Innovative eye care technology enterprise oDocs Eye Care has awarded it’s first oDocs Project Grant Award to fifth year Otago medical student Aqeeda Singh.
The new $5,000 award is designed to promote sight saving initiatives and innovative research projects by medical students and residents, fellows and researchers in the field of ophthalmology, said oDocs founder and ophthalmology registrar Dr Sheng Chiong Hong.
Singh was chosen as the inaugural recipient of the new award given her continuous achievement over the past year and the number of high-quality research papers she’s published, he said. “Her tenacity and hard work in ophthalmic science and research made her an outstanding candidate.”
Singh is using the grant to continue her work into creating guidelines for acute ophthalmic conditions that present in primary care, creating a protocol for non-eye specialists as part of a bigger teleophthalmology project with oDocs’ sister company MedicMind. “This will help simplify the management for primary eye care clinicians hopefully,” she said. “The project is also giving me a chance to satiate my eagerness to learn more about eyes!”
Singh said she’s keen to continue her journey in ophthalmology when she graduates. “As a child, I used to say the eyes were my favourite body part and it hasn’t really changed… However, almost every consultant has advised us to remain flexible and keep our minds open!”
