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, and 5-6 C3R cases. You also get to observe FLACS, corneal transplants, VR surgeries, and squint cases as and when they happen. Your day runs from 9 AM to 7 PM, and you alternate between OT and OPD, which has a steady and diverse patient load. There are outreach camps on rotation during the week and one Sunday a month, but otherwise Sundays are off. Just note: there are only 2 holidays in the whole year, so it’s definitely a grind. No night duties! The clinic is very well-equipped with machines like the Nikon Daytona, OCT, iTrace, Sirius, Lipiflow, and Lipiscan, and they even do Presbyond — so you’ll get to learn how to assess and prep those patients. Retinal lasers are also something you can get involved in depending on interest and camp volume. The OT setup is excellent, the phaco machines (Centurion and Whitestar Signature Pro) are top-tier, and overall, the environment is supportive. Everyone is approachable, though of course there’s the usual chatter and politics that come with any busy place. All in all, it’s a packed schedule with great surgical exposure, especially if you go in with clarity on what you want. If you put in the effort, you’ll come out well-trained and quite satisfied. I did around 110 phaco cases during my one-year fellowship. At the time (2024), the rules were a bit different, there wasn’t a fixed number of surgeries promised, so I’m not entirely sure what the current setup is. But based on how things worked then, I’d estimate that 150 cases over 1.5 years averaging 1-2 cases per week. The exact number you get depends a lot on how many fellows are in the program with you. In my batch, there were 3 of us, and usually 2 phaco cases were posted per day on regular OT days. Occasionally, foreign candidates would come in, not all of them come for high-volume training. Some just do 10-15 cases over a few days, so even in those weeks, you’ll likely get one case. But if someone comes for a larger volume (like 40-50 cases), then you might not get posted for a week. That said, it does balance out and picks up again soon after. You can’t expect a case every single day, but overall the hands-on numbers we got were close to what was mentioned during the interview. Another review of the same program from another past fellow who did it when it was a one year program- Hi there! So, my training was quite intense, with a lot of exposure to advanced cataract training. We started with 3D, which is super helpful for understanding depth perception. We also used CTR, pupil expansion devices, multiple phaco machines, and various phaco tips. The refractive workup included various trifocal, toric, post-LASIK workups and options for obtaining uncorrected 6/6 N6 vision. We also received hands-on training for LASIK, smile, and PRK procedures. They also give exposure to abberometry profile. The workup and post-procedure management, including complications treatment, were also covered. I liked my time there, it was a good experience for me.

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 (cases variable depending on the fellow's ability).  Complicated cases are given during your bond period.  Daily social OPDs.  Work environment is good. Consultants are very approachable.  You do your surgeries under different consultants on the days of the week. Consultants are there to help or take over the case when required.  Will be posted in Susrut branches within Kolkata. Duty hours from 9 - 5/6 pm.  2 emergency duties per month. Camp duties.  No dedicated classes for fellows. Encouraged to attend DNB classes which are mostly after 4/5 pm. Mostly self learning.  Foreign trainees (Saudi ophthalmology residents) intake during the peak cataract season. They do about 2-3 cases/day. Sometimes take up the fellows' cases when cases are less.

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 diff units so OT days vary accordingly- 2 or 3 retina OT days per week/ unit. You are trained in ROP screening but ROP lasers usually not given. Cataract OT is on Fridays and if cases are in excess, they may call VR fellows to operate- usually given only SICS. Phacos may sometimes be given on request. Clinical exposure is good. Some Uvea and Onco exposure is also there. Work environ is not hectic, not toxic. There are night duties (2/week) and Sunday duties shared with PGs Weekly academic classes also +

I (reviewer) feel this fellowship is good. It is for 18 months.  Selection by interview. No admission fees. No bond, no caution deposits. Stipend 70k (you get 62k in hand after TDS cut). Exposure is good in terms of OPD - you see charity cases twice a week and training is under Dr Ramanjit Sihota ma'am who is a great teacher and shares lot of knowledge to handle OPD and OT as well.  OT hands is okay. You get some cataract cases and Glaucoma cases (trabs, phaco-trabs etc).  You will be posted in Shroff's South Delhi centres - Kailash colony and Connaught place according to a roster.  Regular classes once a month you have to attend, there is an exam (theory+ practical viva) you have to give in the middle and before leaving as well, but they are good and manageable.  No night duties, timings are from 8/9 to 5 pm/7pm depending on patient load.  OT once a week - so hands on is okay.  Overall, a good learning experience as well as the brand name of Shroff Hospital comes on your CV elevating your chances as an upcoming Glaucoma consultant.

Phaco and Glaucoma Ahalia offers a 12-month phaco and an 18-month glaucoma fellowship.  Both programs give you phaco training (about 50-60 cases minimum) during your last 4 months here.  If you're a glaucoma fellow, you also get around 5 trab cases in addition to the cataract cases. All fellows share the same OP workup, so you get to see cases across all specialties. There is a mandatory one year pre -fellowship duty to be done at one of Ahalia's centers first. During this time, you're an op doctor and get zero surgeries.  Salary during pre-fellowship is 80,000/ month and then 30,000/ month during fellowship (as of 2025). The main fellowship training happens in Palakkad which is a small town- but the Ahalia campus is huge and vast. Palakkad is not a very happening place but thankfully Coimbatore (cool city with great hangouts) is just 1 hour drive away.  You start with SICS for first 6-7 months and then shift to phaco but if you pick up well, you can start even earlier. You learn to operate on all kinds of cataract.   OT runs daily from 9 am till about 3 pm and usually never goes past 5.  Fellows are also taught to manage complications, do vitrectomies etc.  All cases are recorded and then reviewed later by trainers to determine areas for improvement. Academics and classes don't happen much so it's up to you to read textbooks and other relevant materials. After fellowship, there's a 1.5 year bond with a salary of 1.2 lakhs annually. Breaking the bond will cost you 10 lakhs. You can work as a consultant at any Ahalia center for your bond period, they have a branch in most districts of Kerala. Medical Retina As a fellowship program was just started only in 2025- duration is for 3 months. So after finishing your Phaco/Glaucoma fellowship, you can opt to stay an additional 3 months and do Medical Retina. D uring this time you continue to do more phacos (some fellows have even transitioned to topical phaco in this period) in addition to learning lasers and intravit injections as well.

Phaco-ref at ASG provides a decent fellowship of two years with good working environment. Duration= 2 years Fellows here get paid about 70k a month. Fellows get to operate about 300 phacos and about 50+ independent LASIKs. Along with other OPD procedures and OT procedures like lid repair, evisceration, yag PI etc  I for one (fellow finishing in 2025) have done 253 phacos and 30 eyes for LASIK, 7 eyes for ICL, over 300 pterygiums, 50 C3Rs, 25 intravitreal injections including Ozurdex.

Duration- 1 year 6 months. OT access and surgeries (SICS) starts at around 3rd month. You share OT with external trainees who have come for paid training (SICS/Phaco) and with DNBs. 3 OTs a week, usually 1 case is allotted per trainee. More cases allotted per OT towards the end of your tenure. Phaco training is subject to respective consultant, may get Phaco around last 1-2 months. Clinical exposure is decent. Work environment is very good, not toxic at all. It’s not that hectic as well. PG seminars every alternate day.  Dedicated consultants will teach you when you're posted under them.  No refractive training. Around 3 evening duties a month.  Around 3-4 peripheral vision centre visits a month (8am to 5pm). No bond. You do not exit as an independent phaco surgeon, need more experience post fellowship.

It's 1.5 years (18 months) duration, 1 fellow taken per session. No adult cataracts given to operate for anyone in any department except General Ophthal (including consultants). Surgical hands-on starts by month 5-6 (cases are less in March and April due to children's exams) Clinical exposure is very good. You also get to evaluate cases and measure squints yourself. Dept- no toxicity. Consultants are approachable.  Continuous chutti ka thoda sa problem hai (translation- they don't give long leaves) because Sundays and public holidays are anyway off. It is not hectic. Working hours are 7.5- 8 hours a day max, with Sundays and public holidays off. Consultants train you. Both junior and senior consultants. I (reviewer) got good number of muscles, around 35+. Superior oblique I didn't get as no case came by the time I was competent enough to do one. It depends on how many cases come during your duration.  Got roughly 10 paediatric cataracts including cases with posterior capsulorrhexis and ant vitrectomy. This also depends on how many cases come during your time. Also got to do 4 intravitreals in ROP babies and a lot of ROP lasers. Haven't counted lasers, since I did many ROP lasers. Camp duties- very less. Night calls 0. Specialty fellows don't do calls as of now (2025).

12 months  Selection- interview by Dr Tanaji (CMO and trainer) 1 fellow taken per session Stipend 30k per month  First month is observation  Then you start SICS from 2nd month onwards You get around 500-1000 SICS depending on your skill You're given phaco training in the last few months from 8th or 9th month onwards, you are promised 100 phacos but fellows usually get more  You get to do advanced cataract cases and also learn CTR, iris claws, ant vitrectomy etc during this fellowship  You may also get hands-on for a few trabs, DCRs and pterygiums You have daily OP and daily OT, Mon- Sat Work timings 9- 5.30 pm Post OP, you have to do pre-ops for the camp pts OPD is usually light, not hectic   Sundays usually free, can opt to work in Dr Tanaji's private clinic 8am -8pm if interested  No night duties No camp duties You can join post fellowship to refine phaco skills and get hands-on for topical phacos

Most other specialty fellowships in SNC are of 3 yrs since they include cataract training. VR fellowship is of two types- 2 yr duration and 3 yr duration No phaco training. 3-4 fellows taken per session. Selection by exam + interview (intake time depends on when current VR fellows are finishing), notice put out on their website and alumni whatsapp groups.  Only 1 fellow given direct fellowship (2 yrs), the others may be asked to do initial research work for 3-6 months (idea is to not have all fellows pass out at the same time which would disrupt case allotments and work schedules). Most common duration now for VR is 3 years. During research time, you will work in the dept and ward but not see OP. Clinical op is good- you see lots of patients, see every textbook case. First 6 months spent on medical retina work- lots of lasers and intravit injections. After that they start with SOR, then proceed to vitrectomy, macular hole surgeries etc  Initially you are given steps but once you pick up, you will be given cases to do independently. You get good hands-on. Unlike other places where VR fellowship means you only get steps in retinal surgeries till the end, here you get steps in the beginning and then progress to operating independently once you pick up well. Cases are posted in your name by the end of fellowship. Stipend 50k in 1st yr, 60k in 2nd yr. For the 3 yrs VR program, it is 50k, 60k and 70k in 1st, 2nd and 3rd yr. Work timings 8- 6pm. Hectic++ but no toxicity No night duties or Sunday duties unless an endoph case comes. Food and accommodation provided on campus, not charged from your stipend. Plus, fellows get single room (even AC). ROP exposure is good, you are given lasers in babies and you also get few intravit injections in ROP babies towards end of fellowship. Regular classes- 4 times/ week, once a week common rounds. One of those rare, good VR fellowships where you pass out as an independent VR surgeon and don't have to join a trust/ charitable place afterwards to fine-tune your surgical skills. Note- If you leave fellowship in between, you will have to pay 2 lacs. The 1st month is observation period and if you decide not to continue, you can leave without paying any penalty. But if you quit fellowship any time after the 1st month, you will be charged 2 lacs.

Duration of fellowship 2+1 yrs (with effect from 2026 session) All fellowships here are of 3 yrs (cataract training included) with 2 yrs of fellowship and 1 yr of consultancy post fellowship. Selection only on the basis of interview. There is no fixed intake. Interviews are conducted twice a year (February & August). They are not strict about number of fellows they take per session. They may increase or decrease the seats as per requirement but there are minimum 4 seats per specialties. Glaucoma fellows share cataract OTs with other fellows of different specialties. Along with this, differnt specialties have fixed specialty OT days. On your allotted day, you get to do cases of your specialty. Initially they will train you in SICS under consultant supervision. After n number of cases, you'll be free to do SICS surgeries independently depending upon individual surgeon's confidence.  Phaco will start in 2nd yr only after you are confident enough in SICS.  After that they'll train you in vitrectomy and how to do complex cases like small pupil, zonular laxity, brown cataract, PXF, subluxated lens etc. You get vast exposure of each and every kind of clinical cases not only in glaucoma but other specialties also. It's very, very hectic due to high patient load both in opd or OTs. But no toxicity in the workplace. Depending upon their availability, both senior consultants and senior fellows will train you in SICS but phaco training will be given by only senior consultants. On an average, cataract / IOL fellow will do approx 550 to 600 phacos while other specialties' fellows will get approx 350 to 400 phaco cases.  This difference is due to fact that other specialty fellows will have to do their specialty cases also. They'll train you in advanced cataract cases also (small pupil, pxf, hard cataract).  Iris claw lens insertions given only to IOL fellows. Regarding MIGS & GATT- Honestly speaking, I (reviewer) didnt get any MIGS cases. But that's due to fact that majority of our pts belong to rural backgrounds (cost not affordable).  Also, most of the cases we see are moderate to advanced glaucoma (so MIGS/ GATT not indicated). No peripheral postings, no camp duties. On your night call duty you have to stay in hostel. One DNB student will be there to attend the emergency, they inform you as and when cases come. There will also be a consultant on call. If required you may call them for opinion. As such, night duty is not an issue. Academics-  There is a mandatory journal club class conducted on Saturday morning 8 am in which all senior consultants & all fellows will be present for discussion. There is a separate class schedule for particular departments, at least 3- 4 days per week. They are generally scheduled for 7: 45 am to 8: 00 am. Classes may be discontinued in peak cataract season and then resumed after. NOTE- After joining, there will be an observation period of 1 month.  If you feel you're not keen to continue, then you may leave the institute within 1 month.  Beyond this 1 month if you resign, then you have to pay a bond money of 2 lacs.

Duration 1.5 years  1-2 fellows per session. Fellows are taken annually.  Has an interview based admission and an exit exam. Stipend 30k for 12 months, 35k for the last 6 months. Good number of OPD Exposure for cornea as well as refractive cases . Surgical hands on with cornea cases include penetrating keratoplasties (PK), descemetopexy, AMGs, corneal tears, cornea tattooing etc.  When it comes to Keratoplasties - decent number of PKs.  Chances for lamellar cases are slim.  The surgical number depends on individual efforts to build up the skills.  Refractive exposure is excellent as well - includes work up on a daily basis with observation and hands on with PRK, femtoLASIK, SMILE and ICLs. One can get good exposure on recent advances in investigation of cornea and ocular surface diseases. Added advantage- Cornea-Ref fellows get to operate cataracts as well (SICS and Phaco) in almost equal numbers as Phaco-Ref fellows.  PS: Towards the end of fellowship- if the fellow is interested in any other branch, the institute provides opportunity to work under that speciality for few days (retina/ glaucoma etc). Becomes advantageous to the ones who are planning for private practice later .  Downsides- Hectic schedule Can be a bit of a hustle to manage between Cornea and Cataract OTs (Cataract OT runs congruently with Cornea OT so you need to make time after Cornea OP/ OT to do cataract cases. Might need to come early next day or stay late after work to do cataract cases). There are also penalties in case of complications during cataract surgery. If patient ends up requiring iris claw lenses, the doctor is expected to pay for the same from his own pocket.