• Zdravko Mandić and Zoran Vatavuk.
• Eye Clinic, Sisters of Mercy University Hospital, Vinogradska cesta 29, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. zdravko.mandic@inet.hr
• Croat. Med. J. 2004 Jun 1; 45 (3): 264-7.

AbstractLike any other area of academic medicine in Croatia, academic ophthalmology has always been limited by or has depended on the factors outside the profession itself: during the communist regime, it was mostly political and ideological correctness of academic ophthalmologists, and today during the social and economic transition, it is the lack of finances, planning, and sophisticated technology. The four university eye clinics, which are the pillars of academic ophthalmology in Croatia, provide health care to most difficult cases, educate students, residents, and specialists, and do research. On the other hand, they lack equipment, room, and financial recognition. This ever growing imbalance between requirements imposed on academic ophthalmology today and its possibilities make it less and less attractive, especially in comparison with private practice. The possible solution lies in increasing the independence of ophthalmology from pharmaceutical industry and politics, especially in research and financial aspects.

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