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 Íøºì±¬ÁÏ 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.