Garo Meghrigian Institute for Preventive Ophthalmology (Meghrigian Institute) of Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian School of Public Health conducted a 4-day training on “Ophthalmic Diseases, Modern Diagnostic and Treatment Methods” among ophthalmologists and a 2-day training on “Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment of Ophthalmic Diseases” among ophthalmic nurses from nine marzes of Armenia in October and November 2016. This project has been implemented to fulfill the mission of Meghrigian Institute to educate health providers and establish an ophthalmic care and prevention network to expand service delivery to under-served populations.
The training course provided knowledge and skills in the area of eye disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment methods. The course for ophthalmologists covered anatomy and physiology of eyes, refractive errors, main eye diseases, and current methods in diagnostic and treatment procedures, with a particular focus on cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, while the course for ophthalmic nurses covered main eye diseases, eye injuries, diagnostic and treating procedures in ophthalmology and prevention of eye diseases.
Dr. Varsik Hakobyan, an Ophthalmic Consultant at Meghrigian Institute and an experienced practicing ophthalmologist, conducted the trainings. Twenty two ophthalmologists and twenty five ophthalmic nurses from nine marzes participated in the training. The Ministry of Health accredited the training curricula and designated 14 theoretical and two practical continuing medical education (CME) credits for the ophthalmologists’ training and eight theoretical CME credits for the ophthalmic nurses’ training. All the participants received certificates in recognition of successful completion of the training course and credits signed by the Minister of Health in December. The theoretical part of the trainings took place at AUA and the practical part at Optomed Canada Diagnostic Eye Center.
The participants were very pleased with the course and requested more ophthalmic trainings on other topics to refresh their knowledge and skills and to stay current with advances in ophthalmology. By enhancing the professional skills of ophthalmologists and ophthalmic nurses in Armenian marzes, Meghrigian Institute helps to improve the quality of ophthalmic care available to patients living in marzes and prevent avoidable blindness in Armenia.
The AUA School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
