Angela Thaler – SOE Grant Placement Report – Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, UK
Author:Angela Thaler, Department of Ophthalmology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia
Visited :Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom, July 2015
I spent 4 weeks on a clinical placement at the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH), UK. I have an interest in vitreoretinal surgery and was therefore primarily attached to the Vitreoretinal Firm under the guidance of Mr Stephen Charles, but also gained some insight into the work of the Medical Retina Unit.
I felt warmly welcome by both teams as well as other supporting staff I came across.
I had the opportunity to observe the preoperative assessment, operative care as well as postoperative management of VR cases. The MREH is a high volume centre and I was therefore able to see the management of some pathologies I rarely come across at my home unit. Since I attended the theatre lists of several VR consultants I widened my knowledge of different management strategies and learnt valuable clinical and surgical pearls.
In addition, I was able to train on the Eyesi Cataract Simulator and attend numerous teaching sessions.
The SOE Educationsl Grant enabled me to widen my clinical knowledge, see how cases can be managed in different ways, get an insight in aspects of clinical practice management and another medical system. It has given me new networking opportunities and encouraged me to start thinking in planning my next career steps.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr Charles, who planned my schedule according to my interests and guided me through the observership. I would also like to thank other members of VR team, who shared their knowledge, wisdom and free time.
Many thanks to the European Society of Ophthalmology, which gave me the opportunity to visit one of the UK’s best ophthalmic training centres.
I would highly recommend the MREH to the future SOE Grant recipients without reservation.