Mangaluru Ophthalmologist Dr Atul Kamath bags European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Trainee Bursary Award

The doctor noticed that most patients suffer from problems like Lagophthalmos in which people struggle to close their eyelids thus they develop exposure to Keratitis, one kind of inflammation of the cornea. This can lead to permanent blindness and can cause discharge, watering and redness of the eyes. "All of these conditions are reversible if detected early and given prompt treatment. But due to the extremely high volume of patients admitted, all these eye signs went unnoticed and even after patients recovered they had some amount of eye morbidity," he added.

He further stated that consequently, a study was carried out, with 20 nursing staff members participating in Vadodara. For 30 days, participants received training on eye care, how to recognise danger symptoms, and how to notify an ophthalmologist if they did. "As a result, we noticed a 2.5 times improvement right away, and the eye issues significantly decreased. The study is pertinent, and there is a need for a globally recognised strategy to teach nurses how to reduce eye morbidity," he stated.

Dr. Atul Kamath M completed his Fellowship in IOL from Sankara Academy of Vision, Coimbatore. He completed his Ophthalmology Residency at Saurashtra University, Shri M P. Shah Government Medical College, Jamnagar. He holds an MBBS degree from K S Hegde Medical Academy, Mangalore. Currently, Atul Kamath is a Consultant Ophthalmologist & phaco-refractive surgeon at Yenepoya Medical College & Hospital, Deralakatte, Mangaluru. 

He has participated in nearly 10 research projects and has 11 publications to his credit. He has won 2nd place in the Prestigious Leela Krishnamurthi award at the 31st annual Conference of Biomedical Scientists. Moreover, he has presented several papers, e-posters, physical posters, and videos in international, national and state conferences from KOSCON 2018, 2020; AIOS 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023; APAO 2019, 2022, and ESCRS 2022.