Mumbai, September 20^th, 2019: The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), in partnership with DocMode, has introduced Continuing Education (CE) online courses on Glaucoma and Neuro-ophthalmology for ophthalmologists.

The online courses will aid practising ophthalmologists and optometrists in gaining reasonable understanding of the diagnosis of primary open angle glaucoma and its management.

Besides, it will also facilitate competence in neuro-ophthalmic examination, diagnosis and management of common, critical and potentially extreme neuro-ophthalmic conditions amongst the patients.

“The e-learning will foster the participant in effectively recognising the normal and abnormal optic discs and characterise the abnormalities, describe diagnostic and management considerations for the most common optic neuropathies and also identify normal and abnormal pupil and be able to characterise pupillary abnormalities. He or she will easily be able to describe the basics of ocular motility examination and identify common ocular motility abnormalities.

“In addition, the courses will also allow the participant to describe an approach to a patient who has visual loss or symptoms but has a ‘normal’ examination and finally also describe and identify neuro-ophthalmic manifestation of common systemic diseases,” said Dr. Karl Golnik, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Eye Institute. (ICO President)

 “It has been estimated that by 2020, there will be approximately 80 million people with glaucoma, an increase of about 20 million since 2010. Primary open angle glaucoma is estimated to affect 6.48 million people. Equally, neuro-ophthalmic conditions have always been a concern, be it in India or elsewhere,” said Prof. S. Natarajan, All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS) President.

“Ignorance about the condition can have perilous results. It is essential that one be familiar with the conditions and has a sound knowledge of how to recognise, diagnose and treat the potentially-devastating issues. It is heartening to see the introduction of highly-beneficial online courses for ophthalmologists Prof. S. Natarajan further added.

The unique format for the online course with didactic videos by renowned glaucoma faculty helps ophthalmologists know the ropes within a short period of time. Courses are comfortably paced and centered to drive home basics of the disease by illustrations, animations and easy-to-remember mind maps, stated Dr. Rajiv Brahmane, MS (Ophthalmology), FCPS, DOMS, MBBS, Iris Eye Care Hospital.

 “We take pride in our association with ICO for the betterment of healthcare professionals. DocMode hopes that the CE courses for ophthalmologists will help them overcome the challenges in the field without much trouble,” said Paulson Paul, Founder and COO, DocMode.

 “Glaucoma has a high prevalence in India. Poor patient awareness coupled with factors such as inadequate resident training and cost of medications make glaucoma an extremely dangerous condition with a large potential for causing irreversible visual impairment in millions of patients. By partnering with ICO, we expect that the courses for ophthalmologists will aid them prevail over the challenges related to training,” said Hans Lewis, Founder and CEO, DocMode.

 In the next 3 to 4 months, DocMode- ICO partnership will witness a step further through the launch of more courses on subjects like Dry Eyes, Cataract, Infectious Eye Disease, Managing posterior capsule rupture: Vitrectomy techniques and strategies for the cataract surgeon, Refractive surgery for the cataract surgeon: Strategies and techniques using multifocal IOLs and also a glaucoma counselling course for counsellors.

Participating doctors will have access to both the courses on DocMode, a comprehensive and interactive e-learning platform. Participants would receive a certificate on completion of the course and passing the test of multiple-choice questions (MCQ).

The comprehensive course on primary open angle glaucoma is of 8-hour duration with 7 modules and around 12 hours with 6 modules for neuro-ophthalmology course.

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About DocMode:

DocMode is a global platform that provides authoritative, comprehensive and interactive learning programs for health professionals; doctors, nurses, allied and medical students - across the world. The platform encourages scientific, evidence-based practice, documentation, inter-professional, cross-industrial learning, doctor-patient interaction, research work and training skill-based courses. DocMode aims to form a value-based online learning experience for health professionals internationally.

About: The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO):

The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) represents and serves professional associations of ophthalmologists throughout the world. ICO works with ophthalmologic societies and others to enhance ophthalmic education and improve access to the highest quality eye care in order to preserve and restore vision for the people of the world.