It’s a great honour to be handed the editorial relay baton by Professor Bal Dhillon and I hope I don’t fumble it along the way. As I put pen to paper, I reflect on Bal’s signing off in the last edition, where he discussed his entry into the world of ophthalmology back in 1984, no doubt spending his time off dancing to Shakin’ Stevens at the local roller disco whilst I was watching Knight Rider. My own bogus journey began much later in the heady summer of 1998.
It all started pleasantly enough with a Part 1 Ophthalmology course in Oxford, spending the evenings trying to forget how little I understood about neuroanatomy, playing croquet on the college lawns and gently punting down the River Cherwell like Wodehouse‘s Bertie Wooster. As readers will know from my regular column though, there is always a storm on the horizon, ready to wash away any sense of complacency I might have.
During that time amongst the Dreaming Spires, this particular squall was watching the 1998 FIFA World Cup Round of 16, England versus Argentina. It all turned sour when the Argentinian player, Simeone, cynically manipulated England’s star player, Beckham, into being sent off, with England subsequently being unceremoniously dumped out of the tournament. Despite those lazy halcyon days in Oxford, this loss continues to haunt me and I can still almost hear the celebrations on Sauchiehall Street, which floated south over the border, carried on the warm summer breeze.
Over the last three decades since its inception, Eye News has been enormously successful, steadily growing in size and circulation and this is undoubtedly due to the quality of the publication. For June/July 2024, we have some great content with a particular focus on technology, including Andrew’s breakdown of the Arclight device, Rod covering AI in clinical practice, and Jean-Pierre discussing a novel approach to robotic assisted orbital surgery. Muhammad deciphers bionic eyes and the neural circuitry of vision restoration while Yu and Matthew discuss smartwatches on the new frontier of ophthalmology. With the usual suspects including Top 5, Tech Review, Eye on Art, and Bogus Pete, once again there is plenty to stimulate the mind.
Bal’s mention of 1984 in the last issue reminds me of another dystopian novel on the required reading list at my high school, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. It is often compared as an inversion counterpart to 1984, where citizens are repressed not by force but by pleasure. In the current geopolitical climate, both books serve as a reminder that these fictional nightmare visions of the future can very easily become reality. However, as we enter our own brave new world, where the Doomsday clock has never been closer to midnight since its creation, we should always take time for escapism. For June/July 2024 that opportunity arises with our inaugural Sudokus (inside the back cover of the print magazine), both an intermediate and a difficult one – something to do in the theatre coffee room, and an encouragement to complete your phaco timely so that you can beat the anaesthetist to it!
Reading these new articles, I am reminded of a quote about journalism by the media mogul, Rupert Murdoch: “Great journalism will always attract readers. The words, pictures and graphics that are the stuff of journalism have to be brilliantly packaged; they must feed the mind and move the heart.” My vision for the future of Eye News with my Co-Editor, David, and the team is to build on this success, and to create content that is so engaging that you want to rip the cellophane wrapper off and read the magazine as soon as it arrives on your doormat.
However, this expectation relies on you the readers also acting as authors in the future. Eye News is an excellent forum for sharing ideas and views in ophthalmology, and I would therefore encourage any budding writers amongst you to get typing and send your submissions in! I can guarantee it will get more reads than most of the articles in the high-impact ophthalmology journals out there. My research publication rant can wait for another time.
As I sign off, this month also marks the start of another international football tournament – the UEFA Euros ‘24. Time to setup the work tournament sweepstake (with fingers crossed of course to get Germany, no time to be patriotic), get those stickers in the Panini ‘24 album (swap, need, got) and hope there will be no more footballing nightmares to haunt you in the future. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s only a game! Enjoy this latest issue, and until next time, as Number 6 in the 60s TV series, The Prisoner, said: “Be seeing you...” – PC
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