Role of paramedical personnel in ophthalmic services (screening clinic) at Ramathibodi Hospital

Abstract

Ramathibodi Hospital is a university hospital built in 1969 in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, and is attached to the third medical school in the city. It is well-equipped eye department which, composed of various subspeciality clinics and functional units, required a large qualified medical and paramedical staff since it has been opened. However, owing to the shortage of ophthalmologists in general, the education of ophthalmic paramedical staff has been considered to be of high priority in the activities of the department. In this paper the whole course of education and routine work of the ophthalmic assistants are given fully in detail at every unit, with some remarkable results in the past. Also the future plan of expanding the screening clinic to the community at large is mentioned, which might be authorized and put into practice in the near future.