Ophthalmology Residency in the United States: The Case for a National Curriculum

ABSTRACT

To identify strategies for effective curriculum development and implementation in United States (US) ophthalmology residency training programs. A literature review was conducted for all English-language PubMed/Medline articles relating to ophthalmology residency education or curriculum/curricula. Despite ACGME-defined program requirements outlining curricular goals for US ophthalmology residency training programs, there is no comprehensive, national curriculum with detailed plans for instruction of necessary topics within the 36-month residency training period. Several articles identify a need for detailed curricula on various topics, propose ideas on how residency programs could create curricula, and explore ways of assessing resident competence. There is a paucity of literature evaluating how ophthalmology residents best learn various ophthalmology topics. We need to develop an intentional, comprehensive, and timely national curriculum for ophthalmology residency programs in the US, with detailed plans on how to meet curricular objectives and consideration of the most effective teaching strategies for different ophthalmology concepts.

KEYWORDS:

• National Ophthalmology Residency Curriculum
• Ophthalmology Residency Curriculum
• Ophthalmology residency education
• Ophthalmology residency training
• United States ophthalmology residency

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.