Search

The miracle of multi-professional working in modern-day eyecare

"It’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m in the presence of one of the most mind-boggling accomplishments in human history. This thing is so astounding in its complexity and scope, it makes the Panama Canal look like a third grader’s craft...

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,...

Looking on the brightside: Lord David Blunkett

“I can hear people smile” As a young adult in the 1980s and 1990s I gradually became more politically informed with occasional forays into BBC’s Question Time. In doing so, I learnt of the rise of politician David Blunkett, a...

Identifying life-threatening uveal melanoma: A directed application of general-purpose AI

Uveal melanoma (UM) is a rare but aggressive eye cancer, affecting approximately six people per million annually [1]. Uveal melanoma arises in three locations: the choroid, ciliary body, and iris. As the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults, UM...

Through the bubble: A patient’s perspective on macula hole surgery pre- and postoperatively

The evolution of ophthalmic surgical practice over the past seven decades has been extraordinary. Within this period, the first vitrectomy was performed, establishing a foundation for what is now an operation performed thousands of times per year in the UK...

Money is a problem, but the problem is bigger than money

The argument surrounding doctors’ pay remains an ongoing battle. At the time of writing, Foundation Year 1 doctors have voted in favour of industrial action due to the lack of substantive employment or regular locum work at the end of...

Act now: Professor Serge Resnikoff on making myopia a public health priority

Over the past decade, myopia has shifted from a common childhood inconvenience to what global health leaders now call a “public health emergency in slow motion” [1]. According to Professor Serge Resnikoff, former Head of Eye Health at the World...

The clues of the eye – what is medical ophthalmology?

The author looks at the increasingly significant role of medical ophthalmologists and the importance of integrative healthcare. The eye is a remarkable organ, and for decades we have been discovering intimations of pathology existing elsewhere in the body [1] simply...

Learnings and trends in the management of open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma

To be truly disruptive, newer technologies need to offer a quality of life benefit over medication to a broad population of glaucoma sufferers. Evidence and converging trends in medical and surgical management of glaucoma were explored in counterpoint discussions and...

Eye Capacity: clinical need should drive ophthalmic service provision

Almost two million people in the UK suffer sight loss, a number forecast to double over coming decades. Major causes of blindness are age-related macular degeneration (AMD), glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, cataract and uncorrected refractive error. Prevalence of these sight-threatening conditions...

Coming to terms with AI

A machine might be called intelligent if its response to questions could convince a person that it was human, a test proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 [1]. The author considers potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) using machine learning...