Presenting Author:

Hercules Logothetis, M.D.

Principal Investigator:

Nicholas Volpe, M.D.

Department:

Ophthalmology

Keywords:

Ophthalmology, residency, internship, training, preparation

Location:

Third Floor, Feinberg Pavilion, Northwestern Memorial Hospital

E22 - Education

Evaluating the adequacy of current intern year programs in preparing residents for their training in Ophthalmology

Evaluating the adequacy of current intern year programs in preparing residents for their training in Ophthalmology. Purpose Controversy exists regarding how effective current intern year residency programs are at preparing residents for training in Ophthalmology. We investigated the hypothesis that residents who completed Ophthalmology rotations during intern year and within the same hospital system as their Ophthalmology residency felt prepared during their transition into Ophthalmology training. Methods We completed an observational, cross-sectional study of American Ophthalmology PGY-2 residents. 80 surveys were submitted of which 63 were analyzed based on established inclusion criteria. Participants responded to a 22 question online survey addressing how residents chose their intern year, intern year curriculum, exposure to ophthalmology in medical school and during intern year, sense of preparation for ophthalmology residency, comfort with various ocular pathologies, and factors that build confidence prior to Ophthalmology residency. A Likert scale format was used for the majority of survey questions. Kruskal Wallis testing and Fisher’s Exact testing were used to compare outcome variables amongst three groups defined by sense of preparation for Ophthalmology training. Results 36.5% of residents did not feel intern year experience is relevant to training in Ophthalmology. Quality of life and location were found to be the most important factors in choosing intern year programs while obtain ophthalmology skills was least. 32.34% of residents either agreed or strongly agreed they felt prepared for the start of Ophthalmology residency while 42.85% disagreed or strongly disagreed. 84.12% of residents felt independent practice in a resident run clinic is the best preparation for Ophthalmology residency. Residents who felt most prepared for Ophthalmology training spent more time on Ophthalmology rotations in medical school (p=0.05)/intern year (p=0.02) and worked patients up independently during their intern year Ophthalmology rotation (p=0.01). Conclusions Residents who felt prepared for the start of Ophthalmology residency had more quality clinical Ophthalmology experience than residents who did not feel prepared. No statistically significant correlation was found between completion of intern year at the same institution as Ophthalmology residency and subjective feeling of preparedness for residency.