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Indian Ophthal Fellowships and Reviews
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Vitreo-Retina Fellowship review @ Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital, Siliguri, West Bengal
Recently started (2023 thereafter). Duration= 2 yrs Applications inviting fellows are put out on LinkedIn , selection is after interview with head. No entrance or exit exam. Usually 2 fellows/ session. Stipend= 45k, increases to 55k in 2nd yr. Hands-on for retina cases are given early, sometimes in 1st month, usually in 2nd month but again, depends on your rapport with consultants and your demonstrated skill- all common retina surgeries operated here. Fellows are posted with
IOFAR Admin
Aug 5, 20251 min read
IOL Fellowship review @ Susrut Eye Foundation & Research Centre, Kolkata, West Bengal
1 yr duration with 3 years of bond. No bond if sponsored by Sightsavers or any other sponsoring body. During fellowship, Stipend 80- 85k. During bond period, 1.5 lacs salary with increments. No caution deposits. Other speciality fellows (Glaucoma & Cornea) get one cataract case per week. Surgeries start with SICS then phacos. If you're proficient in SICS, they can start you on phaco in a week or two. OT is 3 days weekly in first 6 months- one case each OT. Then daily OTs
IOFAR Admin
Aug 5, 20251 min read
Cornea Fellowship review @ Disha Eye Hospital, Barrackpore, West Bengal
They have only Cornea program at this hospital, no other fellowships. Usually 1 year long but tenure is decided based on your experience at the time of interview with Dr Samar Basak, head of Cornea (for eg, someone just out of PG without much specialty exposure may be asked to do fellowship for 2 years). This is a purely Cornea fellowship, no refractive or cataract training. Clinical exposure is good. No camp cases, all private patients- even then fellows can expect to get a
IOFAR Admin
Aug 5, 20251 min read
Phaco-Refractive Fellowship review @ ASG Eye Hospital, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
New review Duration= 2 yrs 1 fellow taken every year Stipend 70k in first year, 80k in 2nd year Selection- Online exam followed by interview Only phaco is done for all pts here (camp & private), no SICS training. Almost all cases done under topical anesthesia except in few cases where local block is indicated. You start OT after an induction period of about 2 weeks. Given steps initially, and depending on your starting surgical skill and tissue handling, you can expect to be
IOFAR Admin
Aug 5, 20253 min read
Long Term Fellowships reviews @ CMC Vellore, Tamil Nadu
- Started in 2023. - Eligibility- MS/ DNB. - They have fellowships in Glaucoma, Orbit, Paediatric Ophthalmology, Community Ophthalmology, Uvea & Med Retina. - No fellowships in Cornea/ Surgical Retina (VR) as of 2025. - All fellowships are 2 years long. - Selection- Entrance exam followed by interview. - There is an exit exam. - Only 1 seat per specialty per year. - Fellowship is hectic, clinical exposure is good. - All fellows get Phaco training. If you are not good in SICS
IOFAR Admin
Aug 5, 20252 min read
Long Term Phaco Fellowship review @ Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, Jorhat, Assam
- 1 year fellowship. - Pure phaco fellowship, no SICS. - 1 fellow per session- taken twice a year (Jan, July). - Selection- interview based. - You get minimum 300 phacos. - They start phaco training from 2nd-3rd month. - Free campus accommodation. - Stipend 20,000/ month. - Wet lab available. - Daily OT. - Regular theory classes. - Compulsory 3 year bond after fellowship.
IOFAR Admin
Aug 4, 20251 min read
IOL Fellowship review @ Drishti Nethralaya, Dibrugarh, Assam
9 months Selection- by interview 2 fellows taken per session Stipend 40k Accomodation provided in campus (15k extra) No admission fee You are selected as fellow only if you're good in SICS (shud have done 500+ SICS) You start surgery in first month itself After around 10-15 SICS, they start you on phaco You start with 1 phaco per OT and number increases as your speed picks up You can go up to 5 phacos in an OT, rest will be SICS Daily OT... Mon to Sat You start with ba
IOFAR Admin
Aug 4, 20252 min read
Orbit & Oculoplasty Fellowship review @ Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Duration: 18 months. First 4 months: General Ophthal posting. You'll be put in their peripheral centre for a month too. You'll get to start SICS surgery then. 1 OT day per week. No exposure to Oculoplasty for the first 4 months. Next 14 months you'll be posted in Oculoplasty department. First two months will be just opd. Oculoplasty OT starts from third month. The regular 1 day SICS OT and 1 day oculoplasty OT will be the norm. If there are less fellows in the dept,
IOFAR Admin
Aug 4, 20253 min read
Vitreo-Retinal Surgery Fellowship review @ MM Joshi Eye Institute, Hubli, Karnataka
Duration= 30 months First 2 years of fellowship are in Hubli and the last 6 months you are posted as consultant in peripheral centres Stipend= Starts at 30k for first 6 months, with 10k increment every 6 months.. so 40k for second 6 months then 50k for third 6 months etc One of the good fellowship programs in MM Joshi for hands-on. Lot of hands on.. step wise. Starting from 2nd month of fellowship.. first you make ports, then you get core vitrectomy, eventually endolaser, nuc
IOFAR Admin
Aug 4, 20251 min read
Cornea & Phaco-Refractive Fellowship review @ MM Joshi, Hubli, Karnataka
2 years long. One of the few Cornea programs where you also train in phaco. However phaco training is delayed till 2nd year- still, can expect average of 100 phacos. Clinical exposure is good- you see every textbook case. Work environment is not toxic but hectic. Surgical training done by senior fellows, but it's mostly self-learning- meaning you operate in numbers and fine-tune your skill along the way. Common cornea procedures/surgeries you get hands-on in: Total KP- 50, O
IOFAR Admin
Aug 4, 20251 min read
Phaco-Refractive Surgery Fellowship review @ Uma Eye Clinic, Chennai
Review- Uma Eye Clinic offers a pretty good, hands-on fellowship that’s intense but incredibly rewarding if you’re serious about learning. Over 1.5 years (initially one year, now extended), you get to perform around 150 phacos, starting with your first 20–30 cases on a 3D operating microscope, which really helps with confidence and depth perception. There’s some exposure to refractive work too, around 4-5 LASIK cases (both femtosecond and microkeratome), 1-2 SMILE surgeries,
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20253 min read
Medical Retina Fellowship review @ Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai
(Note- this Medical Retina (MR) program is different from their Medical Retina & Uvea program which is 2 yrs) 1 YEAR duration Medical Retina (MR) program 1st month training For 8 months...1 month uvea posting, 1 month emergency posting, 1 month diagnostics posting, rest 5 months MR unit posting with different consultants in which we are in OP with them. Last 3 months known as SR-ship in which one gets their mentor under which they will start getting injections in OT. MR fell
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20251 min read
Cornea & Refractive Surgery review @ MN Eye Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
18 months Phaco training included in the program. Based on your SICS skills, you get to start phaco training early, even as early as 2nd month (this means they give you SICS in the 1st month itself). They take on need basis, selection is by interview. You are trained by whoever is most experienced surgeon at the time- this can be a 3rd yr PG, but if they have passed out then it will be the seniormost fellow training you. Lots and lots of camp cases and consultants operate onl
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20252 min read
Cataract & Comprehensive Ophthalmology Fellowship review @ MN Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
1.5 yrs long. Selection is random, you can apply and they call you on need basis. Starts with SICS, once you are proficient you will advance to Phaco. Phaco is not delayed to 2nd year unlike in some other places. You'll get minimum of 100 phacos in 1.5 yrs (more if you master SICS sooner). Daily timings 8 - 6pm. Sundays usually off unless camp pts come- fellows will have to workup if DNB PGs not there. Regular classes + You are rotated between diff specialty depts, Cornea ex
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20251 min read
Vitreo-Retinal Surgery Fellowship review @ Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
I did VR from Sankara Coimbatore. We were taken one fellow at a time in my time. The routine is in the morning you come early and see general op and finish all your pts as fast as possible because when Prabhu sir (main VR surgeon) arrives, he'll finish all his private patients and then go straight to OT and start operating. So if you haven't managed to clear a good chunk of OP by then, good luck, you would miss chances to operate since not only was Prabhu sir good at retinal
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20252 min read
Medical Retina Fellowship review @ Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Duration: 18 months. First 6 months: general posting in the morning half. Retina dept: Free hands in all lasers, investigations and seeing patients. Once a week online combined class would be there where all-India Sankara fellows and faculties join. Otherwise it's mostly self-learning. But if you are putting efforts from your side, medical retina learning is always possible in Sankara because of the free hands in patients. Retina department consultants are approachable and f
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20252 min read
IOL Fellowship review @ Arasan Eye Hospital, Erode, Tamil Nadu
Duration- 18 months. Starts with SICS in 3rd month, you might get around 400 SICS, it also depends on how the candidate performs. Phaco is taught only in last 4 months. Academics not much, mostly on you to learn and be updated. Phaco numbers are not fixed, you get phacos based on your progress with SICS.. also depends on your rapport with the Chief. There are times fellow may not get any phaco and continues with SICS for the whole fellowship. In such cases, they tell the fell
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20251 min read
Vitreo-Retinal Surgery Fellowship review @ Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore
Duration= 2 years Exposure to all types of retina cases at Aravind is good, we will get lots of lasers and injections including in ROP cases, surgery number is also reasonable. 2 weeks uvea and ROP + ocular oncology training included, thereafter you will be going for ROP screening in the periphery where you will again see good number of ROPs. At the end of fellowship you will be confident with basic cases but you won't get PDR membrane cases and macular hole (ILM peeling ste
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20251 min read
Cornea & Anterior Segment Fellowship review @ Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
It's technically 1.5 yrs long but they might ask you to work at one of their peripheral centres first for 6 months - 1 year, especially if your SICS numbers are low. In that case, total duration can run up to 2- 2.5 years by the time you are done. Cornea in Madurai has the highest number of fellow intake so dept is crowded. Cataract surgery opportunities are variable between fellows, depends on your skill, speed and lack of complications. OT sisters have a big role in decidin
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20252 min read
Paediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus Fellowship review @ Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
1. Duration of Fellowship Currently structured as a 24-month program within the Pediatric Ophthalmology department. Previously, the 18- or 24-month version included 6 months of general OPD postings at peripheral centers, primarily for those with less cataract numbers 2. Phaco Training No phacoemulsification surgeries are allotted to pediatric fellows. SICS slots are available once a week, though your turns may be reduced due to OPD crowd and internal politics. So don't take
IOFAR Admin
Aug 1, 20252 min read
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