YOUNG OPHTHALMOLOGISTS WRITING PRIZE

The theme for this year's John Henahan Prize for Young Ophthalmologists is “Recollections of My First Intraocular Surgery”. Young ophthalmologists, who must be members of the ESCRS and aged 40 years or under, are invited to submit entries. The winner of the prize will receive a €1,000 travel bursary to the XXXI ESCRS Congress in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, which takes place from 5-9 October 2013 and a specially commissioned trophy. Entries should be 900-1000 words and should be sent to Colin Kerr, executive editor, EuroTimes at colin@eurotimes.org. The closing date for entries is Friday 21 June 2013.

The judges are Emanuel Rosen, chairman ESCRS Publications Committee; Jose Guell, EuroTimes medical editor; Oliver Findl, chairman ESCRS Young Ophthalmologists Committee; Sean Henahan, editor EuroTimes; Paul McGinn, editor EuroTimes; and Robert Henahan, contributing editor EuroTimes. The prize is named in honour of the late John Henahan who edited the magazine from 1996 to 2001.

Oliver Findl, chairman of the Young Ophthalmologists Committee with Sorcha Ní Dhubhghaill, winner of the 2012 John Henahan Prize and Emanuel Rosen, chairman of the ESCRS Publications Committee

High standard

“The two main criteria for consideration by the judges are the clinical content of the story and the writing style, punctuation and grammar which should reflect the high standard of material published in EuroTimes,” said Dr Rosen.

Last year’s winner was Sorcha Ni Dhubhghaill, a third-year basic trainee at St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. Dr Rosen said the standard was extremely high and the winning essay captured the essence of the practice of medicine. “Every physician must always be aware of the big picture not just an ophthalmic complaint,” said Dr Rosen. “History taking is the fundamental requirement of being a good doctor and then every doctor must have an ability to observe clinical details – in this case a patient with AMD who developed a stroke not at first obvious and easily missed for assumed tired inattention,” he said.

As an undergraduate in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, Sorcha became interested in ophthalmology after an attachment in the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital in Dublin. After graduating in 2005, she did her PhD in age-related macular degeneration with Prof Humphries in the Genetics Department in Trinity College where she also worked as clinical tutor for the medical students in the Eye and Ear Hospital.

She returned to clinical ophthalmology in 2010 and has since worked to further her clinical and surgical skills. In her spare time she is a competitive archer and is learning Dutch to give her the mobility to gain experience in other European centres of excellence.