Congratulations Janelle Scully, winner of the 2023 Optometry Connection Case Report and Clinical Image Award

Victorian optometrist and Manager of Ocular Disease and Diagnostic Services at the Australian College of Optometry, Janelle Scully, was recently announced as the winner of the 2023 Optometry Connection Case Report and Clinical Image Award. 

She won the award, including $1000 prize, for her case report ‘Acute sixth cranial nerve palsy in primary eye optometry’, which appeared in the July 2023 issue. 

Janelle talked us through the process of writing the case report and the topic of her winning submission.

What is the background to this case report?

As Manager of Ocular Disease and Diagnostic Services at the Australian College of Optometry, I see many interesting clinical cases, but had never actually published a case report before. Some encouragement and a gentle nudge from a colleague was the timely push I needed in the right direction, because it was not too long after I had seen Ms K for the first time. While her diagnosis (acute sixth nerve palsy) was not all that uncommon, it was the first time I had ever come across a patient who fixated with the paretic eye and I thought it  interesting enough to base a case report around.

 

How did you approach the writing process?

I began by reviewing examples of previously published case reports and the author guidelines for Optometry Connection. Then it was a matter of collating all the available clinical information available for the case and trying to distil it into a story that could be both useful and interesting for my colleagues. I tend to do my literature review in two parts – a broad search around the topic via PubMed to begin with, and then a more specific deep dive once I’ve identified areas that I want to focus on or pieces of the puzzle that I am missing. Unfortunately, I no longer have university library access (we very much take this for granted as students!) but full text articles can be found from a variety of sources, for example, many articles are now open access, public libraries provide access to some databases and our Optometry Australia membership gives us all access to the full archive of Clinical & Experimental Optometry.

 

What were some of the challenges in writing the case report and how did you overcome them?

My number one challenge is procrastination! Even just putting a title on a blank word document took longer than it should have. I still don’t have the magic solution but giving deadlines and convincing myself to “just get started” and that the first draft does not need to be perfect was somewhat helpful (and little prompts from the editorial team regarding deadlines also helped to shift me into gear).

Putting a case together that is cohesive and easily understood can be a challenge, particularly since as the author you are very familiar with the case and it’s hard to recognise where you are not being clear. Having a colleague who isn’t so familiar with the case read over the report can be helpful to fine tune the details and identify areas for improvement.

 

Why do you think it is beneficial to share case reports?

The sharing of knowledge is so important in a profession like ours and it’s great that we have forums like Optometry Connection for all optometrists to contribute cases. Through the process of researching and writing your case report you also increase your own knowledge and understanding of a topic.

 

Is there any other information you would like to share with your colleagues around the country?

I really encourage all optometrists of all levels of experience to consider sharing case reports. The editorial team at Optometry Australia are very supportive and provided wonderful guidance and feedback to improve the final published case report.

If you’re interested in submitting a case report, find out how on our website.