Dr. Mark Diest Discusses COVID19.

For a successful fit with a speciality contact lens, the two sides of patient expectation and clinical motivation need to meet each other in the middle. Be cautious not to focus too much on the clinical motivation for fitting a scleral lens. You also need to give patient expectation enough thought.Let us then start our fitting journey by ensuring a well-balanced approach for the...

Pediatric cataract is an alarming problem all over the world in need of intervention and management, especially in developing countries. Pediatric cataract is responsible for 5% to 20% of blindness in children worldwide and even a higher percentage of childhood visual impairment in developing countries. The prevalence of pediatric cataract varies from 1.2 to 6.0 cases per 10,000 infants worldwide.  Nigeria has a total population of over 200 million;...

Optometry as a profession in Nigeria has had ups and downs just like every other profession. In the health sector, Optometry is one of the relegated disciplines, this is generally because an average Nigerian recognizes the medical profession as the ultimate health care disciple. Even in basic sciences in primary education as children, we were taught that medical doctors were trained to manage all health challenges. The...

Some Strides It has been about 20 years since the launch of VISION 2020; The Right to Sight initiative in 1999 by the World Health Organization (WHO) and International Agency for Preventable Blindness aimed at eliminating avoidable blindness by 2020. This initiative has inspired national plans of actions formulated with inputs of governments, eye care professionals, international and local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local communities....

Why did you decide to pursue the profession of Optometry? I have always been interested in studying a health course, I applied for Medicine and was offered Optometry. What Optometry school did you attend and why? I attended the University Of Benin (UNIBEN). I applied to study there because it was not so far from home. Describe the curriculum at your Optometry school. How many years, courses, etc. The...

10 Reasons Why Blogging Is Essential for Business Marketing   If you’re wondering what a blog can do for your company, you’ve come to the right place. This is the first in a series of blogs about blogs—simply because there is that much to share on the topic.  By the title of this post, you should see that we are way beyond, “does my business need a...

What seemed like a distant threat is now a close and devastating adversary. The Coronavirus is no longer a myth. It is now a reality in Zambia. The disease first found its way to Zambia via Zambians that had been to Asia and Europe. Despite having only a handful of cases in February and March, the latest figures show a rise in cases as...

It is safe to say that a respectable percentage of optometry undergraduates in Nigeria look forward to the externship component of their training. The O.D. awarding programme is a 6-year long one with theoretical, practical and clinical components. The clinical component aims at exposing students to patient management, crystallizing what has been previously taught in the classroom/laboratory setting. At the University of Benin, students...