Evaluation of Competence of Medical Students in Performing Direct Ophthalmoscopy

Abstract

Aim: The aim was to determine the competence of medical students in performing direct ophthalmoscopy. Materials and Methods: It was a cross‑sectional study whereby year 5 medical students were assessed during Objective Structure Clinical Examination (OSCE) at the end of 4 weeks clinical rotation in ophthalmology. Every student had 5 min in each OSCE station, including the station for direct ophthalmoscopy. The correctness or otherwise of students’ quantitative assessment of cup‑disc ratio (CDR) was analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS, USA) version 20.0. Result: A total of 96 students were assessed in 6 groups over a 6 months period; age range was 20–33 years and a mean age of 24.8 ± 3.2. There were 57 males and 39 females (M:F = 1:0.25). Seventy‑eight (81.3%) were satisfied with teachings and tutorials on direct ophthalmoscopy. Eighty‑nine (92.7%) admitted visualizing the disc in the course of tutelage while 7 (7.3%) had never seen the disc with the direct ophthalmoscope. The retinal vessels were seen with the ophthalmoscope by 93 (96.9%). Direct Ophthalmoscopy was not considered to be difficult by 87(90.6%). Forty‑six (47.9%) got CDR correct on the right eyes while 50 (52.1%) got it correct on the left eyes. There was statistically significant relationship between the group students belonged and performance with 2 = <0.001. Conclusion: Based on the CDR benchmark, students’ performance was not satisfactory.

Keywords: Direct ophthalmoscopy, medical curricula, medical students, ophthalmic education