Abstract
Purpose: :
The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of international fellowships in the field of ophthalmology on the curriculum of the fellows during the fellowship and after returning to their home countries.
Methods: :
We distributed a semi-quantitative questionnaire to assess the individual situation of each fellow. The questionnaire addressed the financial situation, characteristic experiences during the stay, advantages and disadvantages after having returned to the home country.
Results: :
With regard to their involvement in everyday clinic activities, 20 of 31 fellows (60%) felt they participated adequately without restrictions. Having returned home, in 12 cases (41%) only minor changes could be achieved. Three fellows reported no change in their home institution, two blaming the system.
Conclusions: :
In all four subgroups, 80% or more felt they could apply and teach newly acquired abilities or knowledge in some way. 2 out of 6 Asian fellows complained about difficulties due to the infrastructure or the restrictive system, whereas only one fellow from the Middle East (n=11) and none of the fellows from the former Soviet Republic (n=8) nor from South America (n=3) mentioned the system as a problem.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: systems/equipment/techniques