SOE Grant Placement Report Lilit Mantashyan

I would like to express my great gratitude to European Society of Ophthalmology, who provided me with this grant and gave me opportunity to learn in one of the best ophthalmology centers in Europe.
I would like to thank the whole staff of Universitat-Augenklinik, Düsseldorf, for accepting me.

Report:
I am a ten years ophthalmology resident from Armenia.
I spent 6 weeks (14th of May to 28th of June2012) at Universitet Augenklinik, Dusseldorf, Germany.

Priority of my placement I had efficient communication with clinic’s secretary, Frau Karin Spullin. With this report I would like to share my greatest appreciation to her since Frau Spullin had assisted me with my hospital placement, finding acceptable dates for my visit and all necessary paper work that needed to be done there.

Unfortunately, Augenklinik does not provide or assist you with accommodation issue, and I found accommodation on my own.

I spent 2 weeks in ambulance and 4 weeks at Anterior segment surgery section, and I was introduced to a excellent and admirable eye surgeon, PD Dr Gerd Geerling, with whom I have spent most of my time in operating theater. I had the opportunity to take part in a surgery which gave me some new surgical skills to apply in our medical center.

The focus of my interest was to observe, learn, assist and perform anterior segment operations because in my hospital we are just starting anterior segment surgery department.
In my hospital we perform limited number of eye surgeries so during my residency and subspecialty I will focus on educating myself for eye plastic surgery and try to contribute on developing my eye department and introducing new surgical methods to my fellow colleagues. So, practice in Duesseldorf which SOE provided me, was an essential step in my future education and practice.

I had opportunity to assist and observe numbers of great ophthalmic surgeries every day, including: PHACO, blepharoplastic, corneal transplantation, reconstruction of the bulbus and eyelids etc.

I was able to see the top of the ophthalmic surgeries, well equipped ORs, high-tech instruments and machines in examination rooms, though many of them I knew from my hospital. So, I value that this experience will be of a great benefit for my future practice in surgery, as well as for my hospital.

The staff of Augenklinik was very pleasant and welcoming, and they answered all my questions and solved my dilemmas. I will combine the new surgical methods learnt in Universitat-Augenklinik, Düsseldorf with the ones I already knew from my hospital.

I would like to separately thank Prof. G. Geerling, R. Guthoff, Dr. Foerster and Katharina Ruhe who did all their best to give me the maximum of this program.

Besides of all the knowledge this program gave me many new friends and impressions.

At the end of the program they gave me a Certificate of Attendance, which was signed by Dr. Prof. Gerd Geerling.

I would gladly recommend Uniklinik Duesseldorf to the future SOE grant recipients, and wish them great time there.

Lilit Mantashyan