The Save Sight Institute (SSI) at the University of Sydney and Sydney Eye Hospital has developed a Graduate Diploma and Master of International Ophthalmology (MOI) program aimed at training ophthalmologists and medical graduates from developing countries.
The postgraduate program is designed for medical graduates and ophthalmologists to enhance their knowledge and practice of ophthalmology and improve healthcare outcomes in Vietnam.
SSI and the Specialty of Clinical Ophthalmology and Eye Health are welcoming their fifth cohort of postgraduate coursework students in the southeast Asian country.
According to SSI, in 2023, several countries of the Asia-Pacific region are still affected by a lack of both educational and financial resources, including trained medical personnel, adequate clinical equipment and infrastructure to deliver ophthalmic services, as well as financial support from non-governmental organisations.
Preventable or treatable eye diseases such as cataract, diabetic retinopathy and trachoma can quickly turn into irreversibly debilitating conditions when timely access to high-quality eye care is not available. To address this issue, the program was established in 2013, with a focus on Vietnam.
The latest ophthalmology trainees succeed 10 previous graduates of the Master of International Ophthalmology (Vocational Stream) and will commence their studies in semester 1 2024.
The postgraduate program runs over two years at a level equivalent to a fellowship program or junior consultant. There are six units of study, with four delivered online and two practical units in person in Vietnam.
Through a combination of online coursework units, clinical teaching and extensive practical experience delivered in-person by RANZCO fellows, graduates of this course acquire the necessary skills and experience to contribute to improved care and health outcomes in their countries.
The curriculum is structured to cater for the specific disease and pathologies commonly found in Vietnam and to supplement and enhance the existing ophthalmology training program.
According to SSI, the course progressively builds confidence and skills in academic writing in English culminating in a supervised research project with a view to obtaining a publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Five projects have been published in peer-reviewed journals thus far, and many SSI graduates have moved into leadership positions in Vietnam.
So far, the program has welcomed several Vietnamese students, most notably Dr Tung Hoang, now a glaucoma sub-specialist and the first ever ophthalmologist from Vietnam to have undertaken a glaucoma fellowship in Australia.
“I was mesmerised by the new knowledge and new approaches which added completely different dimensions to what I was taught during my training in Vietnam. I knew then that this was what I wanted to learn, had to learn, to make a change for glaucoma practise in my country,” he said.
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