Master of Medicine in Ophthalmology

  1. Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) or its equivalent with at least 5 passes
  2. Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) or its equivalent with at least 2 principal passes.
  3. An Honors degree from an accredited degree awarding institution
  4. Candidates who have a Pass degree should have at least a Postgraduate Diploma with at least a credit from an accredited degree awarding institution.

Additionally, for international applicants:

  1. Applicants whose first language or medium of instruction is not English, must provide evidence from a recognized English language training institution that they have sufficient command of English language.
  2. Applicants should have their documents verified by NCHE.
  3. Applicants should have their degree certificate and transcript translated and converted into an equivalent of Ugandan Universities’ CGPA

For applicants to clinical programmes;

    1. Have documentary evidence of Internship Training indicating disciplines and dates.
    2. Be registered or eligible for registration with Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council.
    3. A current certificate of good standing with the Medical Practitioners’ Council of the country of origin.

An honors degree in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery

Code

PROGRAMME

DURATION

UGANDAN STUDENTS

 

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

 

 

 

 

TUITION (SHS.) per Semester

FUNCTIONAL FEES (SHS.) per year

 TUITION (SHS.) per Semester

 FUNCTIONAL FEES (SHS.) per year

MMED

Master of Medicine in Ophthalmology

3

1,400,000

1,270,000

2,800,000

2,540,000

Other Fees    
ITEM Ugandan International
NCHE 20,000 USD. 50
Smart ID Card 33,000 USD. 10
Application Fees Undergraduate 50,000 USD. 50
Application Completion programmes 80,000 USD. 50
Application Fees Postgraduate 50,000 USD. 50
Application Fees PHD 100,000 USD. 100
Certification Fees 3,000  
Graduation Fees 20,000 USD. 50
Transcript Fees 25,000 USD. 50
Certificate Fees 25,000 USD. 50
Partial Transcript 20,000 USD. 10
Convocation 10,000 USD. 50
Retake Fees 30,000 USD. 10
Application Fees for Change of Programme 10,000 USD. 10
Replacement of Admission Letter 10,000 USD. 10

MASTER OF MEDICINE IN OPHTHALMOLOGY

Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) started in 1989 as the second public university in Uganda. The Department of Ophthalmology started in 1994 by teaching ophthalmology to undergraduate students in their fourth year. In 2003, in response to the need for increasing academic staff in the department and for contributing to the regional demand for ophthalmologists, a residency programme was started. Trainees have come from Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Somalia, Guyana, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The support of Ruharo Eye Centre of Ankole Diocese, other Ophthalmology Departments in East Africa, international NGOs, especially CBM, Light for the World, Sightsavers, European Union, Lions Clubs International Foundation, and Latter-Day Saints Charities has enabled training to progress. Despite the tremendous progress made in the last decade, major challenges of staffing remain a significant threat to training and service delivery in our department.

The training sites:

Mbarara University and Referral Hospital Eye Centre

The department of Ophthalmology at MUST with support from the European Union co-funded the construction of the self-contained eye department training which has facilitated residency training and enabled an increase in capacity.

This hospital unit called “Mbarara University and Referral Hospital Eye Centre” (MURHEC) is under administration by the ophthalmology department of Mbarara university. The staff contribution is from the University under the Ministry of Education, the Regional Referral Hospital under the ministry of health, and part-time staff from current projects. The University staff includes four ophthalmologists and 22 postgraduate doctors. The RRH staff includes two ophthalmic clinical officers, eight nurses, and two cleaners. The current projects contribute to two ophthalmologists, one microbiologist, one optometrist, three nurses, seven fundus camera technicians, three records assistants, and one driver. Ophthalmology activities are housed in a one-storied building premised at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.

This building houses:

  • Administration: 3 offices (1 shared between faculty, 1 Head of Department, and 1 general office for the nursing in-charge), 1 Seminar room, 1 Wet lab, 1 Kitchen area, Large waiting corridors
  • Outpatient department: 1 Pharmacy, 1 Optical refraction room, 3 consultation rooms, 1 Optical shop, 1 OCT room, 1 Investigations room (Visual field and Fundus camera and Argon laser are all housed in this room), 1 Research office, Large waiting corridors.
  • In-Patient wards: Male and female wards, 10-bed capacity and a private VIP room, 1 consultation room, 1 nursing duty room
  • Theatre: 2 large operating rooms, with a large sterilization area, 1 recovery room, 1 Duty room. The operating theatre runs from Tuesday to Friday, operating an average of about seven patients a day.
  • In addition, also houses a state-of-the-art microbiology lab and a corneal research room equipped with a confocal microscope as part of ongoing corneal research work. Also, currently houses “Camtech” a MUST innovation centre that helps doctors design lifesaving tools.

These staffs offer comprehensive eye health care that includes paediatric ophthalmology, oculoplastic surgeries, cataract surgeries, corneal repair and transplants, medical retina services and glaucoma management with the capacity to handle both out and in-patient care.

The department has a number of ongoing projects.

The main project is the Microbial Keratitis Clinical Trial,

https://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2018/lshtm-lead-vital-research-severe-corneal-infections-low-and-middle-income

The newly granted 3-year Comprehensive Eye Care project for Kigezi Region

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine focuses on research mentorship in simulated Cataract surgeries, Microbial Keratitis research, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Retinoblastoma

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary focuses on capacity building of faculty to provide more specialized services such as Corneal transplants, orbit surgery, and Pediatric ophthalmology

Lions Clubs International Foundation and Latter-Day Saints Charities fund the ongoing DR screening project and the newly approved Comprehensive Eye Care project for the Kigezi region.

COECSA, which supports standardization of Training

Ruharo Mission Hospital Eye Centre

This is a church-based private-not-for-profit eye hospital that is a part of a larger Ruharo mission hospital offering general medical care. It is located 5km from the main campus of Mbarara University. Resident doctors from Mbarara University also undertake clinical rotations here.

The staff at Ruharo mission eye centre includes five ophthalmologists, four ophthalmic clinical officers, six ophthalmic nurses, and one optometrist.

The staff is housed in three build premises that make up:

  • The Outpatient department: 1 Pharmacy, 1 Optical refraction room, 5 consultation rooms, 1 Optical shop, 1 low vision room, 1 Investigations room (Visual field and YAG laser are all housed in this room), 1 Research office, 2 Large waiting areas, Four administrative offices, and 1 resource center.
  • In-Patient wards: Male and female wards, 20-bed capacity and two private wings, 1 consultation room, and 2 nursing duty rooms.
  • Theatre: 2 Large Theatre rooms, with a large sterilization area, 1 recovery room, and 1 Duty room. The operating theatre runs from Tuesday to Friday with an average of about 10 patients a day.

This staff offers comprehensive eye health care that includes oculoplastic surgeries, cataract surgeries, corneal repair, and glaucoma management with the capacity to handle both out and in-patient care.

The Ruharo eye Centre has ongoing projects.

  1. The retinoblastoma project, where there is screening, and management offered to retinoblastoma patients in the whole of Uganda.
  2. The Microbial keratitis clinical trial.
  3. The PEEK app project in collaboration with Christian Blind Mission (CBM)

PHILOSOPHY

Community-based education, research and services, and competency-based curriculum for training eye health professionals.

CORE VALUES

Excellence – by providing performance standards and guidelines

Teamwork – by encouraging participatory decision making and implementation

Community approach and orientation – by involving all in community-related activities

RESEARCH AND THEMATIC AREAS

The department’s research agenda is in line with the broader global eye health agenda and the COECSA research agenda. Our current research focus covers the leading causes of blindness and visual impairment. The thematic areas include:

Cataract-Improving backlog, Cataract surgical rates, Improving Cataract Surgical outcomes

Glaucoma-New ways for early detection, treatment efficacy, better management of Glaucoma

Retina research-Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Uncorrected refractive errors-Detection and treatment

Pediatric Ophthalmology-Retinoblastoma research and Retinopathy of Prematurity

Orbit and Oculoplastics- Outcome of orbital and oculoplastic surgeries.

Community Eye Health-How to integrate Primary Eye Care into the mainstream health care system.

SHORT COURSES

The department does not offer any short courses currently.

COLLABORATIONS

Ruharo Mission Hospital of Ankole Church of Uganda Diocese acts as a training site for our residence programme.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine focuses on research mentorship in simulated Cataract surgeries, Microbial Keratitis research, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Retinoblastoma.

University of Edinburgh-MUST collaboration focuses on strengthening training. This includes a senior Lecturer appointed by the University of Edinburgh and stationed to support training and curriculum implementation at MUST, and in the COECSA region.

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary focuses on capacity building of faculty to provide more specialized services such as Corneal transplants, orbit surgery, and Pediatric ophthalmology

Lions Clubs International Foundation and the Church of the Latter-Day Saints Charities focus on service projects to support comprehensive eye care.

Christian Blind Mission (CBM) focuses on supporting residency training and service projects for Glaucoma and Cataract.

PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION

The recent Lancet Global Health Commission report on Global Eye Health reported that in 2020, an estimated 596 million people had distance vision impairment worldwide, of whom 43 million were blind. Another 510 million people had uncorrected near vision impairment, simply because of not having reading spectacles. A large proportion of those affected (90%), live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, encouragingly, more than 90% of people with vision impairment have a preventable or treatable cause with existing highly cost-effective interventions. Eye conditions affect all stages of life, with young children and older people being particularly affected. Crucially, women, rural populations, and ethnic minority groups are more likely to have vision impairment, and this pervasive inequality needs to be addressed. By 2050, population aging, growth, and urbanization might lead to an estimated 895 million people with distance vision impairment, of whom 61 million will be blind. Uganda is estimated to have about 330,000 blind people.

WHO, in partnership with major international eye care NGDOs, launched the “Vision 2020” Global Initiative for the Elimination of Avoidable Blindness in 1999 in order to try and turn this situation around.

Vision 2020 had 3 pillars:

Disease Control

Development of appropriate Technology and Infrastructure

Human Resources Development

The most important of these is ‘Human Resources Development’ The major constraint in the control of blindness in Africa is the persistent shortage of trained manpower, particularly of ophthalmologists. In Uganda, there is about 1 ophthalmologist per 1,000,000 population, a figure far below the 1 per 250,000 population targeted by WHO. This situation is made worse by the fact that most of the ophthalmologists are located in major urban centres, leaving many of the rural people underserved.

The recent LGH made several recommendations on what the UN, governments, international agencies, and eye health stakeholders need to do to catalyze the work of Vision Beyond 2020. Key among these recommendations was investing in eye health:

The report says “The workforce to meet population needs in many countries; major expansion in service capacity is required through increased numbers, sharing tasks, strengthened training, enabling work environments, and effective leadership. Many areas have major shortages of personnel working in eye health. The available workforce needs to be distributed according to population needs. The quality of training for the workforce needs to be updated, with a renewed emphasis on competency. Enabling working environments need to be created, including appropriate support, supervision, and equipment. Long-standing issues of low productivity need to be systematically resolved. Mentoring and other programmes to cultivate an emerging generation of eye health leaders are needed.”

Therefore, this curriculum has been developed with a strong focus on competency. As mentioned in the Core Competencies for the Eye Health Workforce in the WHO African Region.

PROGRAMME JUSTIFICATION

The need for training of ophthalmologists at Mbarara University is great because the demand for more ophthalmologists in Uganda, East, and Central Africa is still high. Ophthalmologists are needed for eye services delivery at national and regional referral hospitals. They are also needed in teaching institutions, private-for-profit, and private-not-for-profit institutions. Several of Uganda’s neighbors have no or insufficient training institutions for ophthalmologists and will therefore be looking to Uganda for support in this area for many years to come. With only 45 ophthalmologists for the current population of 45 million, Uganda’s current deficit of ophthalmologists to meet the WHO target of 1 ophthalmologist per 250,000 is 135.

CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The graduates from this programme will be able to work as independent consultant ophthalmologists in the government, NGO, and private sector in Uganda and the region. They can also progress to enroll in further post-graduate training such as the Master course in Public Health for Eye Care at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the online Masters in Ophthalmology at the University of Edinburgh, and a doctorate research fellowships.

OVERALL AIM OF THE PROGRAMME

To provide competency-based training for ophthalmologists in Uganda and in the region

PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES

  1. To train quality and relevant eye health professionals (Ophthalmologists) through competency-based focused training.
  2. To provide human resources for eye health within the region and beyond
  3. To train eye health professionals to conduct eye health research, innovation, and disseminate the findings.
  4. To improve the knowledge and skills of practicing eye health professionals
  5. To enhance community eye health through a community-based medical education approach.

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES

  1. Trained eye health professionals who have comprehensive knowledge of ocular anatomy, physiology, presentation, and management of eye diseases and are competent to work as independent ophthalmologists.
  2. Trained eye health professionals who can conduct eye health research, innovation, and disseminate the findings.
  3. Trained eye health professionals who have a strong grounding in community eye health and can initiate projects to improve eye health in the community.

INNOVATIONS

The department of ophthalmology recently conducted two clinical trials in collaboration with the International Centre for Eye Health, UK. The trials showed that through simulation training, novice surgeons could become competent in a short time.

  1. Dean WH, Gichuhi S, Buchan JC, et al. Intense Simulation-Based Surgical Education for Manual Small-Incision Cataract Surgery: The Ophthalmic Learning and Improvement Initiative in Cataract Surgery Randomized Clinical Trial in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. JAMA Ophthalmology. 2021;139(1):9-15.
  2. Dean WH, Buchan J, Gichuhi S, et al. Simulation-based surgical education for glaucoma versus conventional training alone: the GLAucoma Simulated Surgery (GLASS) trial. A multicentre, multicountry, randomised controlled, investigator-masked educational intervention efficacy trial in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2021:bjophthalmol-2020-318049.

In the setting of the Covid-19 pandemic, this finding showed that innovations like wet-lab skills training could become a huge resource for novice and expert surgeons to continue to practice their surgical skills even in lockdown situations where there is minimal or no surgical activity.

Therefore, in this new curriculum, wet lab skills training has been added in ophthalmic clinical skills 1 and 2.

PROGRAMME DURATION

The Master of Medicine in Ophthalmology of Mbarara University of Science and Technology programme is a full-time Residency Programme that takes 3 Years.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

For admission to the M Med (Ophth) programme a candidate must

Be a registered Medical Practitioner with a minimum qualification of MBChB or an equivalent degree and must be registered by the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council (UMDPC) or have a letter of good standing from their country medical board.

Senate may, on the recommendation of the Faculty Board, accept as part of the attendance for the award of MMed (Oph) periods of attendance of a student at another University or Institution specifically recognized by Senate for this purpose, provided the student shall have registered with the awarding University for at least two years.

The Curriculum

CURRICULUM STRUCTURE

SEMESTER 1

Course
code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutorial hours

Contact hours

Credit Unit

Status

OPH7101

Ophthalmic Anatomy 1

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH7102

Ophthalmic Physiology 1

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH7103

Ophthalmic Pharmacology

15

60

45

3

Old

MPH7101

Research methods

15

60

45

3

Old

MPH 7102

Epidemiology

15

60

45

3

Old

MPH 7103

Biostatistics

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH7104

Ophthalmic Clinical skills 1

 

120

60

4

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

22

 

2.1.2. SEMESTER 2

Course
code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutorial
hours

Contact hours

Credit Unit

Status

OPH7201

Ophthalmic Anatomy 2

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH7202

Ophthalmic Physiology 2

15

60

45

3

Old

PAT7202

Ophthalmic
Pathology

15

60

45

3

Old

MSM7201

Ophthalmic Microbiology

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH7203

Ophthalmic Clinical skills 2

0

150

75

5

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

17

 

2.1.3. SEMESTER 3:

OPH7301

Dissertation proposal writing

0

90

45

3

Old

2.1.4. SEMESTER 4:

Course code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutorial hours

Contact hours

Credit Unit

Status

OPH8101

Optics and refraction

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8102

Contact Lens Practices

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8103

External Eye Diseases

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8104

Corneal Diseases, lens & Refractive Surgery

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8105

Ophthalmic Clinical skills 3

0

150

75

5

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

17

 

2.1.5. SEMESTER 5:

Course
code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutori al hours

Contact hours

Credit
Unit

Status

OPH8201

Glaucoma

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8202

Uveitis

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8203

Oculoplastic surgery

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8204

Diseases of the Orbit

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH8205

Ophthalmic Clinical skills 4

0

150

75

5

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

17

 

2.1.6. SEMESTER 6:

OPH82301

Elective/Clinical rotation

0

90

45

3

Old

2.1.7. SEMESTER 7:

Course
code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutorial hours

Contact hours

Credit Unit

Status

OPH9101

Vitreoretinal diseases

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH9102

Neurophthalmology

15

60

45

3

Modified

OPH9103

Paediatric ophthalmology, Strabismus and Low Vision

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH9104

Community Eye Health

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH9105

Ophthalmic Clinical skills 5

0

150

75

5

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

17

 

2.1.8. SEMESTER 8

Course
code

Title

Lecture hours

Practical/tutorial hours

Contact hours

Credit Unit

Status

OPH9201

Ocular Oncology

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH9202

Leadership and
Management and Ethics in practice of ophthalmology

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH9203

General Ophthalmology

15

60

45

3

Old

OPH9204

Dissertation

0

90

45

3

Old

OPH9205

Ophthalmic Clinical skills VI

0

150

75

5

Old

Total

 

 

 

 

17

 

 

 

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