Development of a standardized Canadian undergraduate medical education ophthalmology curriculum

To create a standardized undergraduate medicine ophthalmology curriculum for Canadian medical schools.

Two-stage modified Delphi technique.

Undergraduate ophthalmology leads at all the medical schools in Canada and 6 nonophthalmologist physicians with medical education expertise.

In stage 1, a preliminary list of curricular objectives was developed using the 2018 Association of University Professors in Ophthalmology's list of curricular objectives as a foundation. Subsequently, an online survey was sent to 24 individuals (18 ophthalmology undergraduate curriculum leads and 6 non-ophthalmology medical educators) at 17 institutions to evaluate the objectives using a 5-point Likert-type scale. In stage 2, the ophthalmology curriculum leads were invited to participate in a virtual meeting during which the list of curricular objectives was discussed and finalized by consensus.

In stage 1, a preliminary list of 76 learning objectives organized into 10 overarching topics was developed. A total of 21 survey responses were received (87.5% response rate), allowing for the creation of a revised list. In stage 2, five participants from four schools met, achieving consensus following one round of feedback. The final undergraduate ophthalmology curriculum contained 10 topics and 75 objectives; it covered common presentations of a variety of acute and chronic eye diseases that were felt to be relevant to a wide medical audience.

The consensus obtained on a comprehensive list of undergraduate medicine ophthalmology curricular objectives identified in this study is the first of its kind in Canada. These objectives can be used by medical schools across Canada to standardize undergraduate ophthalmology teaching.