r/Ophthalmology

Hey everyone,

Recent fellowship grad here. To be blunt, my OKAP scores throughout residency were pretty disappointing (consistently below average/lower percentiles). Standardized multiple-choice tests have never been a huge strength, and I struggled to find a study rhythm that stuck while balancing clinical duties.

I have the next 7-8 weeks off before my new job to study. I am sitting in September and the anxiety from my past OKAP performance is definitely creeping in.

I want to completely revamp my approach and would love to hear from anyone who turned things around after poor OKAPs and cleared the WQE on their first attempt. What changed for you? How did you modify your test-taking or study habits?

I went to a community program for residency and I do believe that fund of knowledge is a primary issue for me.

My current game plan for the next few weeks is:

Going through the AAO Academy PowerPoint presentations for high-yield content reviews.

Grinding OphthoQuestions (doing a comprehensive pass + making flashcards on incorrects).

Supplementing with the BCSC Qbank for secondary reinforcement.

For those who made a big comeback, does this look like a solid baseline strategy? Are there specific sections of the BCSC text I should absolutely read cover-to-cover instead of just relying on question banks?

Any advice, study schedules, or success stories would be massive right now. Thanks in advance.

Question from a techs perspective!
Is ICL really as good as it seems? I feel like we advertise it as a zero-complication alternative to lasik/prk, but I feel like that cannot be true. And the reps always say it’s been around forever but then why is it still so “new…..” not against it but I would just love some thoughts?

Paciente con diabetes.

Hi,
I am looking to sell my BIO and Tonotip and retinoscope.

What are the chances of transitioning into ophthalmology residency after a few years of clinical research in vascular research, particularly if the position is in the cardiology department, but also overlaps with ophthalmic vascular research such as retinal microcirculation?

Flujo sanguíneo conjuntival

Helloo everyone, I am a PGY2 ophthalmology resident in Jordan ( 4-year program). My plan is to do a fellowship in the US, having my ECFMG certificate, and wondering if I should score high in step 3 to obtain a good opportunity to get a fellowship there. Thank you in advance!

I know this is a perennial topic, but looking for some encouragement and strategy about repeating oral boards next year. I walked out of the test feeling absolutely horrible, so this wasn't out of my expectations, but still really bummed. I did OphthoGenie x2 which I thought was good for the structure, but perhaps less good for content review (breadth of questions). It's a blur now, but I do know some questions I did not have a good enough differential diagnosis for and did not pass (lol, obviously).

Looking to hear what worked for people who had to go through the miserable experience of taking this at least twice. Thanks y'all.

New PGY4 with the decision of applying to cornea fellowship versus going into comp coming down to the wire. Anyone else made a similar decision between comp and cornea?

To this point in residency, I’ve found I really love cataract surgery and want that to be a centerpiece of my practice. I see myself going into private practice rather than academics. Cornea seems like a way to get a little more surgical variety on top of cataracts, with surgeries that also tend to have good outcomes (relative to something like glaucoma or retina) and would keep things a little more interesting. Cornea also seems like it would make me more competitive in certain job markets, but I’m not sure how much of that benefit cornea has vs. something like glaucoma that’s much more in demand.

In terms of downsides, I keep hearing how transplants are super low volume in private practice and a lot of cornea specialists end up functioning as comp out in the community. I’ve also heard that being cornea trained can make you a dumping ground for gnarly ulcers, frustrating dry eye patients, etc.

Any other considerations that people found helpful deciding between the two?

Was already feeling pretty inadequate as a human and doctor in fellowship this year and I just failed oral boards. I thought I studied hard. Everyone says you feel like you failed after taking it so I thought what I felt was normal. Kind of at a loss of what to do next. Any feedback about the different in person courses would be greatly appreciated here.

patient is s/p strabismus surgery from 30 years ago and has subsequently developed subtenons cysts. they are rather large: OD greater than 1 cm, appears to be possibly more than one. left eye has one less than 1 cm. for the right eye eye but potentially both eyes it might include detaching and reattaching the muscles.

What cpt codes should we use?

Give me your hot takes. I’ll start.

NAION should be pronounced “Nay-on”.

Hello fellow ophtalmologists.

I'm thinking about buying the Huvitz OCTAVIUS OCT and wanted to hear some real-world opinions.

How has it been for you? Is the image quality good? Is it reliable? Any issues or things you don't like?

I'm also comparing it with the Optopol REVO FC, so if you've used both, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks!

Perhaps a confusing title.

I was basically wondering at what sort of % of each patient do clinics in Australia bill ophthalmologists for in return for using their clinic/facilities etc.
Does anyone pay a cash fee, and if so, what is this?

Also interested in US stats but being based in Australia myself I’d love to know.

Thank you