The Duke Elder undergraduate prize examination is held by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists annually for undergraduate medical students. It is a competitive examination covering clinical ophthalmology as well as the ocular basic sciences, optics, statistics and socio-economic medicine. For 2024, sitting the examination has been moved to September instead of March.
Practice questions are a useful resource for examinations and one resource is 300 MCQs for the Duke Elder Ophthalmology Exam. The book is written by foundation and specialty trainees and reviewed by senior clinicians. It is organised into eight chapters according to the different sub-specialties in the examination syllabus, with 25 questions for each chapter. A 100-question mock test is also incorporated at the end, which the authors suggest completing in two hours and 15 minutes to mimic exam conditions. Dividing questions into the various chapters allows for targeted revision and the explanations are clear and concise with tables included.
A small drawback of the book is the lack of ophthalmic images in questions, which have formed an important component of the examination. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, it is important to supplement the questions with additional reading from resources with images such as Lecture Notes Ophthalmology [1] and EyeWiki.
In short, this is a useful resource covering the different subspecialties in the syllabus, enabling focused revision and also the opportunity to practice with a mock test.
References
1. Badhwar V. 180 MCQs for the Duke Elder Examination. Eye News 2022;28(5):54.
