Bulletin Spring‧Summer Autumn‧Winter 1999

He l p i ng You See Better The New Departmen t of Ophthalmolog y & Visua l Science s The Eye Receiving More At tent i on I n many places, blindness ranks among cancer and A I DS as one of the most feared diseases. A n d over the last 20 years, the b r a n ch o f medicine that deals w i t h the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases has developed into a ma j o r speciality k n o wn as oph t ha l mo l og y. Ma n y factors have contributed to this r ap id development: an aging w o r l d popu l a t i on w i t h increased v i sua l i mp a i r me nt p r ob l ems, the onset of an i n f o rma t i on age characterized by a u d i o - v i s u al c ommu n i c a t i o n , a n d t h e development of h i gh technology such as laser treatment, microsurgery, and ultrasonography. A Unique Department i n Hong Kong The development of ophthalmology i n Ho ng Ko n g has been slow. Ten years ago i n The Chinese University, the Department of Surgery f i r s t r e c o g n i z ed t h e need t o d e v e l op ophthalmology into a speciality and recruited an expert f r om the Un i t ed States to teach the sub j ec t. O p h t h a l m o l o gy t h us became a subspeciality of the department. I n the last five years, several other events l ed to its further consolidation. The Hospital Au t ho r i ty finally r e c o g n i z ed t h e g r eat s h o r t a ge o f ophthalmologists i n Ho ng Ko ng (the ratio of ophthalmologists to population being 1:75,000) and decided to bu i ld a new H o ng Ko ng Eye Ho s p i t al i n A r g y le Street to t r a in mo r e eye doctors. The University and Polytechnic Grants Committee also agreed to establish a separate department of ophthalmology at The Chinese U n i v e r s i t y t o i m p r o v e t he t e a c h i ng o f ophthalmology to local medical students. The 20th and Youngest Department of the Faculty of Medicine A n ew Depa r tment of Op h t h a l mo l o gy and Visual Sciences was f o rma l ly established i n summer 1993, and a v i go r ous i n t e r na t i onal search for the chair of the department began. A m o n g f i ve i n t e r na t i ona l ly r e n own e d eye specialists f r om Great Britain, Australia, the United States, and Ho ng Kong, Prof. Ma rk O.M. Tso f r om Chicago, Illinois, was chosen to head the new department. He arrived i n Ho ng Kong New Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences 6