Eye nurses from the Solomon Islands and vanuatu on graduation day 2008

2008 Pacific eye care graduates return home

Nine eye nurses and two eye doctors graduated from the Pacific Eye Institute (PEI) in Suva in December 2008. They now return to clinics and hospitals in Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

PEI Director Dr John Szetu with 2008 eye doctor graduates Dr Nola Pikacha and Dr Lelea Naikatini on graduation day, Suva, Fiji

Already experienced eye care practitioners, many of this year’s nursing class were running eye health programs in their home countries before commencing the Postgraduate Diploma in Eye Care (PGDEC) course.

The 2008 diploma was specifically designed to extend the technical capability and management skills of these nurses, enabling them to further develop the services they offer and mentor other nurses in eye care.

“We’re looking forward to returning to Tonga and using all we have learnt to the benefit of our people back home,” said Meleane Eke, one of the country’s two eye nurses attending the course. “We now feel very confident about our skills, and are also glad that we can draw on the knowledge and expertise of our fellow graduates around the Pacific and our teacher, Dr John Szetu.”

2008’s Postgraduate Diploma of Ophthalmology graduates ― Dr Nola Pikacha from the Solomon Islands and Dr Lelea Naikatini from Fiji ― are equally excited about the next stages in their careers, and grateful for the support they have received from PEI and The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ.

“I feel blessed to have been able to do this course and to have broadened my knowledge and skills to such an extent this year,” Dr Naikatini said on graduation.

Lead by Dr Szetu, an ophthalmologist with more than 20 years’ experience working and teaching across the Pacific, PEI was opened at Tamavua Hospital in January 2007 by The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ. To date, four doctors, 23 nurses and two technicians have graduated from programs at PEI and have returned to deliver eye care services in eight Pacific countries.

Dr Szetu is delighted with the achievements of the 2008 class and is looking forward to welcoming new staff and a greater number of students in 2009. “We are proud to be building a network of graduates across the region who are now treating and preventing blindness in their home countries. We have a long way to go before we have enough eye health practitioners in the region, but we are making an admirable start,” notes Dr Szetu.