To examine the ability of recent Canadian ophthalmology graduates to commence clinical practice and obtain surgical privileges. A secondary objective was to assess their perception of the adequacy of their residency training.
An Internet questionnaire survey.
Canadian graduates of Canadian ophthalmology residency programs between 2005 and 2009, inclusive.
Email addresses for the participants were obtained from the Canadian Ophthalmological Society and invitations to participate were sent, followed by 2 reminder emails.
A 44% response rate was obtained (65 out of 154 emails sent). Of the respondents, 91% were working full time, and 89% had operating-room time. Training was adequate for all CanMEDs competencies except working as a manager. Assessment that one's practice did not live up to expectations correlated with male gender, dissatisfaction with location, inability to get operating-room time, inability to get other hospital resources, feelings about fairness of distribution of resources, and net income below expectations.
For the most part, recent graduates are successful in establishing practices that meet their expectations. Training in management skills should be improved in residency programs.
Notes
Comment In: Can J Ophthalmol. 2012 Jun;47(3):195-622687291