Abstract
Purpose There is no national standard for ophthalmology curricula in U.S. and Canadian medical
schools. We aim to evaluate medical students' perceptions of the current ophthalmology
curriculum without mandatory rotation at New York University School of Medicine (NYUSOM).
Design A cross-sectional Internet survey.
Methods A cross-sectional Internet survey was distributed to all NYUSOM students in March
to May 2017. The main parameters measured in the study were students' self-reported
confidence with ophthalmology skills and satisfaction with curriculum.
Results Response rate was 27.5% (166 of 604) of NYUSOM students. Many students reported they
were not comfortable diagnosing eye emergencies (64%), using a direct ophthalmoscope
(71%), or testing visual acuity (50%). The majority of students did not want ophthalmology
to become a mandatory rotation, but reported additional in-person training would be
most helpful, compared with videos, web-based didactics, lectures, or virtual training.
Completion of an ophthalmology elective and more hours of ophthalmology training were
associated with increased confidence with eye examination and greater satisfaction
with the curriculum.
Conclusions It is critical for all physicians-in-training to have adequate skills in eye examination.
Identifying areas of improvement and determining the best teaching modality will be
important in updating the ophthalmology curriculum for medical students. The majority
of medical students are not at all or only slightly confident with eye examinations.
Increasing the amount of in-person ophthalmology training in medical school improves
confidence with eye examination.
Keywords
medical school - education - ophthalmology - curriculum
