Leadership in ophthalmology training

Abstract

Medical specialist training requires constant improvement and adaptation of the contents to the current situation. Nowadays, young physicians have the opportunity to select among the most renowned institutions and can choose the one most qualified for their training. Hospitals on the other hand still have the desire to recruit highly qualified physicians for their resident programs, which requires a good, well-rounded and reliable offer by the department under good leadership. Thus, among other issues a modern and multilingual homepage is already an important instrument for successfully addressing applicants and winning them over for the department. In addition to a well-planned and structured training plan (e.g., the “Homburg Curriculum”) and a so-called “resident guide”, many other additional offers are nowadays part of a successful training, such as structured internal and external specialist training courses, well thought out research concepts available to all interested parties, wet labs for practical exercises on pig’s eyes and as the latest most innovative addition, a virtual reality simulator. Due to a structured curriculum with regular continuous education during the daily early morning meetings and an exchange program with another university eye hospital, not only the residents can benefit but ultimately also the department itself. In addition, future specialists are involved in the respective organization (so-called “service teams”) from the very beginning. This conveys a great deal of knowledge and expertise but also organizational skills and thus improves the quality of training. In any case, standardized residency training with a view beyond the horizon, which is transparently organized and reliably carried out, improves the quality of training in order to become a certified ophthalmologist and increases the satisfaction of the residents. A department which is committed and can offer a wide range of services will benefit from motivated and satisfied employees in a good interpersonal climate, which in the end benefits not only the team but also the patients.