Student numbers soar at Hollows NZ training centres

With an increase in the number of courses offered at the Pacific Eye Institute (PEI) in Suva, student numbers there have risen from ten in 2009 to 27 this year. Eight nurses are enrolled in the year-long postgraduate diploma in eye care (PGDEC) and two doctors are studying for a diploma in ophthalmology (DO).  In addition, PEI has two eye doctors enrolled in its new three-year Master of Medicine in Ophthalmology (MMed) program and a further eight students joining its inaugural six-month postgraduate certificate in diabetes eye care (PGCDEC).
This year's students at PEI come from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.

In Madang, Papua New Guinea, Hollows NZ welcomes nine nurses to its PGDEC this year, which will bring the total number of eye nurse graduates trained in PNG to 30 by the end of 2010.

In Dili, Timor-Leste, 15 eye care technicians will graduate from the Diploma of Eye Care program at the National Institute of Health Sciences in August this year, bringing the toal number of eye care nurses or technicians trained to 21.  With this year's graduates returning home, each of Timor's thirteen districts will for the first time have at least one eye health worker providing services to the local community.