Educational Course of Thematic Improvement “Issues of Ophthalmology” is intended for the doctors of therapeutical profile (not ophthalmologists). Duration of the course is one or two weeks. The course includes lectures, seminars, practical lessons and exam.
The course is held at the clinical and policlinic departments of the Eye Microsurgery Center (Kyiv). The course comprises diverse topics including organization of ophthalmological service in Ukraine, physiology of the eye, abnormalities of refraction and accommodation, methods of its investigation.
Clinical topics introduce inflammatory diseases of conjunctiva, diseases of eyelids and cornea, including corneal ulcer and keratoconus, strabismus and amblyopia, diseases of vitreous body and retina, retinal detachment, retinal artery occlusion, retinal vein thrombosis, diseases of uvea, endophthalmitis, their diagnostics and treatment. The course touches the subject of diabetes mellitus, diabetic changes in the eye (diabetic eye disease), elucidates its diagnostics and treatment. The course also covers issues of glaucoma, modern methods of its diagnostics (fig. 1) and treatment, highlights the importance of timely treatment of acute angle-closure glaucoma.
Fig. 1. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the optic nerve.
“Issues of Ophthalmology” meets students with lens diseases, shows the novel methods of diagnostics and surgical treatment of cataract. The course involves issues of ocular trauma and thermal injuries to the eye, its diagnostics and urgent treatment. The course “Issues of Ophthalmology” covers selected problems of neuroophthalmology. The course gives the understanding of the eye changes during common and inflammatory body diseases, including tuberculosis and AIDS, highlights the matters of immunization.
During the course students can learn and try by themselves the basic methods of eye diagnostics, including visual acuity assessment (fig. 2) and ophthalmoscopy (fig. 3).
Fig. 2. Visual acuity assessment using test charts (left, 2a) during practical lesson with students (right, 2b).
Fig. 3. Indirect (left, 3a) and direct (right, 3b) ophthalmoscopy.