Baxter's Blog

I would like to do something a little different with this blog and to make some observations / comments about medicine and beyond. First I would like to give you some of my favorite quotes / expressions of 2016: #1. Don’t quit your day dream. #2. Gracious plenty. ( Southern expression ). #3. Read more:

Medecins Sans Frontieres / Doctors Without Borders is usually an emergency / crisis health organization rather than a developmental health NGO. As they frequently state, they go where others don’t. They are happy enough eventually to hand over their operations / programs to other NGO’s ( Read more:

In February I was with my ophthalmic friend Dr. Edgar Ogaldez in San Benito / Flores, Peten, Guatemala. Dr. Ogaldez visited my wife and I last year as part of the Rotary / AAO Host An Ophthalmology program ( Chair, Ken Tuck MD ). After visiting us in S.C. and talking to two of the local Rotary Read more:

I would like to continue my summary of our 2015 AAO annual meeting 2015 in Las Vegas. As always, most of my observations / discussion / comments lean toward working / teaching in the developing world. Cornea Symposium:
Dr. Elisabeth Cohen spoke about Varicella Zoster Virus ( VZV ): Epidemiology, Read more:

Recently I participated in the Surgical Eye Expedition ( SEE ) MSICS course in Santa Barbara, Ca. Would recommend this one day course with didactic lectures in the AM and then a well planned / prepared wet lab in the afternoon. Special thanks to Dr. John Crowley, Luis Perez and the entire Read more:

I recently attended the Widows and Orphans annual banquet which is a 165 year old medical society in Charleston, SC. The guest speaker was Rudolph Rustin, MD who recently completed 1 1/2 years working in a hospital in Rwanda. Although Dr. Rustin is not an ophthalmologist, I would like to share Read more:

The International Council of Ophthalmology ( ICO ) Course for Ophthalmic Educators mentioned an available Australian grading program for diabetic retinopathy www.drgrading.iehu.unimelb.edu.au/cera/index.asp. You do have to register which is easy and quick. This is a 1.5 hour self-directe d Read more:

What I would like to do is summarize my experiences at the Academy this October. What I learned and took away from the Academy which might be useful in a developing world setting. As usual I will not give credit to many of the speakers nor to the specific course or symposium. As always I have Read more:

Chapter 16 Corneal And External Diseases has sub-sections on microbial keratitis, viral infections, keratoconjunctivitis, acanthamoeba --- ocular manifestations, vernal keratoconjunctivitis, Mooren’s ulcer, climatic droplet keratopathy, and pterygium. In developing countries, where most corneal Read more:

Section 2 Methodology was useful for the novice, such as myself, in epidemiology ---- what are cross - sectional studies, bias, cluster sampling, rapid assessment of avoidable blindness ( RAAB ), sample size, cohort studies, etc. The Baltimore Eye Survey is an example of cluster sampling in eye Read more:

In the next several blogs I would like to review and summarize : Epidemiology Of Eye Disease 3rd edition by Gordon Johnson, Darwin Minassian, Robert Weale , and Sheila West. Imperial College Press. ISBN-13 978-1-84816-625-7.
This book is a must for anyone interested in epidemiology of the eye and Read more:

Recently I again traveled to Haiti alone to work as a volunteer with some local Haitian ophthalmologists ( friends ). I have visited Haiti 10 times the last 30 years and my ophthalmic colleagues unfortunately all state Haiti is no better off nor the eye problems less. I usually go to Haiti by Read more: