An update on our Ocular Prosthetic services in KL Malaysia.

In December 2010 we completed our second year of Artificial Eye treatment for Malaysia at the Sunway Medical Centre. This Clinic is based in the Centres of Excellence at the Sunway Medical Centre. It has been providing a premium, custom Artificial Eye service now for 2 years.

Artificial Eyes are being made for patients from not only Malaysia but also Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and VIP patients from Rowanda and Pakistan.

The nursing staff at the Sunway Medical Centre Eye Clinic are becoming increasingly familiar with the treatment and processes surrounding Artificial Eye procedures and patient care, ensuring a pleasant and enjoyable experience for our respected patients.

We have agreed with the Sunway Medical Centre to continue this Premium Artificial Eye Service for the coming next three years – commencing on February 21st for two weeks and every three months onwards.

We are happy to provide a pre-treatment consult for patients with queries, questions or concerns.

 Dates for 2011

21st Feb – 5th March

23rd May – 4th June

1st Aug – 13th Aug

7th Nov – 20th Nov.

We look forward to helping more people regain their confidence and self esteem by providing them with an Artificial Eye most suited to their specific needs and requirements.

For appointments and further details please look here

Peter T Knowles Ocularist/Prosthetist

I’ve just had the pleasure of creating a profile page for Greg Sankey who has artificial eye clinics in Seattle and Greece.

Greg is part of a three generation ocularist family.

He followed his father in the business. Now his children are both in the practice as well.

Greg already had a diverse internet presence that involved separate websites for his different clinics.

His new profile page will enable him to feature when people are searching for an ocularist using geographical location on google. 

For example if they are looking for assistance using the words “artificial eyes Seattle” they will now find Greg’s profile page.

Greg also consults in Greece. His profile page will make him more accessible in that locality as well.

I have enjoyed learning more about Greg and his practice.  He is clearly a dedicated professional.  

I’m very pleased that his profile page will make him more accessible.

People feel more confident visiting an ocularist when they can learn more about them from a web page.

In our own practice we noticed that people are much less anxious during their first visit.  They have read about us online and we are no longer strangers.

I’ve just returned from my regular artificial eye clinic in Darwin.  The rain bucketed down.  The days were steamy and slow.  Several people who had booked in for new eyes didn’t show up. I had plenty of time for playing songs on my new ukulele!

I do expect that the next clinic will be incredibly busy.  I am also expecting a wave of clients  to come from a new referral source.

This trip I’d been invited to address an optometrists conference.  Many of the participants told me that they had no idea where to refer people presenting with the need for an artificial eye or conformer shell.  I was left with the impression that there will be lots of referrals from now on.

I met up with Tess Presswell from The Fred Hollows Foundation.  The Foundation are very active doing valuable work  in the Northern Territory.  Tess mentioned that she  is working toward getting Alice Springs Hospital to pay for eye prostheses.  In  Australia  if you have your eye removed at a public hospital your prosthesis is automatically paid for by the hospital.  In Alice Springs communities have to fund raise to pay for anyone needing an artificial eye.

In Darwin I dropped in to the eye clinic at the Royal Darwin Hospital and got to meet some of the ophthalmologists working there.  I showed them the Adjusting to Eye Loss mind map and explained how we are using it.   They have booked me up to talk to their staff during my next visit in July. The Royal Darwin Hospital eye clinic staff have been very supportive of my clinics in Darwin. 

As a person who has always been very shy about speaking in public I am amazed to find myself willingly taking on this role.  I guess my determination to spread the word about eye loss recovery is stronger than my fears about public speaking. 

My next Darwin Artificial Eye Clinic starts on Monday, 20th July 2009.

This year I did my first clinic in East Timor. The logistical difficulties of setting up the clinic were immense.

Although I arrived with no expectations I certainly under estimated how tough it was going to be. The communication was my biggest challenge. There are four languages spoken and english is the least common. Many of my clients were blind which meant that I couldn’t even communicate with hand signals!

To establish a clinic like mine, you really need to take absolutely everything that you are going to need. The very few assumptions I made created significant problems for me.

For example, butane gas lighter refills just weren’t available anywhere.

Running water was not available in the clinic space. I had an open window for a sink and bottled water for washing hands.

Time is not regarded in the same way in Timor. No matter what time I made appointments for people they all showed up at the crack of dawn. I would arrive to find a crowd waiting for me.

I am looking forward to going back to the East Timor Clinic some time next year. With this first visit out of the way I now have a better understanding of the challenges.

Next time I’ll be better organised, with a hospital clinic space, a translator and  experience of how things work.

I am excited to be part of a new artificial eye clinic that has just been established in Kuala Lumpur at Sunway Medical Centre.

Sunway Medical Centre is a large private hospital in Kuala Lumpur. The Centre has recently opened their Centres of Excellence with several outpatient clinics. Included in the clinics is a large Ophthalmology Department with an Eye Clinic.

This clinic offers a premium artificial eye service to the people of Malaysia and surrounding regions. Patients are offered the most advanced technology in artificial eyes as well as a package of education and follow up consultations. I am very pleased to be part of such a devoted team of professionals.

Kuala Lumpur is also hosting an International Opthalmology Conference in March 2009. I have been asked to present a paper on Ocular Prosthetics with a special focus on maintenance and education.

It is not often I get the opportunity to speak to an international group of specialists. I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with them. This is a wonderful opportunity to help advance the services for people with artificial eyes worldwide.