Sydney Ophthalmologist Dr Frank Martin Receives Award

Congratulations Dr Frank Martin – Sydney ophthalmologist Dr Frank Martin awarded Michelle Beets Memorial Award.

Sydney Ophthalmic Specialists very own Dr Frank Martin has been awarded the peer-nominated second annual Michelle Beets Memorial Award. This award provides $20,000 to buy medical equipment to improve and further the provision of care for children. This funding will be used to purchase an SVOP machine (Saccadic Vector Opto-kinetic Perimetry) for the eye department at the Children’s Hopsital at Westmead. The SVOP is a non-contact means of assessing a child’s peripheral vision.

The Michelle Beets Memorial Award is funded by the NSW health department to honour the work of the late Michelle Beets, a nurse manager in the emergency department at Royal North Shore Hospital who was murdered in 2010.

The award was announced at the annual Great Humpty Ball in November 2013 held by the Humpty Dumpty Foundation.

For further information, please visit the Humpty Dumpty Foundation website at http://www.humpty.com.au/michelle-beets-memorial-award-1

Below is an article written in “The Good Egg”, which is the Humpty Dumpty Foundation’s newsletter about the award given to Dr Frank Martin.

Professor Patricia (Trish) Davidson and Associate Professor Frank Martin not only deal with sick children on a daily basis, they are also actively engaged in teaching, research and publication in accredited medical journals, as well as administration and management in their respective fields of paediatric surgery and paediatric ophthalmology. Furthermore, they are both members of various medical committees, conferences and boards in Australia and abroad and undertake voluntary work to help underprivileged kids in need.

And that’s just the beginning

NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner presented the professors with the prestigious peer-nominated awards at the annual Humpty Ball last November.

Each received $20,000 to buy medical equipment to improve and further the provision of care for children in their field. Two runners-up in the regional, rural and metropolitan categories each received $10,000.

Professor Frank Martin was the recipient of the Metropolitan award and is an ophthalmologist at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, and at Sydney Ophthalmic Specialists. He plans to use the prize to buy much-needed equipment for the eye department at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

“The award came as a surprise,” the modest medico tells The Good Egg. “I was quite overcome when I was advised that I had won it. To be recognised by the selection committee for the work I do to improve the eyesight of children is one of the greatest honours I have received in my career.”

And what a career! Professor Martin has been dedicated to improving the health of children’s eyes (and adults, but that’s another story) for the past 30 years, and has held the title of president of the Children’s Medical Research Institute since 2000. According to his colleagues, he was the driving force behind a campaign to encourage young ophthalmologists to train in paediatric ophthalmology.

He also conducts voluntary outreach services in Australia and overseas to provide ophthalmic care to disadvantaged children with sight-threatening diseases.

“From clinical research to teaching young specialists, to developing collaborations and facilitating training throughout South East Asia, to lobbying for young ophthalmology, Professor Martin has and will have a lasting impact on the eye health of the children of New South Wales for generations.”

Professor Martin believes “the greatest challenge is to find a cure for children who are faced with blindness. Every week I see something new that challenges me to find a way to either preserve or restore a child’s vision.”

The prestigious awards, funded by the NSW Health Department, honour the work of the late Michelle Beets, a Nurse Manager in the Emergency Department at Royal North Shore Hospital who devoted her life to the care of others. She was murdered in 2010 and her killer has been jailed for life.

To view the full article in The Good Egg, visit http://www.humpty.com.au/sites/humpty.dev.morgan.net.au/files/HDF%20Good%20Egg%20May%20Edition%202014%20EDITED.pdf