clinical teaching fellow, in 2021 I had the great privilege...

The last three patients: dermatology (Patient Three)

For the third and final reflection in this series (see Part 1 and Part 2), Professor Jonathan Rees recounts his experience of a patient with cancer who was failed by the NHS, and how their inadequate treatment illuminates some issues...

Competition ratios: Is the future of ophthalmology too bright?

In the UK, ophthalmology is a highly competitive speciality, attracting many medical graduates keen to pursue a career in this area. However, in recent years, the competition ratios for ophthalmology ST1 training posts have increased significantly, creating a challenging environment...

My top five: Trinkets of fact or fiction

Trinkets of adult wisdom are often delivered to children alongside warnings of catastrophic outcomes. In this article we present five ‘facts’ about eye health and vision and ask the question: to what extent are these ideas backed up by literature?...