It is widely recognised that ophthalmology is often underrepresented in undergraduate medical education, a major blind spot of the curriculum. Students usually receive only a two-week rotation in the specialty. This is arguably insufficient to gain even a rudimentary understanding of the broad scope of ophthalmological practice.
The ‘Introduction to Clinical Ophthalmology’ course run by Moorfields Education is an online, on-demand course aimed at “undergraduates, junior and senior doctors and allied health professionals” who are interested in expanding their knowledge of clinical ophthalmology. The course costs £450 and is formed of eight, one-hour lectures on ophthalmology subspecialties such as oculoplastics, cornea and conjunctival disorders, vitreoretinal surgery and neuro-ophthalmology – subspecialties that undergraduate medical students may get no exposure to during their placement in ophthalmology. The lectures are delivered in a clear and easy-to-understand fashion, with minimal use of unexplained jargon. One criticism is that in some lectures, the presenter appeared to read directly from the slides, making the session less engaging. Given the cost of the course, one might reasonably expect a higher level of interactivity.
The gem of this course are the lectures covering ocular emergencies. These sessions cover diagnosis and management of a vast number of ocular emergencies, from both the ophthalmologist’s perspective and that of a general A&E doctor. Had I accessed this prior to my FY2 post in a busy A&E department, I would have felt better prepared to manage ocular conditions in this setting. This was the highlight of the course for me, and probably the most relevant for non-ophthalmology practitioners.
The course content is pitched slightly above undergraduate finals level, making it a suitable adjunct for students preparing for their finals or the ‘Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize Examination’. However, for the Duke Elder, there are indeed more budget-friendly courses available, such as the Moorfields Duke Elder preparatory course, which costs around £25.
In summary, this course provided an overview of each of the ophthalmology subspecialties, something most undergraduate medical students would get minimal exposure to. For the ophthalmology-orientated medical student or foundation doctor, this course would prove interesting and engaging, but perhaps for the cost there may be more financially viable options, especially if planning on taking the course to improve knowledge for exams such as the Duke Elder.
