Cardiff enjoys medical photography awards success
12 October 2011
It's not just the politicians who gather, as the leaves turn, to share their experiences, scan the horizons and celebrate their achievements. Professions from around the world gathered in Oxford and Hertfordshire this autumn, for meetings in the fields of medical and ophthalmic photography. The meetings once again showcased some of the leading work being undertaken by the Media Resources Centre and School of Healthcare Studies, Cardiff University and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board's experts in this highly specialised area.
Celebrating success at the international conference of the Ophthalmic Imaging Association (OIA), in Oxford, were Debbie Gordon and Chris Tetley. Debbie, a recent graduate from Cardiff University's School of Healthcare Studies Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Illustration, picked up an award for the best case presentation in the professional exhibition. She studied the distance learning based course whilst working as a trainee photographer in Newcastle, with her winning entry originated as part of her final course assignment. Debbie has recently moved to a permanent job at Stoke Mandeville.
Award-winning image of the VERT room by Amy Lake and Bolette Jones.
Chris, a senior photographer in the Media Resources Centre in the University Hospital of Wales, not only received the award for the best anterior photograph of the eye but the same image was judged to be the best entry in the exhibition. The image, showing a window of clear cornea created by a new form of corneal transplant, wins Chris a travel bursary to represent the OIA at the American Ophthalmic Photographers meeting in Chicago in 2012.
This remarkable image was also recognised as 'best-in-show', receiving the Platinum Award, at the Institute of Medical Illustrators (IMI) professional exhibition, held as part of their recent conference in Hertfordshire. Chris's was not the only success for Cardiff at the IMI conference. Recently qualified Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Illustration student Debbie Gordon received the Student Award for a sequence of images illustrating a cleft-lip and palate repair, whilst current student Robert Ludlow (who works at the Institute of Neurology in London) received the Wellcome Images Award for an outstandingly detailed image of a brain taken during surgery. The course's Programme Leader Amy Lake received Silver and Bronze Awards for work produced with Bolette Jones, the Media Resources Centre's Head of Photography, whilst current Cardiff based student Alice Kenny also received a Silver Award.
Chris Tetley's award-winning photograph of an eye with a corneal transplant.
The training scheme for medical photographers was established in the late 1960s by Ralph Marshall and continues today as a unique collaboration between Cardiff University's School of Healthcare Studies and the Media Resources Centre, which is jointly funded by the University, through its Information Services Division, and the Cardiff and Vale University Local Health Board. Cardiff based students are funded by the Welsh Government's National Leadership and Innovation Agency for Healthcare (NLIAH).
The continued success of this scheme is remarkable. Of just 8 IMI Gold Awards given out this year (from over 300 entries) three were to photographers originally trained in Cardiff. Apart from Chris's success there were also Gold Awards to photographers from Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, who trained in Cardiff in 2005 and one from Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, who trained in Cardiff in the early 1980s.
The scheme prepares students for professional life through a combination of on-job training in the Media Resources Centre and educational work in the School of Healthcare Studies. This not only provides them with award winning practical skills but also develops their academic ability. This was evident when, at this year's IMI conference, 2010 graduates Jessica Oliver and Nicky Toothill gave excellent presentations at the new voices session, which, as the name suggests, gives young up-coming talent the opportunity to speak at a national meeting for the first time. In competition with MSc students from Dundee and PGCert and BSc students from Stafford and Westminster respectively, Jessica was presented with the award for Best New Voices presentation.
Success at the IMI conference was rounded off with Paul Crompton, head of the Media Resources Centre (and again a former trainee of the Cardiff scheme), receiving the Informa Healthcare Award, which is presented annually to the author of the best original manuscript published in the Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine. Paul received the award for the paper 'Teledermatology, the Cardiff Experience', co-authored with consultant dermatologists Richard Motley and Andrew Morris. The Teledermatology service was recognized earlier this summer with an NHS Wales Award for innovation.
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