NEXTGEN
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE OF EYE CARE
By Troy Patterson
The next generation of eyecare
professionals inspires veteran ophthal-
mologist Dr. Sherif El-Defrawy.
The professor and chair of the Depart-
ment of Ophthalmology and Vision
Sciences at the University of Toronto
says witnessing the level of idealism
and dedication to helping patients
from today's young students is one of
the drivers of his passion to teach.
26 Optical Prism | January 2018
On top of that, El-Defrawy says
students grasp an understanding of
computers and Internet technology
that will no doubt offer an increased
benefit to the field of eye care.
“And that's just paving the way for
the future, where we'll be seeing an
interaction between physician and
artificial intelligence to enhance the
way we diagnose, the way we treat pa-
tients and increase efficiencies as we
use technology to be able to help us in
doing all those things,” he says.
“There is an understanding that
biomedical links are going to be big-
ger and bigger in the future. There is a
combination between our technology,
our computers, and all other aspects
and medicine to be able to treat
diseases in new ways.”