IMPACT OF FELLOWSHIP TRAINING ON SURGICAL PRODUCTIVITY IN OPHTHALMOLOGY

Abstract

Objectives:To assess whether Surgical productivity is affected by fellowship training by comparing differences in Visual acuity and complication rates at 3 month and 1 year of fellowship training. Design: Retrospective case series. Settings: Sankara Eye Hospital Ludhiana, Panjab, India. Methods: Cataract operations performed by a single fellow doctor from March 2021 through March 2022 at Sankara Eye Hospital, Ludhiana formed the basis for this investigation. In a random fashion, 40 subjects who had undergone manual Small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) were selected and divided into 2 groups. Group 1 was operated at 3rd month (March-April 2021) of fellowship training and Group 2 was operated after 1 year (March-April 2022) of training. Cataract surgeries were analyzed for risk factors, comorbidities, and intraoperative and postoperative complications. The main outcome measures were postoperative Best corrected distance visual acuity (BCVA), which were correlated with preoperative demographics. Results: The mean visual acuity improved signicantly after surgery in all patients (P < .001) compared to baseline. 16(80%) patients in Group 1 and 18(90%) of Group 2 achieved a postoperative CDVAof 20/40 or better (P< .001). Visual outcome was comparable in both groups. The mean postoperative visual acuity did not vary by trainee year and the rate PC tear(5%) during surgery declined as fellow resident progressed in training (P< .05). Conclusion: Despite more complicated cataracts and advanced comorbidities, fellow-performed cataract surgery in a tertiary-care county hospital system achieved comparable visual outcomes similar to those found at start.