ERN Exchange in General University Hospital in Prague

Cristina del Prado Sánchez, from Hospital San Joan de Déu, tells us about her experience during her week in Prague as part of the Short Exchange Program.

- In which hospital did you do the exchange and why did you make this choice?

I did my exchange at the General University Hospital in Prague. I made this choice because I found the description of the exchange interesting, which included rare eye diseases in the areas of retina, neuro-ophthalmology, anterior segment, and pediatric ophthalmology.

 - What differences did you find with your hospital/daily practice?

The main difference that I found with my daily practice was to visit adult patients, since I work at a pediatric hospital. This allowed me to see the evolution or presentation of some rare eye diseases in adulthood.

 - What similarities did you find with your hospital/daily practice?

Both hospitals are divided into sub-specialized ophthalmology sections and have the possibility to carry out genetic testing when a rare genetic eye disease is suspected.

 - How will this exchange be useful for your medical practice (or your research practice)?

This exchange will be useful for me, especially, in guiding the genetic diagnosis of patients with rare eye diseases.

 - Did you also have the opportunity to bring something to the people you met from your practice?

We have some conversations about when we perform genetic testing, in which cases we analyze a single gene or a panel of genes, and when we test other members of the family of an affected patient. Also, we have some talks about gene therapy.

 - In brief what is the added value of these ERNs exchanges, and would you advise other ERN-EYE members to do this exchange?

In my opinion, these exchanges allow the professionals to know other hospitals, other perspectives, other ways of working, to share the knowledge with other colleagues, and to create new links among them. I would advise every ERN-EYE member who had the opportunity to do one of these exchanges to do it.