A new tool for testing and training ophthalmoscopic skills.

Introduction: The direct fundoscopic examination is an important clinical skill, yet the examination is difficult to teach and competency is difficult to assess. Currently there is no defined proficiency assessment for this physical examination, and the objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of a simulation model for evaluating the fundoscopic skills of residents.

Methods: Emergency medicine and ophthalmology residents participated in simulation sessions using a commercially available eye simulator that was modified with customized slides. The slides were designed with the goal of having a quantifiable measure of visualization in addition to a more traditional descriptive outcome. To assess feasibility, participants' ease of use, time to perform the examination, and user satisfaction were assessed.

Results: The simulation could be completed in a timely fashion (mean time per slide, 61-95 seconds), and there were no significant differences in performance between emergency medicine and ophthalmology residents in completion of this task. Residents expressed an interest in fundoscopy through simulation but found this model technically challenging.

Conclusions: This simulation model has potential as a means of training and testing fundoscopy. A concern was low user satisfaction, and further refinement of the model is needed.