-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
How long to master the indirect?
Started by golgi
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
It took me a week or so before I could really see much, but I was still having difficulties (especially in the periphery) after 2 mos of medical student rotations. I did find that practicing with a model eye helped considerably. This is a plastic, actual-sized eye with optics and a retina painted on the interior, complete with stand. If you can track one down, I would recommend it. Supposedly, to "master" the indirect takes at least a year. However, don't be too concerned with it at this point. Just pick up what you can, and let your interest show. Faculty won't expect you to "master" anything as a medical student.
👍
👍
Andrew_Doan
Ophthalmology, Aerospace Medicine, Eye Pathology
Moderator Emeritus
Lifetime Donor
20+ Year Member
Some people master the use of the indirect ophthalmoscope faster than others. I learned how to look at the posterior pole fairly quickly, but did not really 'master' it until much later in my training. I learned how to use the indirect as a medical student while doing 2 months of ophthalmology at Wilmer. This allowed me to look at all 4 quadrants a little past the equator and the macula.
Then it took me 1 month of residency (~400- 600 eyes) to see my scleral depressor near the equator when using the indirect, but I was unable to reliably view the pars plana. Clearly, not every eye was scleral depressed; otherwise, my clinic would stop flowing because it took a good 5-10 minutes to perform scleral depression in both eyes as a young resident.
10 months into my residency, I was able to occasionally see the pars plana on scleral depression. It was not until 21 months into my residency until I was able to reliably see the pars plana 360 degrees on scleral depression.
Be patient, because it requires time to first master indirect ophthalmoscopy and then to remember the pathology to accurately document it.
Then it took me 1 month of residency (~400- 600 eyes) to see my scleral depressor near the equator when using the indirect, but I was unable to reliably view the pars plana. Clearly, not every eye was scleral depressed; otherwise, my clinic would stop flowing because it took a good 5-10 minutes to perform scleral depression in both eyes as a young resident.
10 months into my residency, I was able to occasionally see the pars plana on scleral depression. It was not until 21 months into my residency until I was able to reliably see the pars plana 360 degrees on scleral depression.
Be patient, because it requires time to first master indirect ophthalmoscopy and then to remember the pathology to accurately document it.
