The consultant ocular oncologist, at his own expense, subscribes to all the major ophthalmic journals, which are delivered to his home for him to read and add to his personal library.

He also has most of the main textbooks on ophthalmology, which he has purchased or which have been given to him by the authors, who he knows personally, or by the publishers, because he has written a chapter.

Once a month, the consultant scans the United States National Library of Medicine's Pubmed index on the internet and if there are any abstracts that seem interesting he saves that abstract on his computer, using a special database. If it seems worthwhile reading the entire article, he sends a fax to the librarian of the Liverpool Medical Institution, who obtains a copy of the article, if necessary from another library.

The consultant also ensures that he has the latest edition of a major textbook on oncology, so that he can keep abreast of developments in other fields of medicine and science.

The consultant finds attendance at scientific conferences to be an effective method of learning, not only because he can obtain information before it has even been published in the journals but also because he meets the researchers themselves and can discuss matters privately, perhaps over a cup of coffee.

Case reports and anecdotes are particularly instructive because they enable the consultant ocular oncologist to be prepared to deal with any rare condition he may not have encountered previously.

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