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How to become an ophthalmologist? What is the best uni for this course? I have very good grade in a levels maths, physics, chemistry, biology

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Reply 1
Avatar for hslakaal
hslakaal
17
Original post by Emad1993
How to become an ophthalmologist? What is the best uni for this course? I have very good grade in a levels maths, physics, chemistry, biology


1. Enter medical school
2. Spend 5~6 years in medical school
3. Pass all exams while attending
4. Spend 2 years doing the Foundation Programme (Junior Doc)
5. Apply for ST1 training in ophthalmology
6. Beat ratio of approx 5:1 applicant: places
7. Work as a trainee for ~7 years
8. Pass another couple of college exams
9. Maybe become a consultant
10. Voila! You're now an ophthalmogist :biggrin:
Reply 2
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
I wanna do it in top universities like Cambridge or Oxford or UCL, I don't wanna do it in medical schools, is that possible ?
Reply 3
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by hslakaal
1. Enter medical school
2. Spend 5~6 years in medical school
3. Pass all exams while attending
4. Spend 2 years doing the Foundation Programme (Junior Doc)
5. Apply for ST1 training in ophthalmology
6. Beat ratio of approx 5:1 applicant: places
7. Work as a trainee for ~7 years
8. Pass another couple of college exams
9. Maybe become a consultant
10. Voila! You're now an ophthalmogist :biggrin:

I will be finishing my Alevels so why do i need do foundation program ?
Original post by Emad1993
I wanna do it in top universities like Cambridge or Oxford or UCL, I don't wanna do it in medical schools, is that possible ?


Those 3 universities have medical schools.

You have to go to medical school if you want to be an ophthalmologist.

Original post by Emad1993
I will be finishing my Alevels so why do i need do foundation program ?


The foundation programme is 2 years of postgraduate training that's required for all graduating doctors. You might be thinking of medicine with a foundation year, which is a university course for those who want to be a doctor, but didn't do science A-levels.
Reply 5
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by Hype en Ecosse
Those 3 universities have medical schools.

You have to go to medical school if you want to be an ophthalmologist.



The foundation programme is 2 years of postgraduate training that's required for all graduating doctors. You might be thinking of medicine with a foundation year, which is a university course for those who want to be a doctor, but didn't do science A-levels.

None of these universities unfortunately offer ophthalmology course for undergraduate students :frown:
Reply 6
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by Emad1993
None of these universities unfortunately offer ophthalmology course for undergraduate students :frown:


do you know any university or medical school that offers ophthalmology for undergraduate students?
Original post by Emad1993
None of these universities unfortunately offer ophthalmology course for undergraduate students :frown:


Well no, as has already been said, ophthalmology is a medical specialty, therefore you need to first graduate as a doctor, then embark on specialty training.

Unless you are getting confused with optometry - as in who you'd see when getting your eyesight checked for glasses prescriptions, which is an entirely different, non-medical course and career.
Reply 8
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by hslakaal
1. Enter medical school
2. Spend 5~6 years in medical school
3. Pass all exams while attending
4. Spend 2 years doing the Foundation Programme (Junior Doc)
5. Apply for ST1 training in ophthalmology
6. Beat ratio of approx 5:1 applicant: places
7. Work as a trainee for ~7 years
8. Pass another couple of college exams
9. Maybe become a consultant
10. Voila! You're now an ophthalmogist :biggrin:

what is ST1 and ST3 ?
Reply 9
Avatar for CraigKirk
CraigKirk
14
You should probably look over this to gain an understanding of the different types of eye specialist professions. But, do NOT read the parts about training because that's the American system and is different to the UK.

As you can see, an ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who specialises in the physiology and disease of the eye. As such, there is no such thing as an 'ophthalmology course' - the course you're looking for is medicine. However, there are degree courses in optometry and orthoptics, which focus on certain aspects of the eye. Then, with even less training you can become an optician.
Reply 10
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by Mushi_master
Well no, as has already been said, ophthalmology is a medical specialty, therefore you need to first graduate as a doctor, then embark on specialty training.

Unless you are getting confused with optometry - as in who you'd see when getting your eyesight checked for glasses prescriptions, which is an entirely different, non-medical course and career.


I see , no i don't wanna become optometrist and i know the difference but i can't find any good medical school or uni that offers ophthalmology for undergraduate students, another question is that , an ophthalmologist knows how to check eyes right? I mean he know everything about optometry as well right?
Original post by Emad1993
I see , no i don't wanna become optometrist and i know the difference but i can't find any good medical school or uni that offers ophthalmology for undergraduate students, another question is that , an ophthalmologist knows how to check eyes right? I mean he know everything about optometry as well right?

That's because that course ​does not exist.
And yes, an ophthalmologist should indeed know how to check eyes, otherwise how will they make any clinical findings? They will know about lenses too, but probably won't deal much with the practicalities of making or adjusting them finely - they should mainly know what to prescribe.
(edited 10 years ago)
Reply 12
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by CraigKirk
That's because that course ​does not exist.
And yes, an ophthalmologist should indeed know how to check eyes, otherwise how will they make any clinical findings? They will know about lenses too, but probably won't deal much with the practicalities of making or adjusting them finely - they should mainly know what to prescribe.

so what do i have to do to start my ophthalmology course as a student that has only A-levels in maths and science with high grades ? which uni or medical school ?
Original post by Emad1993
so what do i have to do to start my ophthalmology course as a student that has only A-levels in maths and science with high grades ? which uni or medical school ?

You don't start an ophthalmology course. You start a degree in medicine at any of the 32 (or so) medical schools in the UK. You will be able to find the course requirements quite easily online or indeed, on TSR. Applying for medicine requires a lot of research that you will need to do yourself, but tbh if you are not interested in studying medicine for all other aspects of the career, it's probably not something you should consider.
Reply 14
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Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by CraigKirk
You don't start an ophthalmology course. You start a degree in medicine at any of the 32 (or so) medical schools in the UK. You will be able to find the course requirements quite easily online or indeed, on TSR. Applying for medicine requires a lot of research that you will need to do yourself, but tbh if you are not interested in studying medicine for all other aspects of the career, it's probably not something you should consider.

lol becoming an ophthalmologist is my dream, I am really interested in the course, I have so many books about ophthalmology in my house, but anyway you mean there is no such a course that is called ophthalmology for undergraduate right? you have to first to the general medicine and choose your desired area of specialty when you got your BSc ?
Original post by Emad1993
lol becoming an ophthalmologist is my dream, I am really interested in the course, I have so many books about ophthalmology in my house, but anyway you mean there is no such a course that is called ophthalmology for undergraduate right? you have to first to the general medicine and choose your desired area of specialty when you got your BSc ?

Refer to post#2. It isn't a BSc btw, and it is a long road. You will have to do a lot of training in areas that are largely unrelated to ophthalmology before you can become an ophthalmologist, meaning you can expect not to be a fully qualified ophthalmologist for about 14-16 years after starting medical school. If the eye is the only thing you're interested in, you're gonna have to do a lot of bull****ting your way into medical school and after that you'll get massively bored and find it difficult to motivate yourself through the rest of that training, which is like 95% NOT ophthalmology.

In you position, I would seriously consider going into one of the other professional roles, i.e. optician, optometrist, orthoptist.
Reply 16
Avatar for Emad1993
Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by CraigKirk
Refer to post#2. It isn't a BSc btw, and it is a long road. You will have to do a lot of training in areas that are largely unrelated to ophthalmology before you can become an ophthalmologist, meaning you can expect not to be a fully qualified ophthalmologist for about 14-16 years after starting medical school. If the eye is the only thing you're interested in, you're gonna have to do a lot of bull****ting your way into medical school and after that you'll get massively bored and find it difficult to motivate yourself through the rest of that training, which is like 95% NOT ophthalmology.

In you position, I would seriously consider going into one of the other professional roles, i.e. optician, optometrist, orthoptist.

oh i see , thanks for your information anyway. I will investigate about it more , if you have any useful resource about ophthalmology please send it to me if you don't mind , thanks
Original post by Emad1993
oh i see , thanks for your information anyway. I will investigate about it more , if you have any useful resource about ophthalmology please send it to me if you don't mind , thanks

http://www.medicalcareers.nhs.uk/specialty_pages/ophthalmology.aspx

The links at the bottom will be particularly helpful, especially the postgraduate training one which states you require an MBBS or equivalent (google it).
As other posters have stated, an ophthalmologist is an eye doctor. You need to do a 5 year MBChB, then your 2 foundation years training as a junior doctor then try and get onto an ophthalmology specialist training programme.
Reply 19
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Emad1993
OP
13
Original post by tibbles209
As other posters have stated, an ophthalmologist is an eye doctor. You need to do a 5 year MBChB, then your 2 foundation years training as a junior doctor then try and get onto an ophthalmology specialist training programme.

what is MBChB ?

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