Shortening training duration to address the insufficiency of Ophthalmologists: A deeper look at the China experience

@#The availability of ophthalmologists is vital to making eyecare accessible to everyone. Medical education and ophthalmology residency training in China was reduced to address the high demand for ophthalmologists. This is something the Philippines can consider to increase the number of ophthalmologists in the country. However, decreasing the duration, together with insufficient monitoring of medical education and ophthalmology residency training, were not without consequences in eyecare in China.

Image acquisition with smart phone applied in ophthalmology residency training program / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

@#AIM: To describe the application of image acquisition function of smart phone with slit lamp examination in the ophthalmology residency training program.<p>METHODS: The supporting set for smart phone can be securely connected to the ocular lens of slit lamp microscopy. The anterior or fundus photos and dynamic videos were obtained through slit lamp examination with non-contact lens, three-mirror lens or gonio lens. Acquired images or recorded videos were transmitted to ophthalmology trainee by using wireless local area network(WLAN), WeChat and other software.<p>RESULTS: High quality images and dynamic video could be successfully taken with smart phone and supporting set by slit lamp examination, which could clearly display tissue details and pathological features. The fast transmission of image data can enable more trainees to access clinic education resource simultaneously and communicate with each other timely and effectively.<p>CONCLUSION: High resolution smart phones are wildly used and supporting sets are very accessible; thus high quality of images could be easily obtained for clinical teaching purpose. Furthermore, it enriches the clinical teaching resources. So the application of image acquisition function of smart phone with slit lamp examination is worthy in the standardized training of ophthalmology residents.

Residency Evaluation and Adherence Design Study III: Ophthalmology residency training in India: Then and now朓mproving with time?

Purpose: To gauge the differences in ophthalmology residency training, academic, clinical and surgical, in the last three decades of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. Methods: A survey was conducted by the Academic and Research Committee of the All India Ophthalmological Society, in 2014�16, using a prevalidated questionnaire, which was circulated to ophthalmologists to gauge the practicality of the teaching protocols of clinical and surgical skills during postgraduate residency program. Results: Of the 1005 respondents, 320 ophthalmologists who completed residency between 1967 and 2002 (20th century trained) and 531 who completed a residency in 2003�12 (21st century trained) fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The average age was 49.2 years (standard deviation [SD] 4) and 32.6 years (SD 4), respectively. Twenty-first century trained ophthalmologists rated their training significantly better than the 20th century trained ophthalmologists for slit lamp examination (P = 0.001), indirect ophthalmoscopy, gonioscopy, automated perimetry, optical coherence tomography, and fundus photography (all having P < 0.001), while the 20th century trained rated their teaching of refraction, synoptophore, diplopia charting better (all P < 0.001). The range of grading was 0� in all categories. The median number of surgeries performed independently by 20th century and 21st century trained (during their training period) were: intracapsular cataract extraction (ICCE) 10, 0; extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) 43, 18; small incision cataract surgery (SICS) 5, 55; phacoemulsification (Phaco) 0, 1; pterygium excision 20, 15; dacryocystectomy 11, 4; dacryocystorhinostomy 11, 2; chalazion 35, 30; trabeculectomies 5, 0; strabismus correction 0, 0; vitrectomy 0, 0; keratoplasty 0, 0; eyelid surgery 6, 2; and ocular emergencies 18, 20. Conclusion: Teaching of many clinical skills had improved over decades. Cataract surgery training has shifted from ICCE and ECCE to SICS and Phaco, but other surgeries were still taught sparingly. There was an enormous variation across the country in residency training which needs immediate attention.

Impact of a month-long training program on the clinical skills of ophthalmology residents and practitioners.

A cohort study was performed to assess the impact of an intensive, hands-on, supervised training program in ophthalmic clinical evaluation, for ophthalmology residents and private practitioners. All students underwent one-month training in comprehensive ophthalmology examination and investigations at a tertiary care center between January 2004 and January 2006. The training methodology included didactic lectures, video-demonstrations and hands-on training. The participants completed a self-assessment with a set of 23 questions designed to assess the level of confidence in various skills on the first and last day of the training. Of a total of 118 students, 67 (56.8%) were residents and 51 (43.2%) were practitioners. The mean score pre-training was 38.3 out of 92 (S.D. ±16.9), and was 70.6 out of 92 (S.D.± 10.1) post-training. The mean increase in the scores was 32.3 (P value < 0.001). We concluded that intensive, short-term training programs could improve the self-perceived level of confidence of ophthalmology residents and practitioners.