Assessment of Ophthalmology Residency Programs in Saudi Arabia: A Trainee-Based Survey

Purpose: To assess the satisfaction and competency of Saudi ophthalmology residents and compare their performance against International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) standards.

Methods: A cross-sectional web-based survey of senior ophthalmology residents (postgraduate years [PGY] 3-4) and recent graduates (from 2010 to 2015) assessed various aspects of training. The questionnaire was sent to the participants and was divided into 3 main domains: demographics, training program evaluation, and preparedness for board exams and clinical practice.

Results: Out of the 145 invitees, 120 (82.8%) responded. Fifty percent of respondents reported an overall satisfaction with the program. Adequate clinical exposure was reported in most subspecialties except refraction and low vision rehabilitation with inadequate exposure reported by 55.8% and 95.8%, respectively. Surgical exposure was reported as adequate for phacoemulsification (58.3%) and strabismus surgery (68.3%) only. Eighty-nine percent of respondents reported performing less than 80 cases of phacoemulsification. Of the respondents who had graduated, most (89.7%) passed the final board exam at the first attempt. There were 73.5% of respondents who reported that residency training prepared them well for the board exam. Ongoing clinical and call duties were reported as having a negative impact on exam performance.

Conclusions: Saudi ophthalmology residents demonstrate a high level of clinical competency. However, additional efforts should aim at improving surgical training to increase the level of satisfaction among residents and improve the quality of training to meet international standards.