Abstract
Purpose :
Background: Direct ophthalmoscopy is a difficult skill to master that is traditionally introduced and taught in medical school. Visualizing the fundus using direct ophthalmoscopy is technically challenging, especially through undilated pupils. The D-Eye digital ophthalmoscope is an attachment that converts a smartphone into a fundus camera. This new technology allows the retinal image to be seen on the smartphone screen by third parties both during and after the ophthalmoscopic exam.
Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine whether the D-Eye Digital Ophthalmoscope is beneficial as a teaching tool for medical students compared to the traditional direct ophthalmoscope.
Methods :
Methods: As part of the UCSD School of Medicine second year education, students were taught ophthalmoscopy during a half-day clinical skills session. After an hour of didactic, students were divided into small groups to work directly with ophthalmologists and ophthalmology residents to develop their clinical skills using both the traditional direct ophthalmoscope and D-eye digital ophthalmoscope. Following the workshop, participants completed a survey asking them to rate on a scale of 1-5 the ease of use and their own confidence and proficiency using the two ophthalmoscopes.
Results :
Results: One hundred and twenty-two medical students participated. The participants significantly preferred the digital ophthalmoscope over the traditional direct ophthalmoscope for learning how to identify the optic disc (78%; P<0.001) as well as for evaluating patients (76%; P<0.001). The students reported a more positive experience with the digital ophthalmoscope, specifically regarding ease of use (4.24 vs 2.75; P<0.001), their confidence in performing ophthalmoscopy (3.73 vs 2.39; P<0.001), their ability to identify vessels (4.30 vs 3.32; P<0.001) and their ability to visualize features of the optic nerve (4.01 vs 2.60; P<0.001).
Conclusions :
Conclusion: The digital ophthalmoscope is associated with improved subjective measures of ease of use, confidence, and competence compared to the traditional direct ophthalmoscope for medical students. In learning how to perform ophthalmoscopy, the digital ophthalmoscope was the preferred device, especially for learning how to identify the optic disc.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.