Natalia Kelly, Lecturer in Orthoptics, is passionate about bringing patient-centred care into the classroom.
“My approach to teaching is to help students engage in the learning material by helping them understand how they can make a difference to their future patients through their practice.”
Natalia teaches subjects that are predominantly focused on vision rehabilitation and neuro-orthoptics.
“All of the subjects that I teach use real-life case scenarios and patient outcomes. For example, in the subject I teach about vision impairment, students are exposed to the voice of multiple clients who talk about their experiences living with and the impact of vision loss.”
“These voices also describe how orthoptic-specific intervention has helped them regain independence and confidence to participate in daily activities,” she explains.
“I also support students to develop their reflection and self-awareness skills, which helps them empathise and gain a deeper understanding of how to support their future patients.”
Natalia enjoys being part of a student’s journey to professional practice.
“I love helping students develop their clinical skills and apply their knowledge. It is rewarding to see them grow in confidence. This role also enables me to contribute to the path of future orthoptic practice, which is incredibly rewarding.”
In addition to her teaching role, Natalia is also completing a Masters Degree by Research, where she is investigating the effectiveness of visual and acoustic biofeedback intervention.
“My research is looking at two of the most common conditions seen in low vision, which are Age Related Macular Degeneration and Cerebral/Cortical vision impairment or CVI.”
"Visual and acoustic biofeedback intervention is the use of light and sound to train someone to improve their vision. I am currently working on evaluating the effectiveness of biofeedback intervention in Australian children with CVI, which will be the first study of its kind.”
