Ben Marc Diendéré Fellowship Appreciation скачать в хорошем качестве

Ben Marc Diendéré Fellowship Appreciation

My name is Tosin Omonye Ogedengbe, a master’s student in Vision Science at the University of Montreal, School of Optometry. I have a background in Optometry and gained experience as an optometrist working with the government and private sectors across different regions of Nigeria. During my training and practice, I was exposed to the burden irreversible vision loss imposed on people. I was constantly faced with people relegated to a low quality of life and dependence, with little hope for the future. There are two remarkable experiences I will not forget. There was the case of a young man in his mid-twenties, diagnosed with an ocular disease called optic atrophy, who visited my clinic, devasted by his lack of productivity and dependence, which made him a burden to his family. Another was a young widow concerned about how to cater to her child, as she no longer had a job due to her eye condition- a case of glaucoma. This spurred my interest in a graduate study, as the scope of my training in Optometry targets the prevention, diagnosis, and management of ocular conditions to prevent avoidable blindness. Eradicating it is impossible because many people still face the burden of sight loss with no available treatment plan. I chose the University of Montreal because it is one of the leading universities in Canada and the only university in Quebec that offers my course. Also, Quebec is the leading province that supports people with vision loss. In addition, I have the opportunity to be supervised by a world-renowned researcher in sensory impairment – Dr. Walter Wittich, who has already published over 140 peer-reviewed articles. My principal interest lies in improving the quality of life of people with visual impairment across their lifespans beyond the clinical setting through an interdisciplinary collaboration and translational research approach. Over the course of this graduate training, my perception of the burden of visual impairment to be localized to developing countries has changed, as research has shown that this is a global burden and concern. I am currently exploring this interest under the tutelage of Dr. Walter Wittich of the Wittich Vision Impairment lab in collaboration with Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. Our current research focuses on the employment of people with visual impairment as a means of quality living. Most research in this field has been unidirectional and was conducted in isolation, focusing more on identifying perceived problems rather than an evidence-based solution. Hence, my research goal is to co-design a tool for assessing employment environment preparedness to employ people with vision loss. The choice of approach is to ensure an alignment of the needs of people with visual impairment and the concerns of the work environment. Hence contributing to an improved quality of life. This tool will eventually be validated across different employment sectors with appropriate knowledge translation and implementation strategies upon completion. However, this process goes beyond the duration of my master’s program. The Audacity and Innovation grant by Ben Marc Diendéré was exquisitely timed because it allowed me to focus on my graduate studies and acquire the necessary skills and mental state to achieve the stated goal. My sincere appreciation goes to the donor for his unwavering support in providing grants to ease the challenges of graduate studies. Once again, special thanks to Ben Marc Diendéré for his outstanding support and contribution to the actualization of my academic journey.