FutureDMD-QC Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Hello, I am considering ophthalmology as a specialty. Do you need 20/20 vision in both eyes in order to become an ophthalmologist? I have a keratoconus in my left eye and my vision in my left eye is 20/100 with a correcting lens. I have 20/20 vision in my right eye. Does this disqualify me for a residency in ophthalmology? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codebar Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Nobody can't answer that but you. Have you been in a OR in ophtalmo? I think if you do an elective in opht and can be the first assistant you will know fast enough if your vision is compatible with the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 You could always ask the Optho program at your school. They might be able to help you with some info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureDMD-QC Posted December 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 I will be starting medical school next year. I just wanted to know ahead of time if it's possible to obtain a residency in ophto given my vision impairment in my left eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hintobean Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Most schools want you to submit the results of an eye exam but they don't actually specify what they're looking for. My understanding is that at least one of the requirements is stereovision, which I suspect may be an issue for you given the discrepancy in visual acuity between your eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureDMD-QC Posted December 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Most schools want you to submit the results of an eye exam but they don't actually specify what they're looking for. My understanding is that at least one of the requirements is stereovision, which I suspect may be an issue for you given the discrepancy in visual acuity between your eyes. Damn.. I'll ask schools once I'm in med school if I'm disqualified due to my keratoconus Thanks for your answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Damn.. I'll ask schools once I'm in med school if I'm disqualified due to my keratoconus Thanks for your answer. Don't get too down, plenty of other great surgical specialties will still be open to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 9, 2016 Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 Don't get too down, plenty of other great surgical specialties will still be open to you. it would be annoying if the very people that likely could best understand vision issues were unable to go into a field designed to correct them, but there does have to be some form of standard in this case I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureDMD-QC Posted December 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2016 it would be annoying if the very people that likely could best understand vision issues were unable to go into a field designed to correct them, but there does have to be some form of standard in this case I guess. Agreed. I might actually get a corneal transplant and hope that my vision goes back to 20/20 in my left eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiousaboutapps1 Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 I'm not in medical school. But I was browsing the forums when I came across this. I had no idea that visual impairments would limit my options should I be admitted. I have fairly significant astigmatism (corrected with glasses) and a lazy eye (in addition to being very nearsighted). The lazy eye means that I do not and have never had depth perception. Aside from ophthalmology, how else might I be limited in the medical profession?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F508 Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 some ENT programs also ask for a depth perception tests I believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted December 14, 2016 Report Share Posted December 14, 2016 I've never seen one for gen surg, Ortho or uro. If you do lap surgery then you don't have depth perception anyway (single camera, single lense) so you'd be at no disadvantage there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks_14 Posted December 15, 2016 Report Share Posted December 15, 2016 Fuck. What if the max I can get with correction is 20/25? Can someone please tell me about what type surgical specialities I can and cannot do ( for example anyone know about neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, or plastics ?) Can these surgeons have 20/25 vision with correction.. is there any procedures in any field of medicine I can't do or any potential problems?It really would be greatly appreciated. I asked my optometrist and he said there is no eye requirement for surgery. He said a lot of surgery is through microscopes anyways. I'm not sure if he was just referrring to acuity in that regard or what. But anyways my colour test was good and my depth perception test was decent, but I guess apparently my acuity sucks. The whole reason I'm doing my bachelors at my age of 25 and going to be doing a second undergrad and however many more years it takes to get into med school is because I want to do surgery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted December 16, 2016 Report Share Posted December 16, 2016 You can check the CaRMS site and see what programs are asking for. I think the majority of surgical programs aren't requesting vision tests. Correction to 20/25 is probably fine for almost everything. I have 20/40 uncorrected in one eye and 20/25 uncorrected in my other eye. I can do all my normal operations without my glasses if I need to (I hardly ever wear my glasses outside of operating or driving). That being said my glasses correct me to well past 20/20 so I prefer to wear them while operating because I like the super high definition. As for use of operating microscopes, it's dependent on specialty. Optho uses them the most I bet. Most specialties rarely/never use them. A lot of people use loops though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks_14 Posted July 8, 2017 Report Share Posted July 8, 2017 On 2016-12-16 at 5:58 AM, NLengr said: You can check the CaRMS site and see what programs are asking for. I think the majority of surgical programs aren't requesting vision tests. Correction to 20/25 is probably fine for almost everything. I have 20/40 uncorrected in one eye and 20/25 uncorrected in my other eye. I can do all my normal operations without my glasses if I need to (I hardly ever wear my glasses outside of operating or driving). That being said my glasses correct me to well past 20/20 so I prefer to wear them while operating because I like the super high definition. As for use of operating microscopes, it's dependent on specialty. Optho uses them the most I bet. Most specialties rarely/never use them. A lot of people use loops though. Nlengr what vision do I need to do microsurgery applied to neurosurgery. I have cross linking surgery scheduled this month and worried my vision will stay the same as it is now which is complete shit (can't see a 2nd function button on a calculator). What fields can I rule out with 20/30 corrected vision? Not gonna do lab work for 10 years that will be completely unrelated to my field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NLengr Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 On July 8, 2017 at 1:13 AM, canucks_14 said: Nlengr what vision do I need to do microsurgery applied to neurosurgery. I have cross linking surgery scheduled this month and worried my vision will stay the same as it is now which is complete shit (can't see a 2nd function button on a calculator). What fields can I rule out with 20/30 corrected vision? Not gonna do lab work for 10 years that will be completely unrelated to my field. No idea about Neurosurg vision requirements. I imagine you'd be ok with most fields at 20/30 corrected but you'd have to ask programs specifically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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