Basic Sciences for Ophthalmologists Course

About the Course

The course has its origins in the early 1980s when it was run annually at the University of Leicester as a revision course for the Fellowship examination of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In the early 1990s the course expanded, and was run jointly by the Academic Departments of Ophthalmology at Birmingham and Oxford Universities. 1996 saw the involvement of the Academic Unit of Ophthalmology of Imperial College London whose faculty relocated to City University In 2005.

The course is aimed at those considering a career in clinical ophthalmology and is appropriate in content for those intending to take the Part 1 examination of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.(FRCOphth) or equivalent. For 2008 the course content has been specifically updated in order to reflect changes to the syllabus of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.

The course consists of daily lectures and demonstrations with each day devoted consecutively to one of four themes: 'Foundations', 'Optics and Anterior Visual Pathway', 'Integration and Processing’, and 'Protective Mechanisms'. Lectures are generally delivered in a traditional, didactic manner. Some lecturers elicit audience participation in order to develop a problem solving approach. Emphasis, as would be expected, is placed on basic as opposed to clinical science though this does not preclude the illustration of basic principles by reference to clinical problems.

Lectures range in length from 30 - 60 minutes. Topics covered include: ocular anatomy (e.g. eyelids, extraocular muscles, cornea, lens, uvea and retina), ocular physiology (e.g. psychophysics, visual processing, eye movements, tears, aqueous dynamics, pupil responses) as well as selected topics in cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, pharmacology, embryology, genetics, the visual pathway, immunology, pathology and statistics. In line with curricular changes (see above), the 2008 course will also cover optics.

Demonstrations normally take place in the early afternoon and cover a variety of topics including: electrophysiology, orthoptics, psychophysics and anatomy.

The organisers are present throughout the week to discuss matters arising.

A bookseller will be in attendance.

A reception will be held immediately after lectures finish on Monday and the course dinner will be held on Wednesday evening (see FAQs).