IOL Fellowship review @ Sankara Eye Hospital, Coimbatore

18 months 

Selection- Exam followed by interview

Intake- twice a year, 2-3 fellows per session

Stipend 40k per month 

First month is suture practice and block room postings

Then you start SICS from 2nd month onwards

You get 2 OTs per week and 2 hours per OT (1 hour per sics in the beginning)

As your speed picks up, you do more number of SICS in those 2 hours, so case number per OT increases.

First 100 SICS you have to put tunnel sutures since pts are sent home the day they are operated and follow up only after 1 month.

Next 100 SICS cases are supero-temporal section.

Next 100 SICS are temporal sections.

You get to learn SICS in all types of cataract.

You also learn to manage your own complications.

In fact after 7-8 months, you will be posted for observation duty in OT where you supervise your juniors as they operate and step in when they have complications.

Also trained in iris claws, CTRs, ant vitrectomy etc

By the end of first year, they start giving you 1 phaco case per OT

Usually, the phaco's the 11th case, meaning if you manage 10 SICS in 2 hours, you can do the 11th one as phaco.

Phaco numbers increase per OT depending on skill and learning curve.. but initially it's 1 case per OT for initial 1-2 months

You get topical phacos towards the end.

Phaco numbers average around 80-90 cases over 6 months, however these tend to be normal NS 2-3 cases, not advanced cases.

Also, phacos are all done under scleral section since you can implant only rigid IOLs, no corneal or limbal sections since foldable IOLs are not implanted for camp pts.

OPD posting-

Work timings 9-6

Initial 5-6 months, fellows are posted solely in camp OP managing pts.

After 6 months they shift to general OP where they see pts and refer to respective specialties.

IOL fellows come under an In-Charge who is usually a consultant of another speciality.. earlier, fellows used to be under a Retina consultant.. recently the faculty in charge of IOL fellows has changed to a Paed Ophthal consultant who is proactive and supervises fellows' numbers and progress. 

You have stay camps every month, from Fri- Sun where you travel to an outstation.

2 weekends go for stay camps.

3rd Sunday for OP duty.

1 Sunday in a month is free.

Once you complete 1 year of fellowship, you don't have stay camps, it's more or day camps and Sunday OP duties.

Also, cataract numbers tend to be limited for Coimbatore fellows since cases are shared between primary & secondary DNBs along with other speciality fellows as well.. compared to Sankara Banglore, you get lesser numbers in Coimbatore.

Usually no peripheral postings. Very rarely they may post you to their other centres if they face fellow shortage there.

Overall, you come out as an SICS surgeon who can operate all cataracts and manage their own complications.. you gain some confidence in phaco but more exposure is needed post fellowship for advanced cases.