eye exam when applying for optho?

[birdie]

Is it true that oplthalmology programs require an eye exam for residency applicants? If so, what are the requirements? I'm a 1st year med student who is interested in opthalmology....however my vision is really bad....like -9.00 in both eyes.

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[Morton]

Is it true that oplthalmology programs require an eye exam for residency applicants? If so, what are the requirements? I'm a 1st year med student who is interested in opthalmology....however my vision is really bad....like -9.00 in both eyes.

Hey birdie, very few programs require an eye exam. I think the only ones I ran into were UT San Antonio and (maybe) U Washington. Ohio State used to, but doesn't anymore. Even for those that do, I don't think they care about myopia. They're mostly looking for any serious vision problems or diminished stereo acuity.

Good luck in school.

P.S. Just for future reference, Ophthalmology has a pretty unique spelling...

 

[Redhawk]

Mayo is another one that actually did exams during the interview day last year. I'm a -8.5 and didn't hear anything negative (no pun intended) about this. Obviously these programs do care about best corrected vision.

 

[abcde]

What sort of eye exam? Color vision?

 

[n_a_t]

What sort of eye exam? Color vision?

i know one school that i applied to cared about an eye exam that included color vision, and one that i applied to cared about stereopsis. i don't think anyone else requires more than those two things.

 

[Retinamark]

No program could discriminate against you on the basis of high myopia if you have good corrected acuity with glasses or contact lenses. They would only be interested in poor BCVA (Best corrected visual acuity) because of the implications for decreased stereopsis during surgery. The other thing they might be interested in is colour blindness. These are only relative contraindications though - I know someone who was colour blind who did well in his training, and someone who lost an eye who was able to continue training & did well.