Despite political, climatic and financial upheaval all around us, medicine still remains one of the best careers and ophthalmology, combining both medicine and surgery, is the jewel in the crown.
Many still consider it as a Cinderella specialty, but this may be because they have never worked out which way up to hold an ophthalmoscope and are put off by the incomprehensible array of acronyms in ophthalmology notes.
I feel embarrassed to admit that after doing a combined surgical and ophthalmology house job I was given a recommendation to visit a unit on the South coast and meet the boss. I went. He shook my hand, told me to read all twelve volumes of Duke Elder, twice, and walked me over to Medical staffing and said “Sign here; you’ve got the job!”
Things have changed a little since those days! Many others have seen the light and realise the potential of going into ophthalmology. The competition is keen. However, don’t give up – read this marvellous guide and you will be equipped with more knowledge of how to achieve your goal than has ever been collated before. Just don’t show it to anyone else!
Mr. Nick Astbury FRCS, FRCOphth, FRCP
President of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, 2003-2006
Chair VISION 2020 United Kingdom
Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon
Department of Ophthalmology
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust
Norwich
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Ophthalmology is a competitive specialty with a high level of satisfaction among colleagues. Perhaps it is not surprising we are able to attract such bright students year after year. Sight is a precious gift. Being able to restore or prevent blindness is an enormous responsibility and a privilege, because the impact in quality of life is very large. Ours is a rapidly evolving specialty and we are now fortunate to enjoy very effective treatments, sophisticated diagnostic technologies, and we certainly are the very best of surgeons, operating under a microscope and manipulating delicate tissues of a few microns of thickness.
If you want to be an ophthalmologist, do follow carefully the useful advice that Mr. Ang and colleagues are offering you. I am certain that it will be very helpful, and we hope to welcome you to our world in the very near future.
Professor Augusto Azuara-Blanco PhD, FRCS(Ed), FRCOphth
Clinical Professor
Centre for Vision and Vascular Science
School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
Belfast
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
This handbook intends to unravel the intricacies of ophthalmic training in the United Kingdom. It is obvious that in a competitive specialty like ophthalmology, planning should begin preferably at the undergraduate level. This book sheds some light on the career pathway that recent and current United Kingdom ophthalmology trainees would have undergone for entry into ophthalmic specialty training. In addition, it highlights the problems faced by many trainees and provides possible solutions to them.
The authors must be congratulated for putting together this handbook, which is a welcome addition to any ophthalmology bibliography. It provides well-articulated information that is essential for those who plan to pursue a career in ophthalmology.
Lastly, although this book is targeted for those in the United Kingdom, it will also be useful for those in similar situations in the rest of the British Commonwealth since postgraduate training in many of these countries is loosely based on the United Kingdom training curriculum in ophthalmology.
Department of Ophthalmology
Faculty of Medicine
University of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
