The University of Alberta’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences has a well-established relationship with global ophthalmology.

The Department’s initiatives in developing countries include capacity building to improve local ophthalmology services and long-term sustainability, training and fellowships for local eye care providers, and direct service delivery in performing cataract and sub-specialty surgeries.

Their on-going STOP Glaucoma program continues to help halt progression of the disease in Sub Saharan Africa and will soon expand into areas of Eastern Africa and the Ivory Coast. The Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Global Health initiative developed out of the tele-ophthalmology program which as designed to provide better health care services to patients living in underserved regions.

To learn more about the global ophthalmology efforts and resources at the University of Alberta’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, click here.

This Resource Toolkit provides direct links to general COVID-19 literature, resources and guidance from reputable agencies, as well as specific COVID-19 topics such as medico-legal concerns. In addition, instructions and patterns for some simple do-it-yourself PPE projects are included.

GENERAL RESOURCES

• Canadian Medical Association (CMA) Resources

The CMA is working with the Public Health Agency of Canada, provincial and territorial medical associations, and the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health to share the most up-to-date and reliable resources with physicians and patients.

Available at: https://www.cma.ca/cma-update-coronavirus

• Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

Get the latest public health information from CDC.

Available at: https://www.coronavirus.gov.

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Get the latest research from NIH.

Available at: https://www.nih.gov/coronavirus.

• National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

Find NCBI SARS-CoV-2 literature, sequence, and clinical content.

Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sars-cov-2/.

WEBINAR-SPECIFIC RESOURCES

Webinar #1 – A Path to a New Vision: Our Starting Point.

Originally presented Friday, April 24, 2020.

Available at:

• COS PRC: https://cosprc.ca/path-to-a-new-vision-webinar-recordings/
• COS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk_B5JenFWk

Guidance

• COS / ACUPO Guidelines for Ophthalmic Care During COVID-19 Pandemic. March 20, 2020. Available at: https://cosprc.ca/resource/guidelines-for-ophthalmic-care/

Peer-reviewed literature

• Amanat F, Krammer F. SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines: Status Report. Immunity. 2020;52(4):583‐89. DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2020.03.007. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7136867/

• Cheema M, Aghazadeh H, Nazarali S, Zelyas N, Damji K, Solarte C, et al. Keratoconjunctivitis as the initial medical presentation of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Can J Ophthalmol. 2020. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjo.2020.03.003 Available at: https://www.canadianjournalofophthalmology.ca/article/S0008-4182(20)30305-7/fulltext

• Fernstrom A, Goldblatt M. Aerobiology and its role in the transmission of infectious diseases. J Pathog. 2013;2013:493960. DOI: 10.1155/2013/493960. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23365758/

• Kampf G, Todt D, Pfaender S, Steinmann E. Persistence of coronaviruses on inanimate surfaces and their inactivation with biocidal agents. J Hosp Infect. 2020;104(3):246-51. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2020.01.022. Available at: https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(20)30046-3/fulltext

• Li J-PO, Shantha J, Wong TY, Wong EY, Mehta J, Lin X, et al. Preparedness among ophthalmologists: During and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Ophthalmology. 2020;127(5):569-72. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.03.037. Available at: https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(20)30319-5/fulltext

• Qiao C, Zhang H, He M, Ying G, Chen C, Song Y, et al. Symptomatic COVID-19 infection in eye professionals in Wuhan China. Ophthalmology. 2020: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.04.026.

• Seah IYJ, Anderson DE, Wang L, Rao P, Young BE, Lye DC, et al. Assessing viral shedding and infectivity of tears in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Ophthalmology. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.03.026. Available at: https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(20)30311-0/fulltext

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Resources

Guidance

• Stanford Medicine / Anesthesia Informatics and Media Lab. COVID-19 Evidence Series. Addressing COVID-19 Face Mask Shortages.Available at: https://aim.stanford.edu/covid-19-evidence-service/

Do It Yourself (DIY) PPE

• DIY Face Shield (pattern, step-by-step instructions). Design by Dr. Colin Mann.

• DIY Slit Lamp Shield (pattern, step-by-step instructions and video). Design by Dr. Andre Ali-Ridha and Dr. Xavo Campos-Moller.

DIY Non-Medical Masks (patterns with step-by-step instructions)

• DIY Non-medical Mask 1. Design by Maria Rocha. Instructions by Polin Rocha.
• DIY Non-medical Mask 2. Drawings and design by Maria Rocha. Instructions by Lindsay Duczek.

Webinar #2 – A Path to a New Vision: Medico-Legal Aspects of Ophthalmology Practice During COVID-19.

Originally presented on Thursday, April 30, 2020.

Not available as a recording due to sensitive medico-legal issues.

• Canadian Medical Protection Agency (CMPA) Resources

CMPA is providing the latest information, advice and support related to medical-legal protection during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Available at: https://www.cmpa-acpm.ca/en/covid19

Webinar #3 – A Path to a New Vision: Virtual Care – COVID and Beyond.

Originally presented on Thursday, May 7, 2020.

Available at:

• COS PRC: https://cosprc.ca/path-to-a-new-vision-webinar-recordings/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD2Ds7liATc&t=155s

Webinar #4 – A Path to a New Vision: Financial Implications of COVID – Beyond the Basics.

Originally presented Thursday, May 14, 2020.

Available at:

• COS PRC: https://cosprc.ca/path-to-a-new-vision-webinar-recordings/
• COS YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b-EzIlcIm4

Webinar #5 – A Path to a New Vision: What Now? Optimizing Our New Normal.

Originally presented Thursday, May 28, 2020.

Available at:

• COS PRC: https://cosprc.ca/path-to-a-new-vision-webinar-recordings/
• COS YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/embed/FnroEQiUR6w

Tips for Including Interactivity in an Accredited Group Learning Activity

This four-page guidance document from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada includes a wide range of tips, tricks, and insights for including or increasing interactivity in group learning activities, as well as some related information for creating digital media. Additionally, the document outlines the minimum interactivity requirements for an MOC Section 1 activity.

Highlights include examples of interactivity in different settings; advice for hosting an online conference; links to video tutorials for turning power point presentations / slide decks into online videos; tips for mailing certificates, and more.

This resource is an excellent go-to reference for any CPD program planner creating accredited learning activities.

You can access this resource here.

Les stagiaires (des programmes de la CPC et traditionnels) peuvent de bien des façonscontinuer de développer les compétences CanMEDS durant la pandémie. Beaucoup d’occasions découlent de la prestation des soins, d’autres peuvent servir à combler l’écartlorsque les préoccupations liées à la sécurité, les pénuries d’EPI, les règles de distanciationphysique, etc. compliquent les tâches cliniques habituelles. Comme la pandémie transforme nos méthodes pédagogiques traditionnelles, nous encourageons les éducateurs à songer aux occasions de développer des compétences dans tous les rôles CanMEDS.
Le Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada a recueilli des idées et des suggestions d’expériences d’apprentissage clinique et non clinique durant la pandémie et les avons associées au rôle CanMEDS auquel elles correspondent le mieux.

Idées pour l’enseignement des rôles CanMEDS durant la COVID-19: Cette ressource, structurée selon les sept rôles CanMEDS, propose des idées d’expériences d’apprentissage cliniques et non cliniques durant la COVID-19. Comme vous pourrez le constater, beaucoup de ces occasions d’apprentissage ont pour but de faire face à la pandémie comme telle, tandis que d’autres peuvent servir à combler les lacunes qui apparaissent lorsque les pénuries d’équipement de protection individuelle, les règles de distanciation physique et d’autres préoccupations liées à la sécurité rendent problématique l’exécution des tâches cliniques.

Puisque les perturbations liées à la COVID-19 vont probablement continuer de se faire sentir pendant longtemps, les programmes adoptent des façons novatrices de soutenir l’apprentissage des résidents dans le milieu clinique. Découvrez comment vos collègues dans l’ensemble du pays poursuivent l’enseignement clinique durant la pandémie dans divers milieux cliniques (consultations de patients hospitalisés ou en clinique externe), à de multiples fins éducatives (p. ex., observation directe, enseignement, coaching et évaluation) et dans le cadre de l’enseignement formel et informel (p. ex., demi-journées universitaires, clubs de lecture, enseignement clinique, etc.).

Idées pour l’enseignement clinique durant la COVID-19 : Vous trouverez dans ce document des conseils et des ressources d’intervenants de la première ligne qui vous permettront à la fois de poursuivre la formation des résidents, gérer la pandémie et maintenir la distance physique exigée.

Virtual teaching resources

In light of the clinical responses to COVID-19, many educators are making significant adjustments to clinical experiences and training opportunities for their residents. These changes include reductions in OR activity and in ambulatory clinic experiences as well as the cancellation of group learning activities like rounds, simulation sessions and other academic activities.
Given that disruptions related to COVID-19 are likely to continue for many months, programs are innovating and adapting in order to support ongoing resident learning.
Teaching virtually – given physical distancing constraints and concerns about resident safety, many programs have implemented, or may implement, virtual alternatives to traditional teaching approaches. This short document is designed to help programs teach residents in a virtual / remote manner.

This webpage from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada is temporary.

These 60-minute interactive, online workshops introduce the core components of Mindfulness Practice, an internationally recognized program to help physicians incorporate mindfulness into their clinical work. Instructors are graduates of the University of Rochester Medical Center Mindful Practice longitudinal internship program.

Webinar Details

Topic: Mindfulness workshops

Tuesday, June 2 – 8:00 pm (EDT)
Instructor: Dr. Anita Chakravarti
Language: English

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAoceiprTIrGtH_nX0tpUtEyv_WUDHRhf_D

Monday, June 8 – 8:00 pm (EDT)
Instructor: Dr Jillian Horton
Language: English

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tduCppz8tGdzUDa9T-3yCfGqQPe_jHm9k

Community Q&A: Things to Consider as You Prepare to Reopen Your Practice, by Sanjay D Goel, MD, Ann M Hulett, CMPE, Albert Castillo

View the full webinar recording here

In this MedEdTalks Micro-CE podcast, Rishi P. Singh, MD, and Dilsher S. Dhoot, MD, discuss current barriers to care of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and other management considerations for providers.

Listen here.