Conversations in Health Sciences

In this insightful podcast, we chat to Dr Alvin Munsamy about his career experiences in training and mentoring the next generation of optometrists. Dr Munsamy thoughtfully shares some deep insights, including the below advice - pearls of wisdom indeed - to fellow academics: 1. Speak TO your students, not AT your students. 2. The days of Chalk and Talk have disappeared. Information is accessible - rather SHOW students that information does not equate to knowledge. 3. Instill a work ethic that will surpass the classroom and empower students to be lifelong learners. Enjoy this rich conversation!

In this episode we chat to Dr Carl Abraham about the need to advance low vision services in Africa by improving education and access to care. Dr Abraham shares his insights, based on experience, and some of the initiatives that are yielding some level of success in terms of overcoming the existing barriers in this field of eye care.

Saul Cobbing is a Human, friend and dad. He is also an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where his research work is focused on community-based rehabilitation for people living with HIV. In this podcast, he shared with us his thoughts on academia and reflects on his current sabbatical experiences at the University of Toronto in Canada.

Dr Scarpa Schoeman is a South African medical doctor and experienced medical educator with a PhD in Health Professions Education (Assessment and Standard setting). In this podcast he shares his journey into medical education and some of his experiences with opening a medical school in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as driving change in assessment practices within medical training programmes.

Dr Parres Wright is an Optometrist and Assistance Professor at Midwestern University's College of Optometry who has a passion for working with visually impaired and geriatric populations. In this podcast episode she shares part of her journey into academia as well as her experiences teaching clinical skills during a pandemic.

Mitasha Yu is a public health expert with over 16 years' experience in public health eye care, international development, and clinical optometry. Mitasha works at the World Health Organization in the Vision and Eye Care Programme. One of her focus areas is the eye care workforce, including leading the development of the Eye Care Competency Framework, which is a critical tool for workforce planning and development. She is also the Co-Chair of the Climate Action Working Group at the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, as she is passionate about promoting the link between climate change and eye care, and climate action strategies the sector can implement. Mitasha holds a Bachelor of Optometry and a Master of Public Health from the University of New South Wales, Australia. In this episode, Mitasha shares insights into her work within the field of Climate Change and Eye Health and highlights important steps that members of the eye care sector can all take to reduce impact on the environment.

This episode is the first in our 'Be Inspeyered' segment. We chat to Werner Fourie, an amazing Visionary, passionate Optometrist and Trailblazer regarding his disruptive approaches to optometry practice.

In this podcast I chat to Dr Lauren Coetzee about her thoughts and experiences on optometry education as well as practice perspectives and opportunities in South Africa and the UK.

In this episode, I am in conversation with Dr Priya Morjaria, Assistant Professor at the International Centre for Eye Health in London, UK. Dr Morjaria has built an impressive career in global eye health and remains passionate about advancing the cause of eye health, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

In this episode, I am in conversation with Prof Bernhard Gaede, Head of Family Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Prof Gaede shared his rich insights and experience in community-based models of training health professionals (specifically doctors) and explains why community-engaged learning has become imperative for training fit-for-purpose health graduates.