International Council of Ophthalmology

Ophthalmic Education:

Ophthalmology Resident and Specialist Education

ICO Task Force defines international Curriculum Guidelines for residency training

Chaired by Morton F. Goldberg, MD, with Ronald Smith, MD, as advisor, the International Council of Ophthalmology's International Task Force on Ophthalmology for Resident and Specialist Training has collected and reviewed curricula from ophthalmology residencies and training programs worldwide.

With that perspective, Dr. Goldberg and Andrew G. Lee, MD, have prepared "Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Education of the Ophthalmic Specialist," which can be downloaded as a PDF file (312 KB) from www.icoph.org/pdf/icocurricres.pdf.

Draft Curriculum for basic, standard and advanced training

The purpose of the Curriculum Guidelines is "to describe a broad-based curriculum for basic, standard and advanced levels of ophthalmic training."

For each level, the Guidelines define cognitive skills and technical skills.

The Guidelines are intended to present an international consensus on what ophthalmologists and subspecialists in ophthalmology should be taught, but will need to be adapted as appropriate for use in different countries and cultures.

Appendix suggests references and articles on key clinical studies

An extensive appendix to the Curriculum Guidelines suggests general references (books) and journal articles on key studies in each clinical area for recommended and additional reading.

Broad international input to Curriculum Guidelines

The Guidelines were developed based on analysis of curricula for the training of ophthalmologists from more than 30 countries.

Earlier drafts of the Guidelines were reviewed by more than 100 representatives of ophthalmologic organizations around the world over the course of 18 months and were posted on the ICO Web site for comment.

Comments and specific suggestions for changes and improvements in the Guidelines are still welcomed and can be forwarded to education@icoph.org.

Curriculum Guidelines available on ICO Web site

In addition to being available as a PDF, an earlier draft of the Curriculum Guidelines is available on the ICO Eye Site. That draft will soon be updated to the most recent version.

Curriculum for residency training available in Spanish

The curriculum guidelines for ophthamology residency training are also available in Spanish, from www.icoph.org/pdf/icocurricressp.pdf (220 KB).

They were translated by Council Member Enrique Graue, MD, who is also President of the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology.

Residency Curriculum recognized as "Best Practice"

The ICO's "Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Education of the Ophthalmic Specialist" has been recognized as a "Best Practice" by the Residency Review Committee of the (U.S.) Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The Residency Curriculum is included in a listing of "exemplary models of curriculum or practices." It was prepared by Morton Goldberg, MD and Andrew Lee, MD, for the ICO's International Task Force on Resident and Specialist Education in Ophthalmology.

Members of the Task Force

ICO International Task Force on Resident and Specialist Education in Ophthalmology:

Chairman:

Morton F. Goldberg, MD, Chair (specialist@icoph.org)

Editor and Director of Educational Programs of ICO:

Mark O.M. Tso, MD (USA) (China)

Major Contributors:

Morton F. Goldberg, MD (USA)
Andrew G. Lee, MD (USA)

Other Past and Present Members of International Task Force:

Ehud Assia, MD (Israel)
Britt Beding-Barnekow, MD (Sweden)
Francis A. Billson, MD (Australia)
Francisco Contreras, MD (Peru)
Jose G. Cunha-Vaz, MD (Portugal)
M. Daud Khan, MD (Pakistan)
Philip Lam, MD (Hong Kong)
Akef El Maghraby, MD (Saudi Arabia)
Con Moshegov, MD (Australia)
Denis O’Day, MD (USA)
Gullapalli N. Rao, MD (India)
Ronald Smith, MD (USA)
Professor Masanobu Uyama, MD (Japan)
Peter Watson, FRCS, FRCOphth (United Kingdom)
Peter Wiedemann, MD (Germany)
Georges Yaya, MD (Central African Republic)
Zbigniew Zagorski, MD (Poland)

Manuscript Editor:

Tina-Marie Gauthier

The ICO gratefully acknowledges the editorial efforts of Jenni Anderson and Lenalee Fulton in coordinating and assembling these curricula.

Next: "Guidelines and Standards for Education of an Ophthalmologist: A Curricular Outline"

Also see: Other ICO Educational Programs and Initiatives

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