The Duke Elder Exam is an annual competitive national undergraduate exam organised by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. This two-hour exam consists of 90 multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and examines clinical ophthalmology, ocular physiology, anatomy, pathology, genetics and socio-economic medicine related to ophthalmology.
This exam is challenging as the questions cover a wide range of ophthalmology-related basic science and clinical knowledge and goes beyond the undergraduate medical school curriculum for ophthalmology.
This book is the first to aim to cover the Duke Elder curriculum in its entirety. It summarises the key knowledge points in each topic concisely and includes many helpful summary tables and figures, as well as two MCQ practice papers. It is a precious book for preparing for the Duke Elder Exam. This book contains 227 pages and 16 chapters. It begins with a chapter on basic sciences, investigations and lasers. The second chapter is on optics and refractive errors. And the remaining 14 chapters are focused on subspecialty clinical knowledge.
One of the biggest challenges of preparing for the Duke Elder Exam is to cover the broad knowledge base within limited time. Multiple textbooks are often needed to cover the large number of topics examined and the significant breadth of knowledge required. Most textbooks tend to be quite detailed, providing good thorough explanations. However, it could be time-consuming to read through and remember all the details. This book provides a good starting point, as it condenses the high-yield knowledge required for each topic. It is well-written and organised logically. It presents the key clinical and basic science knowledge as summary tables and incorporates many good figures illustrating the essential concepts and photos of clinical conditions that often come up in the exam.
This book is particularly useful for those who would like a quick and guided start on the Duke Elder Exam revision. It is a valuable resource, especially when combined with further in-depth reading on the topics covered.
