A Hands-on Workshop at The Apollo University Illuminates the Vision for a Brighter Tomorrow
The Apollo University, Chittoor, took a strong call for awareness and academic excellence on October 9, 2025, as the Division of Allied Health Sciences – Optometry Program, School of Health Sciences, celebrated World Sight Day 2025 with an exciting Hands-on Workshop on “Binocular Vision and Low Vision.” The event served as a convergence of comprehension empathy, and advancement, bridging together academicians, clinicians, and students to celebrate the gift of vision and the science that preserves it.
The workshop was graced by prominent dignitaries — Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor, The Apollo University; Dr. Alfred J. Augustine, Dean, Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (AIMSR); resource persons — Dr. Ramesh S. Ve, CEO and Founder, NeuraSim Pvt. Ltd., and Visiting Professor, School of Health Sciences, TAU; and Dr. Gopinath Madeswaran, Founder and Lead Consultant, Opto Research Consultancy Services & Opto Research Academy and Prof. K. Bhaskar Reddy, Dean, School of Health Sciences — who presided as the organizer of the event. Their presence added academic refinement and inspiration to the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, the Vice Chancellor reproduced on the priceless nature of vision and the collective duty to safeguard it. He observed that World Sight Day reminds us not just of the power of vision, but of our responsibility to extend that we should prevent avoidable blindness. Conditions has to be found and treated early and today the field is very customized and specialised including the recent evolution of pediatric optometry. He highlighted and put up cases to explain how advancements in diagnostic tools, digital technology, and medical sciences have transformed vision care, making it more accessible than ever before and how they treat the avaoidable blindness through early dectection. Dr. Bhat encouraged optometrists and ophthalmologists to look beyond clinical boundaries and play a practical role in community health through periodic eye screenings and preventive initiatives.
The workshop’s academic strength was enriched by distinguished resource persons — Dr. Ramesh S. Ve, CEO and Founder, NeuraSim Pvt. Ltd., and Visiting Professor, School of Health Sciences, TAU; and Dr. Gopinath Madeswaran, Founder and Lead Consultant, Opto Research Consultancy Services & Opto Research Academy. Dr. Ramesh along with his student and academician Dr. Gopinath, delivered in-depth sessions on binocular vision, low-vision rehabilitation, advanced optometric technologies, and modern patient assessment methodologies. Their interactive and insightful demonstrations provided participants with valuable hands-on learning experiences and touched upon the responsibilities and 5 core pillars that the students should explore in their education.
From comprehension to skill and compassion, Dr. Ramesh touched upon the areas such as evidence based 5 A model and the importance of becoming a lifelong learner in your field. The experts also detailed about how to be interdisciplinary in their workspace and learn from interdepartmental or inter-subject collaborations. The whole session was centered around the call for clinical care in healthcare management and becoming an expert who can lead the department for caring and ensuring the prevention of avoidable blindness.
The event witnessed the active participation of Dr. Ashwath Kumar (Head, Ophthalmology, AIMSR), Mr. Akhil, and Mr. Rakesh Kumar, Faculties, Allied Health Sciences whose efforts made the day meaningful and helped in seamless execution of the workshop. Dr. Sucharita P. (Head, Allied Health Sciences), along with the faculty members, and students lead this fruitful session and guided the faculties to conduct such sessions for the benefit of students to learn from academicism and clinical experts. The enthusiasm of the participants and the intellectual depth of the discussions made the event an enriching success.
The day provided the message that vision is not merely the faculty of sight, but the essence of a pledge to nurture a generation of professionals devoted to preserving one of humanity’s most precious gifts — the gift of sight.