Posters

The national UK Foundation Ophthalmology training survey

Poster Details

First Author: B.Blackburn UK

Co Author(s):    T. Buckley   J. Ferryman                 

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Ophthalmology encompasses universally relevant clinical skills and knowledge in UK Foundation rotations. Performing fundoscopy, visual acuity and referring appropriately to Ophthalmology are fundamental skills - particularly in Primary Care. However formal training and assessment in these skills is scarce in the current UK Foundation programme. Moreover, given the current lack of Ophthalmology training represented in British Undergraduate course it is crucial that the competence of Foundation doctors in these domains is assessed and gaps in training are addressed.

Setting:

This survey was distributed to all 18 Foundation schools to Foundation trainees all across the UK.

Methods:

An online survey was designed and distributed to UK Foundation trainees opening in March 2020. The survey principally inquired into 4 main areas: demographics of trainees, Ophthalmic training received at Undergraduate level, confidence in Ophthalmic clinical skills and management of cases and inquiring into the adequacy of current Foundation Ophthalmological training and if trainees felt additional Ophthalmology training would benefit their clinical practice. A mix of open-ended questions and rating scales to assess confidence and training was utilized.

Results:

The survey is currently still open to responses from foundation Trusts across the UK – results will be updated upon presentation. At present 54.5% of participants rated their confidence in performing fundoscopy and managing the acutely painful red eye as unsatisfactory. 63.6% of participants rated their confidence in managing acute visual loss as unsatisfactory. 72.3% Respondents were FY2 doctors and 72.7% reported that their current level of training was not sufficient to manage Ophthalmic issues encountered in Foundation training. 90.9% of participants reported that additional training in Ophthalmic history taking and management would confer significant improvement to their clinical practice.

Conclusions:

Participants report unsatisfactory confidence in fundoscopy and management of acute visual loss. This is attributable to the under-representation of Ophthalmology in Undergraduate and lack of training in the current UK Foundation programme. This is further reflected in the high proportions of participants expressing that their current level of Ophthalmic training was not sufficient to manage the Ophthalmological issues encountered during Foundation training and the overwhelming agreement in participants that their clinical practice would have benefited greatly from additional training on Ophthalmology. These preliminary results evidence the need for the UK Foundation programme to provide formal training in Ophthalmology.

Financial Disclosure:

None