Objective:

To evaluate the effectiveness of a one-day training intervention on direct ophthalmoscopy skills among allied ophthalmic personnel (AOP) students in Zambia.

Approach:

Key Findings:

• Both groups improved over the study period, indicating that practice supports skill development.
• The intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in overall knowledge, examination technique, and disc classification.
• 80% of participants had performed direct ophthalmoscopy fewer than five times before the study.

Interpretation:

Embedding frugal, competency-based ophthalmoscopy modules into AOP curricula could enhance glaucoma detection capabilities in low-resource settings.

Limitations:

• The study had a small sample size of 30 students.
• Limited previous exposure to ophthalmoscopy among participants may affect generalizability.

Conclusion:

Modest gains in recognizing glaucomatous features may require additional reinforcement through refresher teaching or supervised practice.

Sources:

• Eye Journal
Source

Based on findings from:

Improving Glaucoma Detection in Zambia

The Ophthalmologist, 2026.

https://theophthalmologist.com/issues/2026/articles/july/improving-glaucoma-detection-in-zambia/

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