Former Centre for Eye Health senior optometrist, Dr Pauline Xu, has been appointed clinic director of the new Eye Health Centre of Western Australia (EHCWA) set to open in June this year.
The state-of-the-art optometry clinic has united with the University of Western Australia (UWA) optometry teaching and learning facility – and provides eyecare services to members of the public, accepts referrals from community optometrists, ophthalmologists, GPs, and other health practitioners. It also co-manages chronic eye diseases in collaboration with ophthalmologists in both private and public sectors.
“EHCWA aims to improve the access and quality of eye health services in Western Australia through the integrated provision of clinical service, education, and research,” Xu said.
It is the only institution in WA offering tertiary training in optometry and has capacity for 19,000+ appointments per year.
Located in Crawley, next to the UWA campus, EHCWA has also established regional hubs in Broome and Geraldton.
Xu said her role as clinic director has three major components.
“Firstly, lead a team of expert clinicians to provide high-quality and evidence-based eyecare services to patients,” she said.
“Secondly, design and deliver clinical education for the UWA Doctor of Optometry students in collaboration with the course director. Prior to students’ clinical placement in the community, they will need to undertake placements at EHCWA under the supervision of the UWA academics and demonstrate competency.
“Thirdly, my role is to facilitate the conduct of clinical trials under the leadership of the Chair in Optometry Research Professor Allison Mckendrick. My primary focus now is the establishment of the facility which encompasses system design and process development to ensure operational excellence.”
EHCWA is an integrated clinic within a new purpose-built facility comprising 2,500 square metres spanning over four floors, and has state-of-the-art equipment, including OCT, visual field, biometry, aberrometry, ultrasound, corneal topography, wide-field imaging, and intense pulsed light.
“The instruments support our specialty services, including dry eyes, paediatrics, myopia management, ocular pathology, specialty contact lens and low vision,” Xu said.
“We don’t dispense spectacles. However, we are working towards philanthropic support for at-risk populations. Dispensing of contact lenses will be offered in our specialty clinics if they constitute a treatment plan, for example, scleral lenses for keratoconus and orthokeratology for myopia management.”
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