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

Abstract
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.
Description
Keywords
Evaluation of training program, medical training, ophthalmology residency program, subjective assessment
Citation
Tejwani Sushma, Murthy Somasheila I, Gadudadri Chandra Sekhar, Thomas Ravi, Nirmalan Praveen. Impact of a month-long training program on the clinical skills of ophthalmology residents and practitioners. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2010 Jul; 58(4): 340-343.