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Flashes and floaters in community optometry – diagnosing a posterior vitreous detachment

Managing patients who attend a practice with symptoms of flashes and floaters is a regular occurrence in community optometric practice. It’s often very distressing for patients; symptoms can be quite dramatic and an internet search can indicate imminent blindness from...

My Top Five: Foundation year 3 jobs for prospective ophthalmology candidates

Ophthalmology specialist training (OST) is a fantastic career option, however, it is also a highly competitive specialty. There was a gradual rise in competition ratios in recent years: 3.24 (2019), 5.73 (2020), and 6.80 (2021) [1]. Many choose to pursue...

Streamlining cataract lists: how are you managing it?

Mr Jonathan Ross, in conversation with Ms Bita Manzouri, provides a personal perspective on challenges and opportunities shaping the future of cataract surgery services across the hospital eye service. Redesigning cataract pathways in response to COVID-19 Bita Manzouri: Over the...

More sensitive visual acuity test for age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. Primarily associated with ageing, genetic factors and lifestyle choices such as smoking also play a contributory role. Patients with early AMD, characterised by the development of...

Corporate M&A pace gathers momentum

Intensifying franchise competition, maturing product development pipelines and looming loss of exclusivity spur renewed merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the ophthalmics sector. Rod McNeil reviews recent deals and related strategic developments. AbbVie to acquire Allergan in $63 billion mega-combination,...

Development of a modern surgical simulation suite to promote safer ophthalmic surgical training

For trainees, having access to surgical simulation equipment is more important than ever. The authors describe the creation of a bespoke teaching and training suite in Glasgow to help trainees develop their skills and promote surgical excellence. Simulation has become...

A personal reflection: working at the International Centre for Eye Health from 2006–2024

I feel incredibly fortunate to have been working part-time at the International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) [1] since 2006. Earlier in my career, the responsibilities of work and a growing family made this merely an aspiration, and apart from...

Retinal prosthetics: science fiction or a vision for the future?

“Is it a fact – or have I dreamt it – that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?” – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House...

The Story of Looking: Mark Cousins

Lake, Sweden, as featured in The Story Of Looking. In an interview with Director Mark Cousins about his relationship with sight and storytelling, Peter Cackett discusses Cousins’ recent film, The Story of Looking, and how its production informed, and was...

100 years of insulin

*Joint first authors The centenary of the discovery of insulin is a time to celebrate one of the most significant scientific discoveries of the 20th century. Background Before 1923, Type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] resulted in death from severe ketoacidosis...