Enhancing medical student education in ophthalmology can lead to improved eye health care delivery and patient outcomes across all primary care and specialty disciplines. There has been a resurgence of interest in delivering high-quality ophthalmic medical student education. This educational revival is both timely and topical. A general consensus has emerged that, rather than focusing solely on increasing teaching time, strategies are needed to focus on how to optimize the limited time allotted to ophthalmology.

The Coalition for Physician Accountability is comprised of national organizations responsible for oversight, education and assessment of medical students and physicians throughout their medical career. The coalition's mission is to improve the quality of healthcare for the public. A new coalition committee was created in 2020 to focus on the UME to GME transition, shifting attention from residency matching to learner competency and readiness for residency training.

This review was authored by many members of the AUPO Medical Student Educators to provide a continued assessment of ophthalmic medical student education. The report detailed findings of a 2018 survey of medical student educators. Findings included: 

An editorial detailing the worldwide impact on ophthalmic education at all levels. The discussion reviews changes in clinical experiences, the use of virtual conferencing and education and future challenges.

Purpose of review:  The purpose of this review is to describe the transition of ophthalmology education to a virtual curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight innovative solutions ophthalmic educators implemented for medical students, residents, and fellows. 

Three-digit United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scores have assumed an outsized role in residency selection decisions, creating intense pressure for medical students to obtain a high score on this exam. In February 2020, the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners announced that Step 1 would transition to pass/fail scoring beginning in 2022.