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| LETTER TO EDITOR |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 2 | Page : 111-112 |
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Postgraduate training program in ophthalmology in India: What's lacking?
Javed Hussain Farooqui
Staff Ophthalmologist, Flying Eye Hospital Orbis International 520, 8th Avenue 11th Floor New York, United States
| Date of Web Publication | 7-May-2015 |
Correspondence Address:
Javed Hussain Farooqui
C-44, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi - 110 017, India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2320-3897.156613
How to cite this article:
Farooqui JH.
Postgraduate training program in ophthalmology in India: What's lacking?. J Clin Ophthalmol Res 2015;3:111-2 |
How to cite this URL:
Farooqui JH.
Postgraduate training program in ophthalmology in India: What's lacking?. J Clin Ophthalmol Res [serial online] 2015 [cited 2022 Jul 1];3:111-2. Available from: https://www.jcor.in/text.asp?2015/3/2/111/156613 |
Sir,
I read with great interest the article on Postgraduate training program in India by Dhaliwal and Ayyala. [1] I would like to congratulate the authors for their work on this very important, yet sparingly discussed topic.
I graduated from my residency program in Delhi, and have been working with Orbis International on their Flying Eye Hospital for over a year now. I would like to echo the authors' view on lack of standardization in Ophthalmology residency program in India. I write this letter to you as a young Indian Ophthalmologist working and interacting with residents, fellows, and faculty from all over the world (both developed and developing countries).
In India, we have 35,000 undergraduate seats seats and about 22,000 seats at the postgraduate (PG) level. [2] Out of the total 22,000 PG seats, around 1,285 are ophthalmology seats (331 Medical Council of India (MCI) diplomas, 687 MCI degrees, and 267 Diplomate of National Board (DNB) seats). [2]
In addition to a fixed protocol for the residency program as the author mentions, I think lot of work is required to formulate a universal degree for all PG programs, and do away with different degrees like MCI diplomas, MCI degrees, and DNB. One PG body should include all the degrees under its umbrella, and that body should be in charge of granting permission to the institutes to run the PG course. Baseline standards should be formulated by that singular governing body and all the institutes should comply with those standards; failure of which should result in withdrawal of permission to run the PG course in that institution.
Another very important topic that the authors speak about is the feedback. We should make attempts to know how satisfied and confident the ophthalmologists are after their training. In the US, 86% of the ophthalmologists feel well prepared to practice comprehensive ophthalmology after their residency. [3] At the same time, the trend towards fellowships has increased from 46% in 1987 to 64% in 2003 in the US. [4],[5] I feel that similar studies should be taken up in an Indian scenario as well, which will help us plan better.
I can say with confidence that India has a great faculty base, and a huge patient population (a quarter of the world's blind population) to serve and learn from. If we could only work on streamlining the residency curriculum and work on our infrastructure, we could be world leaders in ophthalmology education.
| References | |  |
| 1. | Dhaliwal S, Ayyala RS. Post graduate training program in ophthalmology in India: Idealistic vs realistic. J Clin Ophthalmol Res 2015;3:39-43.   |
| 2. | Ananthakrishnan N. Distribution of postgraduate medical seats in different disciplines: Is there rationality in decision-making? Natl Med J India 2011;24:365-7. |
| 3. | McDonnell PJ, Kirwan TJ, Brinton GS, Golnik KC, Melendez RF, Parke DW 2 nd , et al. Perceptions of recent ophthalmology residency graduates regarding preparation for practice. Ophthalmology 2007;114:387-91. |
| 4. | Jones DB. Subspecialty fellowship training in ophthalmology. Arch Ophthalmol 1988;106:896-7. [ PUBMED] |
| 5. | Gedde SJ, Budenz DL, Haft P, Tielsch JM, Lee Y, Quigley HA. Factors influencing career choices among graduate ophthalmology residents. Ophthalmology 2005;112:1247-54. |
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