Gorilla goes for eye check up

Keeler Scholarship winner Rob Henderson (right) treated an unusual patient while undertaking a clinical fellowship at the Royal Victorian Ear & Eye Hospital in Melbourne.

Henderson was asked to perform an eye examination on Motabo, a 500lb Silverback gorilla - who was having a check up under general anaesthetic as part of a zoo transfer.

'It was a magical experience,' said Henderson. 'In many ways it was just like a regular patient - his eyes were virtually identical to a human's, the retina only differing by the relatively youthful appearance of the nerve fibre layer,' he added.