Instructional Innovation Seed Grant Award - $5,000
Moran Roni Levin, MD (School of Medicine)
All Eyes on Education: Improving Ophthalmology Education and Creating a more Diverse Ophthalmology Workforce
Vision impairment poses an increasing public health burden in the United States,
disproportionately impacting minority populations. It is imperative that physicians are
well-trained to meet the vision and public health needs of our growing and diverse
population. As educators, we must innovate and evolve the learning environment, to create a
modern educational system that advances diversity and equity. Dr. Levin and her team seek to improve
recruitment of underrepresented minority ophthalmologists by increasing early exposure
through hands-on ophthalmology clinical and surgical skills labs for undergraduate and
medical students in addition to implementing a mentorship program to encourage students’ pursuit of healthcare. This research promotes collaboration between Maryland communities including the University of Maryland School of Medicine and Maryland undergraduate institutions including UMCP and UMBC with the purpose of increasing mentor-guided ophthalmology exposure for aspiring physicians. The faculty-led skills lab will utilize innovative low-cost models created by my team of faculty and medical students to teach eye examination, conjunctival closure using a picture frame and fabric model, scleral suturing using a silicone sphere, and cataract surgery with a tomato model. The clinical ophthalmology skills workshop will consist of the following stations: 1) Eye examination, 2) Direct ophthalmoscopy, and 3) Tonopen pressure check.
A pilot study of the 151 medical student participants indicates that our skills lab significantly increased overall interest in ophthalmology (p<0.01) and confidence (p<0.01) in performing skills. The team anticipates a similar positive impact on the Underrepresented Minorities (URM) workshops.