Duration 2 yrs 2 Fellows taken every 6 months  Selection- Interview  Stipend 35k No admission fees/ caution deposits No phaco training.  But you are trained for SFIOLs First 3 months is mainly observation (1 month posting in Gen Ophthal and 2 months in VR dept seeing only OPD and retina investigations) In the 2 months while you are in VR dept, you are started on intravitreal injections and retinal lasers. After 3 months, your OT starts. Initially it's 1 OT day/ week, then after 6 months it becomes 2 OTs/ week. 1st month of OT posting, you are given only belt buckle cases. 2nd month you get only core vitrectomies. 3rd month you get SO removals and FAEs. Then gradually they give you steps in more complex cases.  By the end of 12 months you will be doing nucleus drops, IOL drops, simple vit hges and simple RRD cases. You get steps in macular surgeries, peeling step in last month. Can also be given steps in TRD surgeries as well. ROP training starts after the first 3 months, you are taught screening initially. Then once you get the hang of screening, staging and protocols, you are given hands-on for lasers and injections in babies. Clinical exposure is good  Dept is not too hectic, consultants are friendly  Work timings 8- 4.30 pm on OPD days When you have laser day, you're posted in laser room whole day. OT days you finish by 6 or 7 pm depending on the case list. You have camp opinion duties after 4 pm- around 5-6 duties per month  You also get 1 Sunday duty (10- 2pm OP, you have to see only retina opinions) Enucleation duties is divided between all fellows so that happens once a month  And you also have what is called General OPD evening duty which is seeing OP from 4-8 pm (twice a month) No peripheral postings. You're able to do common retinal surgeries and ROP management by the time you finish fellowship, experience comparable to other good fellowships.

Duration- 18 months (was 2 yrs long before 2025) 2-3 fellows/ session, number depends on vacancies Selection- online/ offline interview  Stipend 40k  No admission fee/ security deposit  You spend 1 year in Gen Ophthal and last 6 months in 3 specialities of your choice (each of 2 months posting) You start with SICS after 1-2 months, OT days are 3 days a week. Case numbers are increased based on your learning curve and speed. You are given SICS for 1 year and phaco only in last 6 months. You get to do 80-100 phacos on average (some fellows may get less... again, depends on learning curve) You can get advanced cases if your skill is good, otherwise it's mostly NS2 cataracts for 6 months. No training for complication management  No topical phacos OPD is hectic, not toxic Work timings 8-4 pm on OPD days, after 4 pm you have camp pre-op assessment duties. You have enucleation duty once a month. No night duties. Sunday OP duties 1-2/ month. No peripheral postings.

Both are for 1 month each Fees between 55-60k for SICS  ~76k for Phaco  Hostel also is quite economical, about 5k a month. Case allocation is one per day (Monday - Saturday) Sunday off  Public holidays off  So between 23-26 cases a month  They start and progress depending on how fast you learn but encourage you to do more steps  5 Phaco trainees at a time More trainees taken for SICS  SICS training is little more haphazard. Sometimes fellows and residents may be there to assist especially if you are doing cases confidently. For Phaco, one senior faculty will observe 2 trainees operating simultaneously on screen and help wherever necessary. One day of observation (first day), then you start doing cases. OT routine-  Starts between 9 and 10 am and gets done easily before lunch time. One OT with two tables reserved for the 5 Phaco trainees  3-4 lectures are there Wet lab is quite good and there is unlimited access for CCC, sutures and tunnel. 5 eyeballs for Phaco wet lab training Trainers are good and constantly guiding and most of them are very patient.  They say you shud have done minimum 100 SICS before joining Phaco  Or they make you take their one month SICS training before joining Phaco  If the trainee has a good hand, they will confidently perform Phaco by the 2nd week onwards. If not, definitely by the end . First 3 weeks is tunnel (phaco done through corneo-scleral tunnel) Fourth week is via clear corneal incision and we can purchase foldable lenses for ~250 rs each and implant it. Only thing that is not taught here and probably anywhere else in a short course is complication management.  Overall, one of the most economical and well structured programs I have come across among whichever I have read or heard about.

They have both basic and advanced phaco training course Basic course- 30 cases for 1 lac Advanced course- 20 cases for 1.4 lacs  In the advanced course, mature cataracts, hard grade cat, iris claw, small pupil cases and anterior vitrectomy are taught. First thing Dr Tanaji sir (trainer) does is to give you an overview of phaco surgery, how to do safe phaco, how to hold instruments etc In the 1st week, trainee is given 1 or 2 cases per OT. You are trained to do phaco through clear corneal incision. Once trainee gets familiar with the machine and instruments more no. of cases can be done (even up to 5 cases in a day). Timing of OT is normally 9.30-2 pm. You get cases Mon- Sat  Sunday off Dr Tanaji sir normally takes 3-5 minutes for his own phaco cases. The trainee can watch sir doing live surgery and cases of trainee starts after routine cases. Once trainee gets confident, he can do cases side by side on Oertli or Legion phaco machine. Accomodation is free of cost in the hospital premises itself. A very good program and highly recommended, especially the one on one mentorship that sir gives really accelerated my learning curve.

It is very systematic training. A bit expensive, though. Travelling may be a little difficult. From Kerala (the reviewer is from Kerala) there is one direct train Poorna express weekly once. From Sangli railway station, it is 10 minutes by auto.  If planning to go by flight, there is connecting flight to Kohlapur. From there, around one hour travelling distance to the hospital.  Accommodation they will provide. It is not one month training like other short fellowships. They will give 50 cases. You can finish it earlier, depending on your hands. If you are ok with your hands, they will give up to 5 to 6 cases per day. So I think you can finish it by 20 to 25 days..  Initial two days, there is 3D video class for beginners. Then, there is individual trainer.  Training is very systematic.. all steps are well explained, all trainers will teach same technique. So there won’t be any confusion in technique. They taught mainly divide and conquer technique using clear corneal incision. If you are ok with it, they will teach stop and chop method if you are good enough. I think after 20 cases you will start to do phaco independently. After this training, you will get enough confidence in phaco, but if you have your own centre, my personal opinion is that it’s better to have surgical support in the initial days.  They have decent canteen. Dinner they will bring to your place. Sunday is holiday.  Working time- There is no fixed working time. Morning it will start at 9 am. When ever you finish your cases you can leave.. There is basic course and advanced course. In Basic course, you will get normal NS2 , fully dilated pupil. In Advanced, you will get small pupil, iris hook, CTR, mature cataract, soft NS1, ant vitrectomy and 3 piece IOL.  For basic course, it's 3.5 lakhs for 50 cases. One advanced case is equal to two basic. So if you want to do one CTR or iris hooks case, you can ask for it. Either you pay for it or you give up 2 basic cases to do the advanced case.

1 month paid course  1. One case per day.. you can book your time slot .. you can just attend for that 1 hour and you'll be free for the rest of the day. 2. Consultant will be monitoring and will guide you during the whole surgery. 3. You have to select either clear corneal or scleral tunnel incision method at the time of slot booking (If you select scleral incision, then you implant rigid IOLs and if clear corneal incision, then you implant foldable IOLs). So fees differ based on which incision you opt to learn. 4. Divide and conquer will be the first technique.. if you are good at it, then they proceed with teaching stop and chop method.

I (reviewer) completed a two-week short-term phaco training program at Srikiran Institute of Ophthalmology, Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh. (The history of this hospital if you know it's one of the most heart breaking story I've encountered in my life.) My real life hero is the founder of this place. Key Highlights: - Completed 25 phaco cases in 2 weeks (9 OT days), possibly the fastest in India - Course fee: ₹75,000 - Personalized trainer Bindu ma'am is very good, she will guide each and every step. - Opportunity to observe senior surgeons like Avinash sir and interact with him is real best. - Friendly, skilled staff and zero-stress environment - Comprehensive training: handled various cases (NS-1 to NS-4, small pupils) Training Experience- The program offered hands-on experience with direct chop techniques. I performed surgeries under expert guidance, honing my skills in cataract management, phacoemulsification and foldable intraocular lens implantation. They train you to do clear corneal incision and start you on stop-and-chop method. Logistics- - Food: Decent canteen available, but I mostly ordered food from outside. - Accommodation: Females- outside hostel, Males- inside campus (recommended) Highly recommend Srikiran Institute's short-term phaco training program to all aspiring Ophthalmologists.

Can be customised 15 days/ 1 month. Fees- as listed on their website. Accommodation provided within campus (at extra charge). You get 1 case per OT but if your trainer feels you are doing well or if you have some phaco fluency, they might give you more cases (numbers are variable). First 2-3 days you will have to do SICS so they can judge your technique. After that, you are started on phaco.   Daily routine- You are assigned a resident who informs trainees of their daily schedule and centre posting  In the morning you have to go with other trainees to one of their centres for observation OT from 10 am.. you are there till 12 pm Then from 1-5 pm you have to go to their community centre (this is different from the first centre) where you have to select your case, do pre-op assessment and then you are assigned a table to operate your patient  Once you finish your case, you can go back to hostel Next day you have to do post-op rounds for ur patient at the main hospital at 7 am And then you can head for breakfast and report to the observation centre at 10 am like before Surgical technique in phaco training- You make 2 incisions-  - Temporal clear corneal incision thru which you do phaco - And a superior corneo-scleral tunnel thru which you implant rigid IOL (No training in foldable IOL provided) After 5 pm everyday, you can also go to the main hospital and use their wet lab to practice your technique. MM Joshi also has shuttle services which you can use to travel to their centres every day.. or else, you take auto. Overall, a good training program, highly recommended by reviewer since this is one of the few places where you are trained in phaco using clear corneal incision method.

Duration- 1.5 yrs  1-2 fellows taken every 6 months Stipend 50k  Selection- Interview  No SICS, only phaco is done for all pts here (camp & private) Initial 2 weeks are for observation  Then you start OT OT runs every day Fellows get OT twice a week with one phaco per OT  Fellows operate only on camp cases (average of 5-7 pts posted per OT)... these have to be shared with short term phaco trainees and junior consultants too so you might sometimes not get a pt to operate in some OTs.. but they make up for missed cases in the next OT They give you normal NS 2 cataracts first and then as you get confident, you can do small pupils and harder cataracts too.. complications are managed by consultants (usually they take over before it happens) Work timings 7 am - 7 pm All Sundays are working but half day OPD So your Sundays will be spent either in OP or else going for camps Weekdays you start by attending private OT where you watch senior consultant operate from 7- 8 am Then from 8.30 -10.30 am the camp OT runs and the fellow gets their turn  After camp OT, whoever is posted for camp OP sees pts till 3.30 pm After 3.30, you head to private OP where you sit with consultants and observe cases they see (not allowed to treat or dispose any private pts).. goes on till 7/7.30 pm Work is hectic  Consultants are approachable No night duties  They're starting a new centre so postings to that hospital will be included in duties from next session onwards You get to observe and do refractive pt workup, no hands-on given Also get to do many Yag caps No academics/ classes Clinical exposure- not much variety, mostly common cases

Duration 2 yrs 2-3 Fellows taken per session Selection- Interview  Stipend 45k 1 lac admission fees, not refunded  Accommodation provided, no separate charges  No phaco training.  First 3 months is mainly observation (OPD and retina investigations) Then you get posted to OT and they start you gradually on steps in cases  You get steps for all common surgeries  No hands-on for RD surgeries  But they allow you to do steps in macular surgeries  You observe secondary IOL implantations and nucleus/ IOL drop surgeries, no hands-on given  You are allowed to operate independent cases towards the end in camp pts Intravit injections and lasers are given after first 3 months Clinical exposure is good  ROP exposure is good, mostly screening, rarely you may get chance to do lasers Intravitreal injections in ROP babies are done here but you're not given hands-on for that Dept is hectic, work timings 8 am to 7/8 pm  Night duties- once a month as 2nd on call Sunday duties every 2-3 months as 2nd on call No peripheral postings  No camp duties. You're able to do common retinal surgeries by the time you finish fellowship, good experience.

Duration: 1 year During the first two months, fellows are mainly posted in the OPD, where the work primarily involves general patient work-up of retina consultants, FFA reporting, and B-scans.  Opportunities to examine post-dilatation patients are relatively limited during this period, but fellows can evaluate non-paying patients. The program provides good exposure to the diagnostic side, including SD-OCT, SS-OCT, SS-OCTA, FFA, and other investigations. From the fourth month onward, fellows begin performing retinal lasers, with a decent number of procedures such as PRP and barrage laser. From around the sixth month, fellows are posted in the injection clinic, where they usually get exposure to approximately 150–200 intravitreal injections during the fellowship. This fellowship is particularly beneficial for those who already have good postgraduate exposure and are comfortable with indirect ophthalmoscopy (IDO). The academic program is very strong, with at least 2-3 classes conducted every week. For those interested in research, this is a good place, as fellows are encouraged and supported in research activities. Work timings  8:00 AM to around 7:00–7:30 PM every day.  Fellows start getting independent OP consultations after six months, and the workload tends to become somewhat more hectic during that period. Fellows selected per session The number of fellows depends on the number of applications received. There is no fixed number of seats, usually 2-3 fellows / year Selection  is done through an online interview only. After the interview, candidates are informed whether they have been selected. Fellows are usually taken twice a year, typically in April and October. Stipend - ₹40,000 per month Admission fees  of ₹1 lakh needs to be paid at the beginning of the course. Not refunded. Dept environment - The consultants are approachable and the department is quite hectic due to the large patient load.  For consultants' patients, the anterior segment work-up is usually done by PGs and fellows. Most of the time PGs are not available, so fellows have to handle the work-up, documentation, and reply letter writing themselves. Because of the busy OPD schedule, opportunities to do fundus exams on these worked-up patients can be limited. Duties - There are about 3–4 on-call duties per month, mainly for retina-related cases. PGs will inform the fellows if any retina related cases comes in, and fellows attend only when required.  There is also one Sunday duty per month, which is usually on-call.  Medical Retina fellows are not required to attend camps. Cataract surgery training is not included in this fellowship. There is limited exposure to ROP, usually during the last two months, and this typically includes around four days of ROP postings. Uvea cases are present, but the exposure is relatively limited.

This course is for 3 months  You are trained in SICS while also working for them Initial fee 30k, they'll give you monthly 15k stipend (figures are for 2024, it might be different now) - They'll give daily one case, if you are confident they'll give 2  - It's 3 months of training  - They used to take 1 seat per batch back then, but now I heard it's 3 people  - First 2-3 days is observation, then they'll assign you a case with the consultant . - Camp cases comes around 8 in morning , then you have to workup all the patients and send for fitness, prepare ot list... DNB students will also be there with you for workup and case-sheet and stuff Afternoon will be OTs and you'll have to start blocking other cases.. when your case comes, you need to wash in and then the assigned consultant will teach you , step by step , they are all really good. They teach you with patience . - Monday to Friday OTs will be there and Saturday you are asked to present some classes and you can do wet lab practice . - Sunday off . - 4 night duties monthly   Post op patients will be there next day you have to see them and discharge . - Timings is 8- 6 pm ***** For admission to this training, you have to call them and you'll have an interview with superintendent after which you are selected No prerequisites for joining this training. They can select you even if your SICS count is 0. (No phaco training included in this) If you are learning from scratch you'll need little more surgical exposure even after you finish this training  But if you are somewhat knowledgeable about SICS before joining, you'll be able to refine to a reasonably confident level by end of 3 months .