Efficacy of a Skills and Education Program in Ophthalmic Disorders for Primary Care Housestaff
Journal of Academic Ophthalmology 2010, Volume 3, Number 1 25 Introduction Primary care physicians have become the gatekeepers of our managed healthcare system. More then ever before, these physicians are required to diagnose, treat, and triage patients with diseases that would otherwise be managed by specialists. Medical students and primary care residents (internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics) lack fun-damental knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose and treat eye disease [1-4]. In a survey of program directors in internal medicine, the majority responded that less than half of the entering first year residents met the Association of University Professors of Oph-thalmology (AUPO) standard for a minimal level of competency for ophthalmic problems. A third of these directors believed their graduating residents did not meet this standard [3]. Primary care physicians fault both medical school and residency training for their lack of confidence and understanding in evaluating ophthalmic disease [5]. Are primary care specialists able to detect and triage the most common ocular disease and disorders: cata-ract, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glau-coma, ocular injury and infection? We devised a study to determine the baseline ophthalmic knowl-edge and skill-set of primary care residents, and to analyze whether a customized 90-minute course and skills program would prove beneficial in improving their competence. Efficacy of a Skills and Education Program in Ophthalmic Disorders for Primary Care Housestaff Maggie B. Hymowitz, MD