3 yrs duration (2 yrs fellowship + 1 year consultancy) Phaco training included  2-3 fellows taken per session, sometimes more based on need Selection by exam + interview  First 1.5 yrs you do cataracts (SICS) and are posted in diff speciality depts- only one rotation thru all depts.. SICS training begins 1 month after joining. Phaco starts after 18 months, you are given Alcon training first week and then the consultants take over training, can expect at least 500 phacos. Paed surgeries are also started simultaneously after 18 months, step wise. You get hands-on for both simple and complex squint cases- minumum 30 cases. Paed cataracts are also given, mostly older kids and those cases done under LA. Younger kids are operated solely by senior consultants. Can expect at least 30-40 paed cataracts. Very very hectic OP but no toxicity OT runs long, till 7 pm sometimes even 8 pm Clinical OP is good- you see every textbook case Regular classes + (3/ week) You also get Neuro-Ophthal exposure since they are seen by the Paed Ophthal dept Paed glaucoma cases are also handled by them- will get exposure to paediatric trabs, AGVs etc (but may not get hands-on for this) Stipend 50k in 1st yr, 60k in 2nd yr, 70k in 3rd yr No ROPs seen in the dept but you can observe in your Retina posting Paed DCRs and NLD probings are done by Oculoplasty but they call Paed Ophthal fellows/ consultants also when operating. Note-  as mentioned in the other SNC reviews, the 1st month you join is observation period, if you feel you cannot continue with the fellowship, you can leave without paying any penalty. But if you leave any time after 1 month, you will have to pay 2 lacs. They also take a caution deposit (deduct a certain percent from your salary till the end of fellowship) which is returned after you finish. Another Note-  The reviewer wanted to particularly mention that life in the SNC campus is good, they've got a clubhouse and other sports and entertainment aspects so fellows definitely have options for leisure after work. It's not a dead zone in campus after working hours.

2 years duration  Selection by Interview- fixed intake, twice in a year Stipend 30k No: of fellows taken is variable depending on their needs, generally two. Includes phaco training. Supracapsular phaco is done here. ( Admin note - Phaco technique in Agarwal's is not the standard taught in other hospitals, here they do what is called Supracapsular phaco where the cataract is popped out of the bag and then emulsified in AC.) I (reviewer) am not really sure how seniors who have passed out with supracapsular technique are faring outside. Most already know other phaco techniques before joining or join back at Agarwal's after the fellowship.   Hands-on starts after 6 months, stepwise progression to individual cases, Senior consultants train you. Ocular tumors and pediatric ROP cases exposure is lesser. Hectic yes. Not sure I can quantify the numbers for VR fellows, but definitely more than sufficient .  A Medical Retina person would get around 300-500 lasers, and about 25-50 injections over a 6 month period.  Whereas a VR would get double that in the same period and more when considering 18 months are still left. Good & experienced VR surgeons and Trainers Surgical cases variety and volume are good too but subject to number of Foreign/Short term trainees, if they are more, then in-house fellows get lesser chances. Among retinal surgeries, Vit hemorrhage forms the major bulk, followed by ERM, TRD, RRD and macular holes after one reaches sufficient level of competence. Secondary IOLs and nucleus drops too.  But hands-on for these (secondary IOLs, nucleus drops) are shared also with every other speciality fellow in Agarwal's, since Amar sir (Dr Amar Agarwal) believes a competent phaco surgeon should know the above.  ROP exposure is very minimal, no hands-on for lasers & intravit injections. Plenty of peripheral postings are there. Because Agarwal's is one of the faster expanding corporate hospitals, fellows can find themselves suddenly posted without notice for duties at peripheral centres. Camp duties once a month, night duties once a month Classes are there but are not very regular . Timings 8:30 to 6 pm with a caveat that OT sometimes starts at 6:30 am too.

(This is diff from their General Ophthalmology fellowship which is purely SICS fellowship with 5-10 phacos in last month.) This is strictly a cataract fellowship , no refractive training. Duration 1.5 yrs You are promised 250 SICS and 100 phacos Stipend 50k 2 fellows taken per session Selection- MCQ exam + interview  Under RGUHS so there is an exit exam You start with SICS, initially 1-2 cases per OT. One OT per week. Depending on how well you pick up and your speed, they give more, some 5-6 cases/ OT. Work timings 8.30 - 6 pm  Sundays usually off except for 1 Sunday duty or 1 Sunday camp per month Night duties once every 10 days (depending on how many DNBs and fellows there are)- fellows are first call but calls are never busy. Peripheral postings at 2 of their branches where you have to see OP, no OT there. Posting may be for a week or 3 days depending which place you are sent. But they compensate for this lost week by giving you more cases in the next OT. No refractive procedures done here. No complication management or advanced cataract cases given, but you get those if you continue after fellowship.

Duration 1.5 yrs Stipend 50k 2 fellows taken per session under RGUHS but if they don't get any fellows, they take what is known as "house fellows" who do the same fellowship but only for 12 months. Selection- MCQ exam + interview  Under RGUHS so there is an exit exam Cataract cases given but only SICS, no phaco You start with SICS, initially 1-2 cases per ot One OT per week Cornea OT is twice a week You start with cataracts in 2nd month Cornea side, you start with simpler surgeries- pterygiums, C3R, AMG etc  Gradually you get hands-on for therapeutic KPs and optical KPs It's mostly steps in keratoplasties till the end, rare to get to do independent cases Work timings 8.30 - 6 pm  Sundays usually off except for 1 Sunday duty or 1 Sunday camp per month Night duties once every 10 days (depending on how many DNBs and fellows there are)- fellows are first call but calls are never busy. Peripheral postings at 2 branches where you have to see OP, no OT there. Posting may be for a week or 3 days depending which place you are sent. But they compensate for this lost week by giving you more cases in the next OT. No refractive procedures done at the main hospital.  Only PRKs done here and that too by the seniormost consultant at an attached hospital elsewhere- cornea fellows are posted by turn and may get hands-on for PRK (depends on fellow's skill and luck).

Duration 18 months Selection exam+ interview Under RGUHS so there is an exit exam. You start with SICS in camp pts and once you become proficient, you become trainer to junior fellows and PGs.. next stage is they give you SICS in private pts.. then based on your skill and dexterity, they start phaco soon after. Phaco training usually starts in first year or at least by the end of 1st yr. Cataract OT runs every day Camps also every day (sometimes even 2-3 in a day) Before moving to phaco, they also teach you to do ant vitrectomy and put iris claws. You get good number of phacos, around 200+ with progression to topical phacos by the end. Refractive exposure ++, may get to do an occasional PRK or SMILE. Some penalties - if a normal cataract camp pt ends up requiring iris claw lenses due to complications, the fellow has to pay the extra cost. Work environment very hectic but not toxic. Peripheral postings to other centres are there. Night duties and Sunday calls + with turns depending on no of fellows. Overall, a good fellowship since you exit as an independent phaco surgeon with experience in iris claws and anterior vitrectomy and also topical phacos.

Duration 18 months 2 fellows taken every 6 months Admission fee of 2 lacs taken- not refunded  Stipend 75k (you get whole amount in hand, no TDS cut or other cuts) Accommodation not provided, they may arrange some family flats a little far away from the hospital where either family/ 2-3 fellows share a flat Nethradhama has a trust hospital where fellows do their surgeries, the main hospital services private pts so independent cases are never given, fellow is trained only in steps. Cataract hands-on given but no phaco training. Start with SICS in the 1st month, more cases given as you get proficient. You also get to operate advanced cases (small pupil, PXF etc) since the phacoref fellows tend to take the good, NS2 well dilating pupils leaving the "bad" cases for glaucoma fellows to operate.. but that bodes well for the glaucoma fellow ultimately. (Btw every specialty dept in Nethradhama takes 2-3 fellows every 6 months but PhacoRef dept has the largest number of fellows- around 24 at any point of time, since they take 4-6 fellows every 6 months) Trabs are started from 4th month onwards, usually combined SICS trabs. You get to learn steps like conj suturing when consultants train you in private hosp OT but when you go to the camp side, there are no glaucoma consultants or seniors there to supervise/ train you. Camp OT has mostly phaco and SICS trainers and they cannot guide you if you plan to do trab. As a result, most glaucoma fellows do mostly cataracts in camp OT. This means all the SICS cases in the camp side plus the steps they got for trab cases in the private side constitute majority of the glaucoma fellow's surgical experience over 18 months. Work environment- not hectic unless you're the only fellow (ie, if other fellows are on camps/ leave/ OT etc) Dept has 2 glaucoma consultants, both are approachable  Work timings 8-6 pm You get to see MIGS, GATT when they are done but no hands-on given except maybe to implant 2-3 i-Stents (depends on your luck). Sunday duties once every 6 weeks, night calls once every 2 weeks (not busy) and camps 1-2 times a week Academics- regular classes every Wed Monetary Penalties are there- Fine of 5 lacs imposed if you quit fellowship midway plus you have to return all your stipends. Every nucleus drop or IOL drop- fellow charged 10,000/- per case Every camp pt OT cancel- 5,000/- (taken from the fellow who went as camp doctor)

Duration 18 months 2 fellows taken/session Stipend 50k Selection for very 1st batch was by interview but next batch fellows were selected on recommendations given by senior professors 1 fellow is posted for 1 yr in IOL while the other fellow works 6 months in MR after which both switch IOL part of fellowship 1 year duration. OT is 3 days/ week (Tues, Thurs, Sat) and you get 1 case per OT, number increases as speed and skill picks up.  Starts with SICS and then as soon as you have mastered it, you move on to phaco. Phaco training can start after 6 months, again 1 case per OT (if you already know SICS well, your phaco hands-on starts earlier) 1st batch fellows did some 100+ SICS over 6 months and then 60 phacos over next 6 months. On non-OT days, work starts from 8.30, goes till 6.30. In OP, you are with Sai sir (Dr Saikumar) working up and seeing sir's pts.   On OT days you have to be in OT by 7.30 and while OT is over by 3, work gets over only by 6. Sunday post-op rounds to be done by the IOL fellow. MR part of fellowship 6 months duration. You get good amount of lasers (PRP, barrage) and injections (intravitreals, ozurdex implants) Common to both fellows: Sunday calls (1/month) and night calls (3/month as 2nd on call to PGs) are also there. Fellows go for Sunday camps every alternate month. No peripheral postings. Overall, a decent fellowship to get trained in phaco while also picking up medical retina skills.

Duration 2 years 2 fellows taken every 2 yrs Stipend 50k Selection by interview No phaco training. There are 4 retina consultants but fellow training mainly happens under Dr Divya (paediatric retina surgeon).   When they start hands-on depends on your surg skill, if your tissue handling is good you can start getting ports and sutures in 1st month itself. Else your initial 3-4 months will be spent observing and assisting. Lots of free hands-on for lasers and injections. You are given mostly steps in retinal surgeries till the end of fellowship. Because all patients are paying pts, the scope to do full cases independently is zero. But depending on how you pick up steps, you will get to do more and more steps in surgeries.. short of doing it entirely yourself. You get hands-on for everything, VH, mac holes, RD surgeries etc.. TRD cases are routinely not given to fellows. Clinical op exposure is good, wide variety of cases+  Night duties once a week, Sunday duty once a month, camp duties once every 2 months. Academics- no regular classes, mostly self learning. ROP exposure is limited to learning ROP screening, since the paediatric hospital is a separate building.. No hands-on given for lasers or injections in ROP babies.  Note - they take a non-refundable admission fee before you join fellowship- 1 lac for 2 yr fellowship, there are rumours of the fee increasing to 2 lacs from 2026 onwards.

Duration 2 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 18 months of PhacoRef posting Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1-2 fellows taken once/ twice a year- on need basis 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 admission fees. No penalties for any cataract surgery complications. At the start, you are assigned a senior consultant as mentor (can be from any speciality dept) who trains you one-on-one in SICS and phaco and also in managing complications.  They start you on SICS after 1st month while in Gen Ophthal, you get an average of 1000 SICS over 2 years. You are also gradually taught to manage your own complications (put CTR, iris hooks, iris claws, do ant vitrectomy etc) Phaco cases are given after 6-7 months. Once you are able to do phaco on your own, then your mentor no longer supervises you and you do all cases by urself thereafter.  Can expect an average of 200-300 phacos No topical phacos given. Refractive procedures-  After 6-12 months, you are given refractive procedures.  First they make you do some 7-10 C3Rs to get a feel for epith scraping after which toy are given PRK You get only PRKs (40-45)  Lasik not given. SMILE not done here (no machine). 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).. you start Sunday duty at 8 pm do till 8am Monday then you're off for the day to come back again at 8pm Monday and to do call till 8 am Tuesday and so on.. till Saturday. Camps are usually on Sunday- one Sunday camp duty per month You exit as independent SICS surgeon with good phaco experience (depending on numbers). No topical phaco experience though.

Duration= 2 years Selection by interview, random intake on need basis Stipend 90k per month for 2 years Fellows per session- Depends but ranges from 1-3 They also have paid VR fellowship option- it's usually 6 Lakh for one year paid surgical VR without any stipend Any cataract/ phaco hands-on? Nil.. No ... Nada First you develop medical retina skills with diagnosis and investigations (OPD postings) and OT postings are also there where intravit inj. are given... Gradually retinal lasers given under supervision but later they give full fledged laser room to perform lasers in all patients. Initially only lasers and anti vegf then gradually give steps of surgery For surgery- they start with core vitrectomy- then nucleus drop cases of social/free segment- then steps of RD/ Macular hole surgeries. Almost nil ROP surgeries exposure though. Usually fellows exit the program with independent macular hole surgeries done. Clinical exposure- depends on the consultant where you are posted - some see 30 pts per day where you will get to know indepth about everything from patient- disease - prognosis and some consultants see 100 pts per day so you get exposure in a rush setting also where you just diagnose and there isn't much discussion about the disease or topic .. usually lots of cases and a good variety. It's non toxic and borderline hectic environment; slightly more than residency but not so hectic. You get free at 6-7 pm everyday except rarely when some surgeon is still operating in OT (usually consultants tell fellows if they wish can leave). All consultants train fellows- some give good hands on and some impart good clinical skills Lots of lasers and intravit injection hands-on... enough to get you very bored and very confident. No ROP hands on and very few cases of ROP screening- you get to examine a few cases in 2 years, that's it. Peripheral postings- in Kolkata and Berhampore centre are given... Night calls equally divided between DNB and all fellows so maybe 1-2 night per month which is non hectic.. some1-5 pts per night duty. Academics were lacking but now Retina dept conducts own dept classes without DNB where they have raised the quality of classes above DNB level. Daily work timings- 8.30am to 5.30pm but it extends to 6-6.30pm usually Susrut used to have a service bond of 3 years and they preferred to take local docs or docs who were willing to move to Kolkata for their fellowships... However bond is not formal or rigidly enforced, if fellow was not willing they could intimate the management of the same and leave after fellowship was done. Currently, there are rumours that there is no bond for upcoming sessions, this needs to be clarified at the time of selection interview.

[This fellowship is different from their exclusive Medical Retina fellowship which is 1 year.] 2 years duration Medical Retina 1 year Uvea posting 1 year Stipend 55k Uvea posting- very good Uvea exposure- OPD wise is great Sx chance you get weekly once in Guindy branch.. One month only cataract posting in Guindy branch when doing 1 yr Uvea posting They start with ECCE and then do Blumenthal SICS.. Phaco also.. Surgical training.. basics one-to-one training is very good.. SICS.. around 40 Phaco some 10 cases Case no:s depends on your proficiency and personal progress.. Complicated cases are given to fellows but for SICS.. No vitrectomy exposure Medical Retina posting Opd exposure good Laser chances ok-ok.. usually given in last 2 months.. approx 100 lasers you can expect  Intravitreal injections not much given, usually 10, max 15-20 For Ozurdex inj, AC tap, PST inj, you have to keep asking for chances. There is also ROP training.. we get exposure.. not much, only what cases come to OPD. No hands-on for ROP lasers or injections. Other than that, you can be independent with retinal lasers and injections by the end.. Dutywise- Ward duty monthly twice.. Sunday duty monthly once Night duty monthly twice. Not hectic.. Work is 8-5.. differs on OT days.. You have monthly posting with diff consultant 2 OT days with consultant.. you observe the OT and do case entry work... lots of file entry work. Good clinical exposure.. Personally feel this fellowship is suitable for candidates not interested in surgery (since cataract numbers are so low). You have to know Hindi.. I (reviewer) didn't know Hindi so I had it tough.. but I picked up.. In SN, it's mostly Hindi patients or Bengali..

Duration- 18 months Selection is only by interview Stipend is 25k 1-2 fellows taken per session when the previous ones are about to finish. It's a pure cornea fellowship. No cataract surgeries given. This is a charitable hospital, there is no refractive setup so no refractive exposure. The cornea hands on is good, the numbers are not as much as other high volume centers but whatever case comes, they'll let you do.  They'll give DSAEK also once you're doing well with the PKs There are no camp duties. No night/ holiday duties. Academics- no formal classes but consultant is a good teacher, it's up to the fellow to read up. It's not at all toxic. Timings from 8 to 4 or sometimes 5 depending on the ward work.