90 teachers from 6 states of South India ideate at SANKARA EYE HOSPITAL to redefine Postgraduate Education
Bangalore 26th July 2018: India has a strong tradition of health care. Countless lives have been saved from many preventable diseases and supposedly incurable conditions like small pox, polio etc. Ophthalmology can pride in being amongst the most advanced fields of medical care. However the burden of blindness still remains a challenge in our country. Training and motivating the next generation of students becomes critical.
The ARC- All India Ophthalmic Society, International Council of Ophthalmology with Sankara Eye Hospital Bangalore hosted a day long meet to redefine post graduate education. 90 teachers from Kanyakumari to Bagalkot and Mangalore to Puducherry attended the meet.
“Today teachers have multiple challenges. There is a need to keep updating themselves clinically to teach postgraduates to changing spectrum of eye ailments, adapt advances in teaching methodologies and also build capability to teach soft skills and empathy. The meet is a start towards this direction”. said Dr Kaushik Murali
The day long meet looked at training in the clinics and the operation theatre and incorporating technology and even story telling. Ophthalmologists, public health experts, storytellers and psychiatrists discussed on best practices in training and evaluation.
“India has been at the forefront of ophthalmology training. To look at ways of bringing together the best teachers from across South India and also improve on how we inspire the next generation we from ARC All India Ophthalmological Society looked to host this event.” Shared Dr Krishna Prasad, Member South ARC All India Ophthalmological Society
A panel discussion on “Exam Blues”, rounded off the day long workshop. With 2 ophthalmologists and a psychiatrist, key recommendations that would probably be relevant to any teacher were;
1. Do not create an unnecessary fear of the exam.
2. Understand that students may have situational or trait anxiety. If they have trait anxiety spend more time counselling them.
3. Conduct adequate mock exams to increase the comfort for the students to face exams.
4. Where possible examine skills and competency rather than memory.
5. Understand upfront if the student is in the programme out of his / her own choice. If forced in whatever you may motivate, the urge to succeed may not be there.
Sankara Academy of Vision is the educational wing of Sankara Eye Foundation India. The academy has a 3 pronged objective of training human resource needed for eye care, helping with capacity building through training and consultancy and driving innovation and research through collaborative projects. For more write to director.sav@sankaraeye.com