61. Primary ophthalmic care patterns and training of University of Ottawa residentss

This study assessed whether residents are equipped to perform recommended standards of ophthalmic primary care and determined if the findings reflect the adequacy of their undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in ophthalmology. Information was collected using web based online questionnaire that was completed by residents in the residency program at the University of Ottawa. Data was extracted and analyzed using Epi Info software. One hundred and sixteen residents (17% capture rate) in all years of training completed the online questionnaire. Majority of the residents were not familiar with the different vision screening guidelines, less so with the Canadian (63 – 97%) than the American guidelines (91 – 94%). This was reflected in their referral patterns and mixed results of ophthalmic knowledge assessments. Only 21% of respondents were highly confident or confident in dealing with patients with eye problems. However, most were confident in history taking, visual acuity assessment and examination, but less so with ophthalmoscopy and intraocular pressure measurements. The duration of undergraduate ophthalmic clerkship was at least one week in most of the institutions. However, about one third of the residents surveyed did not have any ophthalmology clerkship in medical school. Only 33% felt that their clerkship was adequate and about the same proportion felt that they received adequate ophthalmic exposure of relevance to their current practice. About 90% of the residents have not attended an update course in ophthalmology. Over 75% of the residents thought that a continuing education program in Ophthalmology would be useful and would be interested in attending such a program in the future. Opportunities exist to address these inadequacies to better prepare residents for clinical practice. These include improvements in undergraduate ophthalmic education, inclusion of ophthalmology electives in residency training programs and the development of a continuing education program in ophthalmology for primary eye care physicians. US Preventive Services Task Force: Screening for visual impairment in Children younger than five years: recommendation statement. American Family Physician 2005; 71(2): 333-340. Feightner JW. Routine preschool screening for visual and hearing problems. In: Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination. Canadian guide to clinical preventive health care. Ottawa: Health Canada, 1994:298-304. Bellan L. Ophthalmology undergraduate education in Canada. Can J Ophthalmol. 1998; 33(1):3 – 7.