Ibrahim Basar
What is an elective and why should you do one in Ophthalmology?
An elective is a student-selected experience traditionally undertaken at the end of medical school. Students often use this time to either explore a speciality they are interested in or to view medicine through the lens of an overseas health system and travel.
Electives in ophthalmology are incredibly useful for 2 main reasons. The first being that ophthalmology is sparsely covered in medical school, and it is a relative unknown to most medical students, therefore an elective is a great opportunity for any student interested in ophthalmology to gain a better understanding of the speciality and understand the core principles of ophthalmology.
The second reason is that due to the limited time spent in ophthalmology by students, an elective allows you time to explore what a career in ophthalmology might entail, build contacts in the speciality for future projects and portfolio building and is also worth 1 point in the ophthalmology portfolio for ST1 selection.
My experience at Moorfields
My 5-week elective at Moorfields had 3 core components: tutorials with the excellent clinical teaching fellow, time spent in a variety of clinics and finally invaluable time in theatre with senior ophthalmologists.
The tutorials were spaced throughout the week and were a mixture of small group teaching and practical sessions. Topics covered included anatomy, physiology and a wide range of pathology. While practical sessions included slit lamp basics and how to use a fundoscope. My elective period had only myself and a fellow final year medical student. This allowed for almost 1:1 teaching with the clinical fellow, this allowed unparalleled access to an experienced ophthalmologist to learn key concepts and applications to clinical practice.
Clinics were held at Moorfields Eye Hospital and covered sub-specialities such as glaucoma, cornea, paediatric ophthalmology, neuro-ophthalmology, adnexal and many more. Clinics allowed me to gain an appreciation of ophthalmic history taking, examination and key investigations commonly used in ophthalmology. I was also privileged to observe excellent communication skills in practice, watching ophthalmologists explain difficult topics to patients, explaining visual loss or easing anxieties with a patient’s new diagnosis.
Eye casualty is the ophthalmology version of A+E, this was probably the most useful experience as it allowed me to experience a variety of ophthalmic emergencies and to see a wide range of presentations such as trauma and chemical/substance injury which I would not have been able to see elsewhere.
Theatre time also encompassed a wide range of sub-specialities including vitreo-retinal surgery, cataract, oculoplastics and strabismus amongst others. The team were fantastic and welcoming with consultants and registrars happy to have me there and keen to teach and allowing me to scrub in and get up and close to observe the anatomy and providing insights into the surgical approach.
Alongside all of these, this elective allowed excellent networking opportunities and allowed the ability to discuss career pathways, trainee satisfaction and get involved in projects with the contacts you make. I was able to volunteer in the Moorfields Academy, discuss research opportunities with consultants and access the Moorfields microsurgical Skills Course during this elective. The experience converted my curiosity into a desire to pursue a career in ophthalmology.
Process of applying to MEH for a similar experience
An elective at the Moorfields site at City Road specifically is incredibly useful as this is the tertiary referral centre with exposure to every subspecialty. As well as seeing rare and complex pathology, you will also get to meet and spend time with leading ophthalmologists in the field and see some of the innovations that are taking place at Moorfields.
Students in the United Kingdom and abroad can access electives at Moorfields either through their own medical school, as I did or directly to Moorfields.
More information can be found on the Moorfields education website.