The Chennai-based Sankara Nethralaya will shortly launch an Academy for creating eye care professionals. It will serve as a platform for creating, processing and disseminating knowledge related to eye care, ophthalmic research and hospital administration.

Sources in the Sankara Nethralaya said the Academy, shortly called SN Academy, will offer certificate courses in Contact Lens, Vision Therapy, Continuing Optometric Education programmes and the Operation Theatre Assistant programme.

This will be followed by a one-year comprehensive ophthalmology fellowship programme and a certificate programme in grant writing that will be offered from June. In August, the Academy will begin its three-year certificate programme in dispensing optics.

Sources said the Academy will collaborate with institutes like Sankara Nethralaya, LIBA and others to offer wide-ranging certificate and fellowship programmes to train ophthalmologist, optometrists, nurses and administration personnel.

As part of Sankara Nethralaya's employee-development programme, 20 executives from the institute received their Diploma in Health Care Management on March 11, 2010. The Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA), along with the support of the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, specially designed the programme to suit the requirements of Sankara Nethralaya.

Chief editor of The Hindu, N Ram, who was the chief guest, handed over the certificates to the awardees at a function held at Sankara Nethralaya. Also present on the occasion was Fr P Christie, director and professor of Decision Sciences, Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA).

The 12 month-course enabled the executives to get an in depth understanding on the various facets of Health Care Management. Sankara Nethralaya encouraged its executives to undertake the Diploma in Health Care Management as such a course will augment the knowledge of its executives and will enhance their professional expertise.