Aravind – Pondicherry, December 24-25

Kaushalam the two-day residential leadership programme was conducted for allied ophthalmic personnel (AOP) and Aravind-Pondicherry hosted the event.  Experienced, senior AOP underwent training to refine their leadership qualities, coordination and communication skills. The training programme was conducted in Sharanam, supported by Sri Aurobindo Society.

Aravind-Madurai, December 27

Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai organised a memorial meet  to pay tributes to Manohar Devadoss, the artist-scientist-writer and a long-term friend of Aravind who passed away on December 7 at Chennai. The event had  Mano’s only daughter Sujatha and her family and many from his vast circle of  friends and well-wishers reminiscing on the different aspects of Mano’s personality and the profound way in which he has influenced their lives.

Aravind-Madurai, December 31

As part of the social responsibility programme, the postgraduate residents of Aravind-Madurai arranged an exhibition-cum-sale of products made by the visually challenged people from Mannarpuram in Tiruchy. The event titled, ‘Vaanavil-2022’ had on display colorful and attractively printed bags, pouches, home furnishing products, stationeries, baby care items, candle sticks, incense sticks, letter magazine holders, mats, and apparels.

Aravind-Chennai, January 6-7

Aravind-Chennai hosted Aravind’s annual outreach planning meeting which was attended by camp medical officers, camp managers, camp organisers and admin assistants from all Aravind centres.  The team discussed last year’s outreach performance and planned new activities for 2023.  They also discussed the need to focus on specialty eye care services through outreach.

Aravind – Coimbatore, January 7-8

A total of 122 postgraduates from 32 Institutions in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka attended the programme organised by Aravind-Coimbatore. Participants were divided into 12 groups and rotated to 12 Stations over two days. Stations were corneal topography, glaucoma – OCT/fields/pachymetry, FFA/OCT, B Scan/UBM, electro physiological Studies, Neuroophthal – fields/pupil, low vision, squint/hess screen/diplopia charting, contact lens, orbit/oculoplasty, retinoscopy & biometry. A quiz was conducted at the end covering all topics and top five winners were awarded. The CME was accredited with 4 credit hours for postgraduates and 5 credit hours for the faculty.

A session on eye donation and the role of students in eye donation was handled by D. Saravanan, Manager, Eye Bank, Aravind-Madurai for the students of Arul Anandar College at Gandhi Museum on January 5. The occasion was also utilized to create awareness on Aravind’s patient education Tamil magazine, Kannoli. A total of 65 students took part.

A session on eye donation, hospital cornea retrieval programme was handled by D. Saravanan at  Mallankinaru Primary Health Centre on January 10 in which about 80 healthcare professionals including doctors and nurses attended.

Aravind-Pondicherry, January 6-8

Aravind Eye Hospital, Pondicherry hosted Hackathon 4.0. A total of 96 problem statements across the entire AECS were proposed and after scrutiny, 13 problem statements were short-listed for the final round. 13 teams comprising doctors from Aravind and engineering students from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) were brought together to find innovative solutions to these challenges. The teams received support from Aurolab, Alphaleus, Remedio as well as from the Maintenance, Instrument maintenance and housekeeping departments. A 3D printer was used to create the prototype. The teams were able to formulate 12 prototypes. On the final day, all the teams presented their solutions and prototypes in front of eminent judges –
Dr. Anand Sivaraman, CEO, Remedio; Mr. Arulmozhivarman, Professor and Dean, Academic Research, Centre for  Clean Environment, VIT; Dr. Nakul Shekhawat, Cornea consultant, Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute;  and Mr. Kannan U V, Executive director, Appasamy Associates Pvt. Ltd. Cash prizes were awarded to the best three innovations.

Aravind-Chennai, January 8

Pongal CME was conducted at Aravind Eye Hospital, Chennai for all MLOP employees and trainees. A total of 378 AOP attended. Topics covered were red eye, drug allergy and medical emergency, SICS and phaco surgery. Dr. Sudha P.L, Dr. Prabhakar, and Sr. Sangeetha handled the sessions. A quiz was followed to evaluate how well the participants understood the video session.

Aravind-Tirupati, January 13

As part of Aurosambaralu, rangoli competition was conducted for allied ophthalmic personnel at Aravind-Tirupati. All the sisters actively participated in the competition. Best three rangolis were awarded.

Aravind Eye Hospitals celebrated Pongal, the harvest festival of the Tamil community. Traditional games and competitions associated with Pongal were arranged. Special prayers were performed.

Aravind – Tirupati, January 12

Sri Venkateswara Aravind Eye Hospital, Tirupati conducted Graduation Day for its allied ophthalmic trainees. The celebration started with lighting the lamp and a prayer song. Trainees shared about their experiences at Aravind. Kesava Kumar, General manager, Aravind-Tirupati gave a motivational talk. Dr.Sathya Ravilla, MLOP Incharge shared an inspiring message.

Aravind-Pondicherry, January 12

Aravind- Pondicherry organised Angaadi, the great charity fest of Aravind. The event provided a unique shopping experience with lots of fun and excitement. The proceeds from the sale of items were donated to charity.