Lia Jorjikashvili, Educational Observership Report -University Eye Hospital Ljubljana, Slovenia

I was very happy and appreciative to learn I was selected as the recipient of SOE Grant Award in 2020. However, due to unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic, I only got the chance to visit the Training Centre in 2023.  This would not have been possible without the support from the SOE Education Committee and I am extremely grateful to them for providing me with the wonderful opportunity to spend 2 weeks of observership at the University Eye Hospital Ljubljana. 

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Prof. Marko Hawlina, Chairman of the SOE Education Committee. I truly appreciate his help and support!

A few words about the environment of the hospital – the working conditions in the hospital are arranged in such a way that the specialists are able to provide the advanced medical care to their patients with the assistance of the cutting-edge medical technology. Ophthalmologists are extremely attentive to all the patients. Individual approach to each patient and collaboration between the specialists of the different fields of ophthalmology guarantee the best surgical outcome even in difficult clinical cases.

I was amazed to meet world-known ophthalmologists Dr.  Petra Schollmayer and Dr. Vladimir Pfeifer. Having listened to their scientific presentations during various international congresses, I was grateful to observe their surgeries in the operating theatre and appreciate their exceptional surgical skills live. I was pleasantly surprised with the attention of these key opinion leaders to the education of the young ophthalmologists. With great pleasure they took time out of their busy schedule to teach their residents all the details of different types of surgeries, answering to their multiple questions and discussing clinical cases of each patient.

To sum up, I would like to once again express my gratitude to the SOE and personally to Prof. Marko Hawlina. I encourage residents and young ophthalmologists to apply for the SOE grant and get the chance to learn from the leading experts at the Ophthalmology centers of excellence.”