The WVUK education group aims to celebrate and develop women’s roles as ophthalmic educators, and promote equal opportunities for engagement in ophthalmic education.
Rebecca Ford is a Consultant Oculoplastic Surgeon at Bristol Eye Hospital. Rebecca Ford is a consultant oculoplastic and orbital surgeon at Bristol Eye Hospital, where she was also recently Clinical Director. After studying at Cambridge & Oxford, she pursued a medical rotation in Plymouth before ‘seeing the light’ and switching to ophthalmology, doing specialist training in London, followed by oculoplastics fellowship training in Birmingham. Her current research interests include IgG4-related orbital disease, management of orbital masses, and best practice in common eyelid surgeries.
Rebecca has a special interest in medical education; she was a London Deanery Fellow in Medical Education and completed her Masters degree in surgical education at Imperial College London. She is current Chair of the Education Committee at the Royal College of Ophthalmology and Head of School for the Severn Ophthalmology Training program. She has been an examiner for ICO, the UK College of Optometrists and for various university exams. Rebecca is the current chair of the Thyroid Eye Disease Charitable Trust, a charity dedicated to supporting patients with thyroid eye disease and promoting research into this condition. She is chairing the education section of WVUK and also providing liaison with the new umbrella organization ‘Women in Ophthalmology Worldwide’, which aims to promote equality of opportunity for women ophthalmologists in careers and research as well as equality of access to eye care for women globally. She loves travel and scuba diving, and her charitable ophthalmology work has taken her as far afield as China, Indonesia, Cambodia and India.
Prof Okhravi is a Professorial Teaching Fellow (PTF) at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, equivalent to a full Professor but with a focus on education leadership. She is the first PTF in Ophthalmology, a recognition of the expertise and credibility she has accrued over many decades in education delivery, leadership and scholarship. Prof Okhravi has vast experience at all levels of educational practice. She has shaped the training of several thousand medical students, several hundred physician associates, and educated 30 teaching fellows and circa 250 junior doctors. Her teaching fellows have undertaken higher degrees in education and moved on to consultant ophthalmologist posts in the UK and abroad while maintaining leadership roles in education. Through this, her sustained leadership in Ophthalmology education, medical education is now a formally recognised career pathway for ophthalmic trainees, creating the pipeline for future excellence in Ophthalmology education at UCL, Moorfields and around the world.
The WVUK education section is planning a range of webinars, talks and workshops to support women in vision to develop the skills they need as educators and education leaders, as well as educational events showcasing the talents of women in vision and their allies. Future goals include outreach projects with schools and universities to encourage girls and women to pursue careers in vision sciences and eye care.
