1 year duration 1 fellow per session Stipend= 15,000 Selection- MCQ exam+ interview No phaco/ cataract hands-on  You get many penetrating keratoplasties, hands-on start after 1st month. Lamellar surgeries also given, around 10-15, depends on your tissue handling skills... if not good, you may not get any case at all. Refrac training also there- you start with PRK then Lasik.. they don't have femto so no SMILE or femtolasik OP- see wide variety of cases, work timings 9-6 pm. Fellow has to take enucleation calls. Sundays usually free except for post-op morning rounds.

[This is the only fellowship program in this hospital.] Duration= 18 months 1 fellow per session Selection by interview, intake based on when present fellow is finishing  Stipend 25k No phaco training  Starts with medical retina work- you do retinal lasers, B scans in first 3 months. From 4th month onwards, you start getting steps in retina cases. You are posted 2 monthly with each retina consultant, you tag with them whole day. Academics- some classes+ You get mostly steps in surgery during the fellowship and based on your skill level, you may get to do some independent cases towards the end. ROP exposure is ok, you get to do some ROP lasers but no intravitreal injections given. Work timings 9-7 pm, not hectic. No night calls or Sunday duties. But you will be posted for Sunday general ophthal camps.

I (reviewer) did short term refractive training in Lotus Eye Hospital, Coimbatore under Dr. Ananth. I am not one to explain a lot but the fellowship is excellent... was better than I expected... sir is genuinely a very nice and empathetic trainer. Selection is by interview, they have fixed intake of trainees per month. Charges were 50k for one month training. Since I stayed in hospital, accommodation charges were 5k. Training was in a very guided manner, I started doing cases after a basic foundation course. Lotus hospital has mostly premium patients... don't expect to operate on camp cases. Hectic period if you want to shadow the consultant... otherwise ok. I got PRK, PRK+, Lasik, SMILE, ICL  At least 2-3 cases per week, sometimes more. And refractive training x 1-2 months is more than enough. After 1 month, I was ready to extend the training but sir himself said it was more than enough for what I'd gotten to do. I saw every possible refractive patient.. from workup to surgery. I did PRK 15, Lasik 10+, SMILE 6, ICL 2 Side Note: I got to know of this refrac training through a whatsapp job agent's group. The middleman told me initially it costs 1.5 lakhs for the 1 month course. I didn't pay the middleman after I got him to connect me with the hospital and confirming my slot. He tried to intimidate me by saying I would 'lose my seat' for refractive training and they would give it to the next candidate who would pay them... but I took a flight to Coimbatore as soon as I could. On reaching hospital, turns out Lotus didn't involve any middleman. And the hospital took only the prescribed 50k from me for the refractive training. Since I stayed in the hospital, another 5k extra was also paid but that was it. Beware of agents who promise training slots for such short term programs... especially without the said hospital's notice.

2 yrs fellowship  Phaco training is included  Phaco hands-on is given based on how good you are in SICS- they start you on phaco in 1st yr itself. If you know phaco before joining fellowship, you will be allowed to operate freely, no restriction on cataract numbers. When glaucoma fellowship initially started here around 2020, phaco numbers were good- they are less now. Hosp does many MIGS and GATT- so exposure is good but hands-on is minimal. Trabs are not done commonly, so not much hands-on. Clinical exposure is good. Work not very hectic, not toxic, timings are reasonable.  Academics- no formal classes, mostly self learning.

Duration 18 months Stipend 40k in 1st yr, 50k in 2nd yr No phaco training included  Fellows taken every 4-5 months, on need basis 1st four months are Gen Ophthal posting. Then 5th month onwards, you are posted in Paed Ophthal dept. From 6th month onwards, they start giving you single muscle surgeries step wise and based on how well you pick up, you will be given more surgeries and even independent chances.  Can expect to operate on approx 50-60 muscles. Paed cataracts hands-on are less, average is 15-20 per fellow, fellows who do poorly may get even less. You are taught to use I&A probe of phaco for cataract emulsification.. but not taught phaco per se. You get exposure to other surgeries like botox injections given in squints or complex squint/ cataract surgeries in babies- but no hands-on given. OP is very hectic, works starts 7.30 goes till 6 pm  No NLD probings since those are done by Orbit dept No Neuro-Ophthal posting like in Aravind Madurai. Fellows get evening duty (6-7.30 pm OP only) once a month, night duty once a month and 2 camps every month Very last month you will have 15 days of ROP + 15 days of Orbit postings. ROP posting you shadow a VR fellow/ consultant, no hands-on there. In Orbit posting you can observe for NL D probings.

Duration 2 yrs 1st year in Kolkata, 2nd yr in Chennai Stipend 55k 2 fellows per session The number of PGs and consultants in Kolkata are less so it's more hectic since more workload and duties fall on the fellows. 7-8 call duties in a month, alternate Sunday rounds. 1st month is shadowing period where you tag with a consultant, you are given procedures like B scans and lasers to be done.  Hands-on for surgeries start within 2-3 months, depending on the consultant you are posted with, you are given steps. Good range of cases seen in op, very busy. Work timings 9- 5.30/6 ROP exposure is less compared to Chennai, you are sent to an outside hospital infrequently for ROP screening but you don't get hands-on for lasers or intravit injections. Academics- weekly one class, common for all PGs and fellows  2nd yr you are posted in Chennai, there you get more cases and hands-on with regards to procedures and surgeries. Last 6 months you are an SR and can post independent retina cases which you will operate. (This fellowship is well-recommended by the reviewer.)

1.5 yr fellowship Only those knowing SICS are selected since fellow will be supervising PGs when they are operating. You can call in between if you can’t deal may be a PCR/ difficult prolapse .. but sir expects you to manage simple complications. Later, bigger ones also. If you know SICS, you are given paying patients to operate. Phaco case volume for training is comparatively less . You get only steps. But you will be able to learn. Ample volume of refractive procedures is there. But hands-on is given quite late. YAG cap you will get, that’s very simple, if you do 2-3 of those, you will learn. Work is extremely light compared to other similar fellowship programs. Some Sundays you may have to come for half day duties.

It is a paid fellowship.  I (reviewer) had selected "screening and management" category in their main campus under Dr. Anand Vinekar.  There are other categories like screening alone, machine diagnostics alone (mainly for health workers), screening+ machine diagnostics+ treatment.  The ROP fellow will travel with the KIDROP team to different districts in Karnataka for four days a week.  The remaining two days, the fellow will stay back in the department for lasers.  Sundays are holidays. The KIDROP team technicians are very knowledgeable. They will teach you the screening part.  There would be one retina fellow who would be doing their ROP posting along with you.  The screening cases will be divided between them and you. Indirect ophthalmoscope is provided to you. But you should carry your own 20D lens. There would be around atleast 5 to 10 babies for screening daily. You will get atleast 2 lasers per laser day.  The fee is 15,000 per week. You may mention how many weeks you might need in your mail. Most of the candidates opt for 2 weeks. Selection process is by mailing them with your CV. The contact details are provided in their website. Stay is not provided by the hospital. However the contacts for the accommodation places are given. It is important that you do the screening and management in your practice regularly, starting soon after your short term fellowship.

Duration- 24 months  Selection- by exam followed by interview  They take 2-3 fellow every 6 months Stipend- 55k 1st month is orientation period where you shadow an assigned fellow (of any specialty) in OP and OT. Thereafter you are posted with a cornea consultant every month from 2nd month onwards. No cataract surgeries given in main SN hospital. You have once weekly posting in JCOC (their camp hospital) that you are given cataracts  And also 1 full month JCOC posting. SICS given initially- usually 1 case/week Phaco given only in the last month- only 30 phacos  No training in difficult cataracts or managing complications.   In Cornea, they give you steps initially for all corneal surgeries that are done in the dept. They see a wide variety of cornea and ocular surface cases so exposure is very good. Hectic work environment  Consultants are approachable and eager to teach. Lamellar case hands-on is limited, all fellows may not get. Refractive procedures are done in dept and you work up patients and can train in procedures in wet lab but they do not give hands-on on patients to fellows. Academics- regular classes+ Once a week night duty (emergency/ enucleation call) and Sunday duties once a month. In the last 6 months of fellowship you become an SR and start seeing OP independently and posting cases and you get to fine-tune yr surgical skills in this time. You are an independent corneal surgeon by the time you exit from fellowship. Phaco skills will require further fine-tuning after fellowship, however.

Duration 1.5 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 12 months of Glaucoma posting Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1 fellow taken every 6 months Stipend 40k They take 2 months salary of 80k as caution deposit- (40k taken in 1st month, 20k taken each in 2nd and 3rd months)- this is returned at the end of fellowship  At the start, you are given mostly SICS after 1st month  They start you on trabs also within first few months, mostly SICS trabs.. phaco trabs come later. You get to do around 80-100 trabs. Phaco training given in last 6 months, you get approx 100 phacos.. they may also give you advanced cataract cases based on your proficiency. You are trained to manage complications when you are doing SICS. No topical phacos given. MIGS and GDD exposure+ but you don't get hands-on for MIGS May get a few cases of GDDs. Work timings 8-6 pm On call- you have 2-3 rotations of weekly call in the first 6 months.. and it's literally for 1 whole week (Sun- Sat).. u start Sunday duty at 8 pm do till 8am Monday then off for the day to come back again at 8pm Monday to do call till 8 am Tuesday and so on.. till Saturday. Sunday OP duties (8-1), Sunday camp duties + No admission fees.

Duration 2 yrs Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1 fellow taken every 6 months Stipend 40k They take 2 months salary of 80k as caution deposit- (40k taken in 1st month, 20k taken each in 2nd and 3rd months)- this is returned at the end of fellowship  No cataract training  They start you on medical retina work in the initial months (B scans, FFA, lasers, intravit injections etc) You are mostly trained by senior fellows, and they train you to manage OP cases as well as guide you in surgical learning. Consultants are busy seeing private patients. Initially you sit with senior fellows and observe pts in OP, fellows are not allowed to dispose them on their own. They start you on retinal surgeries after around 3 months, you get steps mostly. Independent cases are not commonly given, however it may depend on your proficiency. ROP exposure is less.. initially you observe how it is done, then you are sent to screen babies independently once they are confident in your skills. No lasers given.   By the end of fellowship, you're familiar with retinal surgeries but not enough to be independent.. also the surgery numbers that fellows get are less compared to other institutes like Aravind.

Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery, Ocular Oncology & Cataract Fellowship Duration- 2+1 year program (2 year fellowship + 1 year consultancy) Selection is by MCQ + interview in June and December. Stipend was 50k, 60k and 80k for 1st, 2nd and 3rd yr respectively (as of 2025, it was 3 year fellowship so this was the stipend). Now since Consultancy has been incorporated, salary may change. 1 month observation period is given so that fellows can decide if they can continue before that they can exit freely.  After that there is a bond of 2 lacs for quitting. Surgeries offered - DCR, DCT, Evisceration, Entropion, ectropion, excision biopsy, lid reconstruction LPSR, Sling, therapeutic botox, etc Enucleation, exenteration, orbitotomy (depends on surgical skill) Apart from this all the fellows get SICS and phaco and also complicated cataract cases Few complex cases are exclusive to IOL fellows Also, IOL fellows get more number of cataract OTs. Work load is more than sufficient with roughly 2200 daily OPD & 1000 daily surgeries during peak season In the off season, your surgery numbers are almost half After 3 years an average fellow completes around 3k-4k SICS with 500-600 phaco (again depends on surgical skill). We have fellows who have completed more than 8k SICS in 3 years and 1000 phaco So it varies and depends on your surgical skill. There are no night duties or camp duties. You get to see all types of cases, even oncology cases are frequently seen.  Every Tuesday there is department class and Saturday is grand class with all departments. Very non toxic environment. Work timings are usually 7:30 am- 7pm including OPD and ward rounds. To this I would like to add that our HOD Dr. Narendra Patidar is very considerate of his fellows, easily approachable, encourages everyone to take up FAICO exam and teaches a lot during rounds.