Uptake pattern of training programs over two decades at an International Ophthalmic Training Institute in India

Inadequacy of trained human resources is a critical challenge for eye-care delivery worldwide. Recognizing this, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for Prevention of Blindness had identified the development of human resources as one of the focal areas in the global initiative "Vision 2020: The Right to Sight." The global action plan of the WHO also emphasized the need for trained workforce for ensuring comprehensive eye-care services. We aimed to present the uptake pattern of training programs offered at a high-volume training institute in India.

We did a retrospective analysis of data related to training programs conducted between 2000 and 2019. Trainees included ophthalmologists, allied ophthalmic personnel, and eye-care management professionals from all over the world. We analyzed the overall growth over the 20 years in the WHO regions. The uptake patterns were also analyzed across four segments of 5-year-periods by the type of training.

Overall, 9091 trainees from 118 countries attended training in over 40 courses that included long- and short-term clinical training for ophthalmologists (54.2%) and short-term training for eye-care managers (29.5%), allied ophthalmic personnel (6.2%), and eye-care technicians (10.2%). The majority of the trainees (81.3%) came from the Southeast Asian region, of which 87.4% were from India. Most (98.3%) of the trainees belonged to developing countries. We found an overall average growth of 4.8% in the training uptake across the four 5-year segments over the 20 years.

Comparatively better representation of trainees from the developing countries is encouraging as the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment is higher in those countries, warranting improved eye-care delivery. Given the strong influence of distance and associated costs of accessing training, the development of similar institutes in other regions might help enhance the global efforts to eliminate needless blindness.