Orthoptics lecturers win award for innovative teaching project
Two lecturers from the Department of Orthoptics and Vision Science have won an award in this year’s Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Awards 2022 (CAHPO).
There are 14 allied health professions (AHPs), which make up the third largest workforce in the NHS. The CAHPO awards provide an opportunity to celebrate the incredible work being carried out by AHPs and the vital role they play. Orthoptics is one of the smaller Allied Health Professions with just over 1500 registered in the UK. Orthoptists are experts in diagnosing and treating defects in eye movement and problems with how the eyes work together (binocular vision).
Craig Murray and Jo Adeoye are part of a national team that won the award in the ‘Creative provision of placement’ category for their ‘Clinical Placement expansion project (CPEP)’, which uses digital technology to increase access to authentic practice-based learning. The project is a national collaboration that has enabled clinical training hours lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic to be replaced. Feedback has confirmed it has had a significant positive impact on clinical education and student experience.
Jo said: “As part of the project we collaborated with clinical educators across the UK to gather clinical case resources and clinician's view video recordings of patient assessments which are held on an online platform ‘PERL’. This has enabled students to access authentic clinical cases and videos of a range of disorders of binocular vision and ocular motility, which is an essential aspect of Orthoptic clinical training.”
Craig commented: “We are delighted have won this award for the CPEP project. Whilst the pandemic has brought significant challenges, this project has been ground-breaking in terms of enhancing teaching and student experience. It also has the potential to be adapted for other health care professions”.
Professor Denise Prescott, Dean of the School of Health Sciences said: "The School of Health Sciences is incredibly proud of colleagues Jo Adeoye and Craig Murray who have won the highly prestigious Chief Allied Health Professions Officer Award for their creative use of digital technology to increase access to authentic practice placements. This is a highly competitive process and both Craig and Jo have worked hard for this success, ensuring that Orthoptics students receive a high-quality placement experience at a time when placement capacity has been constrained".
Find out more about the Awards here.