Impact of COVID-19 on ophthalmic specialist training in the United Kingdom—the trainees’ perspective

Impact of COVID-19 on preparation for the Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR) in Ophthalmology

“…Similar concerns had been raised by the Staff and Associate Specialist Doctors Committee (SASC) of the British Medical Association [7]. Hussain et al also found that senior trainees were more likely concerned about examination postponement and achieving all workplace-based assessments (WPBAs), possibly related to limited time remaining in training [4].…”

“…A recent survey [4] indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the training of CCT candidates through redeployment, the suspension of elective surgery as well as a significant decrease in outpatient activity in 2020 and the postponement of The Royal College of Ophthalmologists (RCOphth) examinations. Since that publication, there has been a further period of reduced clinical and surgical activity from January to February 2021.…”

Impact of COVID-19 on Eye Care in Spain during the First Phase of the Pandemic

“…On analysing ophthalmology residents from multiple countries, Ferrara’s team [ 12 ] found that 55.2% of residents reported severe impact on their training, with a decrease of more than 50% in the clinical activity being generally reported (76.4%) and more than a 75% decrease in surgical practices (74.6%). In the United Kingdom (UK) [ 30 ], 86% of the trainees were concerned about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with cataract surgery as the biggest concern. In India [ 31 ], the impact on surgical training of ophthalmologists has also been negative (80.7%), with increasing stress levels (54.8%) being reported.…”

Moving postgraduate ophthalmology education online—experiences of a nationalised live video-linked series

“…The postgraduate ophthalmology teaching scene in the UK has witnessed a rapid increase in the range of available online webinars [1]. As an early response to the uncertainty faced by trainees at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we organised a series of live video-linked (LVL) lectures with the intention of investigating the feasibility of national, curriculum based, consultant-led webinars accessible to all UK ophthalmology trainees.…”