JUNE 2026

Dear Friends of the Museum,

Since our last letter, much has been happening behind the scenes.

The museum has arrived on social media with weekly updates on Instagram. You'll find different items, people, and history featured there where you can learn more about them in the Presentations page of the Museum website. Particularly popular have been short video presentations such as Ian McAllister showing off the rare Zick model eye.

Website upgrades have been done.

A major upgrade to the Imu museum software has been installed allowing better search function in the Collections page of the website.

Part 3 of the Ian McAllister collection is coming soon!

The third major contribution from Ian McAllister of some 300 pieces, mainly pre-electric ophthalmoscopes from his collection over 30 years makes our museum pre-eminent in the major eye museums.

Congress historic poster displays in progress.

Work has begun in earnest towards contributions for the historic poster display at the RANZCO Congress in Auckland in November this year.

Pass by the Museum collection in the RANZCO Sydney office.

When Fellows and visitors pass through the College building, they may pass by the museum collection on the ground floor and cabinets on the mezzanine. The collection is undergoing further enrichment with a display of rare lamps used to inspect eyes and provide light for early reflecting ophthalmoscopes.

Read the Eye Museum article in Eye2Eye Edition 1 2026

The most recent Eye2Eye has been published on the first of April. In the Museum section of the magazine, we talk about 100 years of uveitis. Read the whole article here.

Suggested readings

The e-book transcription of Treacher Collins' book, The History and Traditions of the Moorfields Eye Hospital: One hundred years of ophthalmic discovery and development, published in 1929, is now available to download free of charge from Project Gutenberg.

Since retiring from acamic ophthalmology, Doug Coster has turned his hand to writing. His latest book, A Duty of Care: Short Stories Mainly about Medicine, tackles medicine, and often about ophthalmology. This book follows on from the successful publication of his memoir, A Boomers Ride. Coster is an engaging storyteller and the writing is fast moving and easy to read. He is not shy about challenging prevailing views and many of the stories are quirky with a sting in the tail. His new book is available through Amazon, online booksellers and bookshops.

Suggestions and feedback?

If you have suggestions for content for our next e-news in October or if you'd like to add your name or a collegue to the Friends of the Museum mailing list, please email us at museum@ranzco.edu.

Friends of the Museum e-newsletter publication times:

February, June, October and December.

David Kaufman

RANZCO Eye Museum Curator

The RANZCO Eye Museum has an outstanding collection of instruments and memorabilia together with numerous presentations and resources. The Friends of the Museum e-newsletter is here to keep you informed of and up-to-date with everything that's going on in the Museum. If you would not wish to receive the newsletter, please unsubscribe here.