Dr. Mladena Radeva at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Medical University - Varna won the award in the "Young Scientist" Competition of the Bulgarian Glaucoma Society (BGS). The competition was held at the XVIII Symposium of the Society, which took place on 22nd-23rd March in Plovdiv. Dr. Radeva participated with a project entitled "Young Ophthalmologists' Skills and Habits for Glaucoma Diagnosis".
Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. The purpose of Dr. Radeva's study was to provide collected and analyzed information on the methods that young ophthalmologists in Bulgaria use for research, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Prior to the development of Dr. Radeva, there were no such data in Bulgaria, as well as summarized information on the difficulties experienced by ophthalmologists in the process of managing the disease. The identification of potential gaps in the training of young ophthalmologists as well as the feedback coming from them is of essential significance for proper management of the disease nationwide.
The outcomes of the study provoked plenty of discussions among the audience, which gave rise to a proposal for the organization and conduct of a national training for specialists in "Gonioscopy".
The supervisor of the PhD student and head of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prof. Dr. Hristina Grupcheva said that over the last six months that had been the third prize for the youngest team members. "This is by no means accidental - Medical University-Varna is a well-established ophthalmology training centre, and the postgraduate and PhD students at the Department are constantly providing evidence of their knowledge and skills with innovative and socially useful projects."
Dr. Mladena Radeva was born in 1990 in Varna, a graduate of the IV Language High School "Frédéric Joliot-Curie" Varna. She speaks excellent English and Spanish. She graduated from Medical University - Varna with honours and awards in 2015. Immediately after that, she started her specialization in Eye Diseases at the Specialized Hospital for Ophthalmic Diseases for Active Treatment. In 2017 she worked as a part-time Assistant Professor at MU-Varna, and in 2018, after successfully passing a competition examination, she was elected Assistant Professor at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. In the same year, again after a competition, she was enrolled as a full-time PhD student.
She has won "Student of the Year for 2014" Award in the field of Healthcare and Sports of Varna Municipality, awarded for merit in this area.
The "Young Scientist" Competition of the Bulgarian Glaucoma Society consists of a two-stage evaluation of the participating projects. The first stage is the submission of the works in full text, and the second - their presentation in front of the audience. The evaluation is carried out by the management body of the Society, chaired by Prof. Marieta Konareva-Kostyaneva.
