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Covid-19

I am writing this on 21 March 2020, and I am pretty confident that by the time you read this that whatever I say will already be hopelessly out of date. Plus, it’s only really what I think, and I...

The 2020 Milgram Experiment

Will ophthalmology recover from COVID-19? Learning Curve columnist Gwyn Samuel Williams shares his thoughts on the developing impact of the pandemic “It’s busy today,” the nurse in green chuckles. “There are six patients I think.” Six. This clinic is designed...

Zoom

One of the side-effects of the coronavirus pandemic is that suddenly everything is now done on Zoom. In case anyone is fortunate enough to have no idea what this is, Zoom is an app that allows virtual meetings to take...

Covidiot quiz

I like to read, but on account of the COVID-19 pandemic have probably read more over the past two years than ever before. One of the books that resonated the most was called The 900 Days and was about the...

What not to miss in neuro-ophthalmology Part 1

Neuro-ophthalmology is a complex and difficult subspecialty in ophthalmology. It has several connections to neurology, neuro-surgery, rheumatology as well as many other medical specialties. Working in an multidisciplinary team (MDT) environment is key to success in this subspecialty as mistakes...

The perfect interview to land the dream consultant job

Eight top tips for consultant interviews: 1. A person is not just an ophthalmologist. Trusts are appointing the person not just the ophthalmologist. On a consultant interview panel (AAC) there will be non-ophthalmologists (e.g. medical director, chief executive, lay chair)...

What not to miss in neuro-ophthalmology Part 2

As mentioned previously there are several conditions in neuro-ophthalmology that should not be missed by the general ophthalmologist as well as ophthalmology trainees. We discussed in the first part some of these conditions including third cranial nerve palsies, giant cell...

It’s not always GCA

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an immune mediated granulomatous inflammatory disease that affects muscular middle or large sized arteries. It is considered as a continuation of polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) when the severity of the disease has increased. It is the...

Neurofibromatosis type 2 – diagnosis, features and MDT approach

NF2 is a genetic condition caused by mutation in a single gene (NF2 gene) on chromosome 22. The NF2 gene provides instructions to produce a protein called merlin, also known as schwannomin. This protein functions as a tumour suppressor, preventing...

How to nearly (but not quite) get into ST1 ophthalmology training – some reflections

Ophthalmology is often considered to be an elite, highly competitive specialty, with little room for failure. Candidates and trainees tend to cultivate a certain urbane and confident style, and the bottleneck at ST1 can feel rather intense. The majority of...