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EDUCATION PROGRAMS
MD RESIDENCY PROGRAM
The MD Residency program in ophthalmology is an effort of the TEC in affiliation with the National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAAMS). Four Residents will be accepted each year. The residents are rotationally posted at various eye hospitals throughout Nepal.
(Photo: First batch of residents-2004)
- Feature of the program
The ophthalmology Residency program is a fully accredited 3-years program designed to provide intensive clinical training in an academic environment, which encourages close interaction between Residents and Faculty.
The objectives of this program is to produce comprehensive and community oriented ophthalmologists with the ability to exercise sound clinical judgment in dealing with ophthalmic medical, surgical and optical problems laying more emphasis on ocular emergencies including trauma.
Certificate in Health Science (Ophthalmology): Three year study
The TEC in association with Dhulikhel Medical Institute affiliated to Kathmandu University has formulated the Ophthalmic Assistant (OA) curriculum, which is community-oriented, has integrated teaching/learning in various subjects, and encourages problem-based learning. In the fight against blindness, the importance of team structure plays an important role. Ophthalmic Assistants (OA) meets the very important paramedical role.
The first year includes a basic science course conducted at Dhulikhel Medical Institute (Kathmandu University Campus); the second year is devoted to theory classes in ophthalmology, clinical practicum and ocular surgical training at the TEC; and in the third year, the students are posted to peripheral eye hospitals and Community Eye Centers for clinical and community based practicum. After successfully completing the three-year course, students will be eligible for registration as Grade-II health professionals with the Nepal Health Professional Council.
This program has produced 23 OA graduates who are working in different eye hospitals/community eye centers within Nepal. There are 10 students enrolling final examination for 2005. Other 28 students are currently enrolled in different levels of this program.
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TRAINING PROGRAMS
Training for Surgeons
Qualified eye surgeons, from Nepal and abroad, are trained in modern cataract extraction (through micro surgery) with IOL implantation. Together with the technical aspects of the training, they attend classes in conducting community based eye care delivery programs, cost recovery and sustainability. The training package is for 6 to 8 weeks depending on the surgeon’s previous experience in microsurgery and management. To date, 115 Nepali and foreign ophthalmologists have been trained at the TEC.
These trainings to surgeons are effective and efficient in developing countries, where low cost and high volume cataract surgical techniques are most important.
Management Courses
The TEC is demonstrating many managerial techniques for sustainability in rural and institutional based programs. Many of the management courses offered are revolving around “sustainable programs in the developing world” and these courses incorporate experience sharing with key personnel from the TEC.
There have been till date 397 participants who have participated in these programs.
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CLINICAL EXPOSURE
The TEC offers clinical exposure for elective and others paramedical students from different colleges from within and outside the country.
Elective Medical students (Local/International)
The TEC is involved in taking medical students as part of their regular curriculum. Nepali students are taken from Kathmandu Medical College and Dhulikhel Medical Institute for a period of 2 to 3 weeks for general studies in Ophthalmology. Medical students from overseas, mainly from Australia, Europe and the USA, come for an elective period of 1 to 3 months. They all participate in general work around the Surgicentre and also participate in screening and surgical eye camps. Till date, 66 overseas medical students and 145 students from Kathmandu Medical College have taken this exposure course at the TEC.
Paramedical Students
The students of health assistant and nursing faculty from Dhulikhel Medical Institute, Kathmandu Model Hospital, School of Nursing, Phulchoki Nursing College and Stupa Health Institute have been given clinical exposure practices. Students of have been participating in theoretical classes and clinical exposure courses. In the year of 2005, 125 students learned about common eye health.
Short terms courses for Ophthalmic Assistants, Primary Health Workers and government and private school teachers are conducted according to their needs. The duration courses are flexible - one week to one year’s courses.
Continuing Education Programs
The goal of continuous medical education at the TEC is to maintain an improvement in patient health care by supporting medical education programs that inform the ophthalmologist of the most current and advanced levels of medical knowledge. This enhances an Ophthalmologist’s expertise and competence to deliver the highest possible level of medical expertise to his/her patients.
Through participation in continuing medical education activities, the ophthalmologist will achieve the following objectives:
- The ophthalmologist will be able to interpret new diagnostic techniques, implement new therapies, perform new surgical techniques and understand the most current insights into the mechanisms of disease and healing.
- The ophthalmologist will have a keener awareness of the broader implications of the recent and rapidly changing advances in scientific knowledge.
The ophthalmologist will learn new research and practice concepts and be able to reflect these in the diagnosis and treatment of patients.
For continue medical education, the TEC arranges workshop to share expertise of abroad experts in different specialty. This approach will continue in future.
Education through ORBIS Telemedicine Program Cyber-Sight®
The TEC has provided necessary infrastructure for doctors and students to take advantage of from Cyber-Sight® e-resourcesand e-consultationprogram. Cyber-sight is an initiative of ORBIS International aimed at establishing an extended presence of faculty with partners worldwide. Doctors can transmit patient data and digital images to ORBIS volunteer doctors for assistance with diagnosis and case management. In addition to e-consultation, e-resources include e-learning and variety of educational materials dealing with eye and vision related topics. This program harnesses the tremendous reach and cost-effectiveness of the Internet to link ORBIS volunteer faculty with doctors around the world, creating an extended presence for training and patient care consultation.
Tilganga-Zeiss Education Centre
This education centre was established in June 2004 in cooperation with Karl Zeiss. This Centre is offering various courses and educational program in the field of eye care.
SHORT TERM TRAINING COURSE
Health Workers Training in Primary Eye care
Health workers are the major human resource of the whole health care delivery system of Nepal. Updating their knowledge and competency in different subjects of health care is imperative to provide the correct and quality health care in the hospital and community. Health posts and sub-health posts are providing such services throughout the country. TEC has been providing short-term training courses, in common ocular problems and their management at the community level, for personnel in-charge of these health posts. The main aim of this training is to prevent and control common curable and preventable blinding eye diseases in Nepal.
Through participation in a short-term training course, the health workers will achieve the following objectives:
- Early detection and treatment of common ocular conditions presenting at their health posts and sub health posts.
- Referral of the complicated ocular cases to the nearest ophthalmologist or eye hospital.
- Identification of blindness in visual impaired persons using the WHO classifications.
- Health Education to help prevent blindness.
- To provide better academic education to health workers to make them more aware of the common preventable and curable ocular conditions.
To date 170 personnel in-charge of health posts and sub health posts, from different districts of Nepal, have been trained in primary eye care.
Drug Dispensers Training
Sale of modern medication by drug sellers is common throughout the developing world, although government legislation makes it an illegal practice. Drug sellers operating in the informal sector are often the first source of health care, outside the home, in developing country like Nepal, because they are easily accessible as well as being cheaper than medical doctors. Being a first source of the provision of health care at the community level, they need to have a good basic knowledge of every aspect of health. So Tilganga Eye Centre has been conducting training in “Common Ocular Problems and Eye Medication”, through which the Centre has been projecting the promotion of eye health knowledge at the community level and the prevention of eye complications that are usually occurring through drug retailers’ lack of knowledge and mistaken use of eye medications. To date, 364 drug retailers from Kathmandu Valley have been trained in the above topics.
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