Abstract
Purpose: :
To describe the reason for and frequency of ophthalmology consultations performed by residents at a major teaching hospital.
Methods: :
A retrospective review of inpatient consultations executed by the Ophthalmology Department of Thomas Jefferson University from July 1, 2007 to June 1, 2008 was performed. Demographic information, reasons for consultation, types of consultation, examination results, and management plans were recorded.
Results: :
Eight hundred two consultations were performed during the one-year period. The most common subspecialties consulted were Neuro-ophthalmology (13.2%) followed by Oculoplastics (6.5%). The majority of the consults did not require subspecialty services beyond general ophthalmology (80%).
Conclusions: :
Ophthalmologic consultation is a valuable inpatient service utilizing multiple ophthalmic subspecialists to help answer a variety of clinical questions. Better understanding the types of consultations encountered by residents may help an institution organize the Consult Service and identify areas in need of targeted education in order to optimize patient care and utilization of resources.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: biostatistics/epidemiology methodology