I have been an ophthalmologist in private practice in Minnesota since 1995. I started teaching optics and refraction to the new ophthalmology residents at the University of Minnesota when I was a 3rd year resident, and have done so every year but one since then. The novice residents and I spend around 12 hours during the first week of July every year going over everything from the basic “What is vergence?” and “What is a diopter?”, to the more sophisticated methods of subjective and objective refraction, and problems brought upon by the inevitable loss of accommodation. It’s a lot to cover in a week, and we don’t kid ourselves into thinking that they will be experts when we’re done, but our time together serves as a good foundation for their work in the eye clinic through residency and beyond.
Over the past 20+ years, I’ve honed the curriculum to the point where the residents I’ve taught seem happy with it. In speaking with program directors whom I know, I’ve come to believe that many ophthalmology residencies do not offer an optics and refraction curriculum that is as comprehensive and user-friendly as what we do at the U of MN. For that reason, I thought it might be a good idea to create a collection of videos based on this U of MN curriculum that anyone can use to supplement their own educations.
Although this video collection is designed for new ophthalmology residents, anyone who finds it useful can take advantage of it. All I ask is that if you do find it useful, please let your colleagues know about it so they can benefit from it too. Also, if you find any errors or have ideas for other videos, please contact me through the Contact Me page, and I will take care of it. Thanks for reading to the bottom.
Gary S. Schwartz, MD, MHA