MONTEGO BAY, St James — Lessons from eye care experts coupled with hands-on lab experience using state-of-the-art equipment are expected to boost the skills of about 20 doctors who recently attended the Ophthalmology Society of the West Indies (OSWI) annual conference.

They were instructed primarily in three types of surgery: cataract, glaucoma and oculoplastic.

Dr Gabrielle Henry, a resident at University Hospital of the West Indies, could not hide her joy as she told the Jamaica Observer what the session meant for her.

“Having the ability to be exposed today to these surgical standpoints is really beneficial for us as practising residents, giving us the opportunity to grow, to develop our surgical skills and in turn to give back to our own society,” she declared.

“As Jamaicans, everyone really needs appropriate, proper health care and we want to be able to provide that as residents of our own country. It’s really just a blessing,” Dr Henry added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by fellow trainee Dr Courtnay Vaughn, who told the Observer she learnt a lot during the training.

“I definitely expect that this will boost our knowledge and our experience. It’s really important for us to actually get hands-on experience to do the different procedures, so this was a good idea,” she said.

“I would say, overall, the experience was really good. We had really good tutors, they were pretty hands-on, we actually got to experience a lot with them,” added Dr Vaughn.

The wet lab was conducted at Livwell by the Brenda Strafford Foundation in Albion, St James. Participants had an opportunity to familiarise themselves with a variety of state-of-the-art tools and equipment. There were exercises that made it much easier and less complicated for them to grasp and apply the techniques.

“We have eye models so that the trainees or junior doctors could learn to do the procedures safely. If it is that they make mistakes or problems happen patients don’t suffer. They make them on these model eyes so when they get to operate on patients in real life they’re well versed and well skilled in doing the procedures,” OSWI President Dr Rajrishi Sharma told the Observer.

He noted that participants had benefited from the expertise of world-renowned ophthalmologist Professor Harminder Dua, who is from University of Nottingham in the UK; while Dr Jordan Valence, Dr Maritza Quintero and Associate Professor Nathan Blessing from Boscam Palmer Eye Institute in Miami provided guidance for the trainees.

“This is the future of ophthalmology in the Caribbean, if we don’t spend the time and take the energies to train them and give them the skills they need then our people will suffer,” Dr Sharma warned.

“In fact, you could look at that from two sides; one, your people is your countrymen and your families, and so on, but the other side is you. I can’t do my own cataract surgery, so if I lie down on that bed I would love to look up and say I know I’m in good hands [rather] than lie down there and say, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to get?’ You have to be forward-thinking, you can’t operate on yourself. Therefore these doctors need to be given the opportunities to train so that when it’s your turn to lie there, you get the best care you can get,” he said.

Dr Sharma said the training has been a boost for medical practitioners who are looking forward to help their patients with their newly learned skills.

“The doctors feel sort of enlightened that they’ve learned something new and they can pass it on to the patients,” he said.

“Patients will be getting cutting-edge treatment and technology so they don’t have to travel far and wide to get it, it’s available locally and the outcomes are much better,” Dr Sharma added.

The Livwell by Brenda Strafford Foundation was happy to host the training sessions at its venue which already offered eye care procedures.

“We have state-of-the-art equipment here that they were able to use and this is what we use to help our locals as well,” explained the facility’s Executive Director Angela Graham.