An analysis of undergraduate ophthalmology training in Canada.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the adequacy of undergraduate ophthalmology education in Canada in comparison with the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) guidelines. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. PARTICIPANTS: First-year residents who had graduated from Canadian medical schools. METHODS: Eligible residents were invited to participate in an online survey in 2007. Data were categorized by demographic variables, and basic statistics were done. RESULTS: Responses were obtained from 386 of the 1425 individuals (27.0%) contacted. The majority (64.0%) stated they had "too little" or "no exposure" to ophthalmology in medical school. The majority (76.2%) of respondents stated that they had had 1 week or less of overall exposure to ophthalmology. Sufficient exposure to several ICO core subspecialty areas was reported, including lens/cataract (81.1%) and cornea/external diseases (81.6%); however, some areas did not receive adequate time allocation, such as vitreoretinal disease (41.9%). Similarly, competency was obtained in certain ICO examination skills, including assessment of visual acuity (83.3%) and pupillary reflexes (90.7%) but was not achieved for other skills, such as fundoscopy (52.3%), slit-lamp examination (44.8%), and intraocular pressure assessment (19.9%). When asked whether sufficient ophthalmology knowledge and skills had been obtained during medical school, only 42.9% and 25.9% agreed, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Undergraduate ophthalmology training in Canada contains gaps in certain key areas. Developing a national, standardized curriculum could ensure that medical students acquire competency in the ophthalmology knowledge and skills required for future clinical practice.

Author information

Author/s: Noble, Jason (J); Somal, Kirandeep (K); Gill, Harmeet S (HS); Lam, Wai-Ching (WC);

Affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont, Canada.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Canadian journal of ophthalmology. Journal canadien d'ophtalmologie (Can J Ophthalmol), published in Canada. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 44 (issue 5) : pp 513-8

Dates: Created 2009/09/30; Completed 2009/10/22;

PMID: 19789584, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/22/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: Can J Ophthalmol. 2009 Oct;44(5):499-501. (PMID: 19789578)

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