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The treachery of images – making sense of OCT imaging

In 1929 Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte produced his painting La Trahison des Images. It depicted an old fashioned pipe for smoking tobacco and underneath were the words “ceci n’est pas une pipe”, this is not a pipe. You may wonder...

The management of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is a common retinal disease characterised by one or more serous neurosensory detachments. Patients present with acute onset blurring of vision, metamorphopsia and / or central scotomas. The condition is six times more common in men...

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...

Ophthalmology specialty training applications: a costly affair?

Ophthalmology is one of the most competitive specialties to pursue training in worldwide. In the United Kingdom, the ST1 entry national selection competition ratio for the past few years has ranged between four to five applicants per post [1]. The...

In vivo confocal microscopy, principles and use in keratitis Part 1: Principles

In 1968 Maurice introduced the concept of high powered specular microscopy, it was in that very year that the first scanning confocal microscope was proposed. Marvin Minsky developed the first confocal microscope in 1955 named the ‘double focusing scanning microscope’....

Virtual COVID clinics

The clinics at Ystradgynlais Community Hospital are a little different of late. The nurses are still there, I still get tea with custard creams and the letters I dictate are still all written up by the next day. But there...

Attending ophthalmology conferences as a foundation trainee: an eye-opener?

The benefits of attending specialty conferences for clinicians are numerous. For example, staying up to date with the latest advancements in the field and integrating these into clinical practice. However, foundation doctors are yet to enter a training pathway and...