Duration= 30 months First 2 years of fellowship are in Hubli and the last 6 months you are posted as consultant in peripheral centres Stipend= Starts at 30k for first 6 months, with 10k increment every 6 months.. so 40k for second 6 months then 50k for third 6 months etc One of the good fellowship programs in MM Joshi for hands-on. Lot of hands on.. step wise. Starting from 2nd month of fellowship.. first you make ports, then you get core vitrectomy, eventually endolaser, nucleus drop fragmentation, endophthalmitis. Last few months you get to do RD full cases, PPV, ILM peeling much later on.. all depends on how fast a learner you are. If your tissue handling is good with phaco/ SICS, you will pick up faster. Lot of injections and lasers (you'll be fed up of it in 6-8 months). Top class equipment.. great teaching and teachers definitely... nice working hours - 9am to 8pm without nights unless you end up with endophthalmitis cases... Sundays are usually off. Nowadays lot of focus on research is gaining traction. Overall a great place to learn, great mentors.

Duration 2 yrs Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1 fellow taken every 6 months Stipend 40k They take 2 months salary of 80k as caution deposit- (40k taken in 1st month, 20k taken each in 2nd and 3rd months)- this is returned at the end of fellowship  No cataract training  They start you on medical retina work in the initial months (B scans, FFA, lasers, intravit injections etc) You are mostly trained by senior fellows, and they train you to manage OP cases as well as guide you in surgical learning. Consultants are busy seeing private patients. Initially you sit with senior fellows and observe pts in OP, fellows are not allowed to dispose them on their own. They start you on retinal surgeries after around 3 months, you get steps mostly. Independent cases are not commonly given, however it may depend on your proficiency. ROP exposure is less.. initially you observe how it is done, then you are sent to screen babies independently once they are confident in your skills. No lasers given.   By the end of fellowship, you're familiar with retinal surgeries but not enough to be independent.. also the surgery numbers that fellows get are less compared to other institutes like Aravind.

Duration 1.5 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 12 months of Glaucoma posting Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1 fellow taken every 6 months Stipend 40k They take 2 months salary of 80k as caution deposit- (40k taken in 1st month, 20k taken each in 2nd and 3rd months)- this is returned at the end of fellowship  At the start, you are given mostly SICS after 1st month  They start you on trabs also within first few months, mostly SICS trabs.. phaco trabs come later. You get to do around 80-100 trabs. Phaco training given in last 6 months, you get approx 100 phacos.. they may also give you advanced cataract cases based on your proficiency. You are trained to manage complications when you are doing SICS. No topical phacos given. MIGS and GDD exposure+ but you don't get hands-on for MIGS May get a few cases of GDDs. Work timings 8-6 pm On call- you have 2-3 rotations of weekly call in the first 6 months.. and it's literally for 1 whole week (Sun- Sat).. u start Sunday duty at 8 pm do till 8am Monday then off for the day to come back again at 8pm Monday to do call till 8 am Tuesday and so on.. till Saturday. Sunday OP duties (8-1), Sunday camp duties + No admission fees.

Duration- 24 months  Selection- by exam followed by interview  They take 2-3 fellow every 6 months Stipend- 55k 1st month is orientation period where you shadow an assigned fellow (of any specialty) in OP and OT. Thereafter you are posted with a cornea consultant every month from 2nd month onwards. No cataract surgeries given in main SN hospital. You have once weekly posting in JCOC (their camp hospital) that you are given cataracts  And also 1 full month JCOC posting. SICS given initially- usually 1 case/week Phaco given only in the last month- only 30 phacos  No training in difficult cataracts or managing complications.   In Cornea, they give you steps initially for all corneal surgeries that are done in the dept. They see a wide variety of cornea and ocular surface cases so exposure is very good. Hectic work environment  Consultants are approachable and eager to teach. Lamellar case hands-on is limited, all fellows may not get. Refractive procedures are done in dept and you work up patients and can train in procedures in wet lab but they do not give hands-on on patients to fellows. Academics- regular classes+ Once a week night duty (emergency/ enucleation call) and Sunday duties once a month. In the last 6 months of fellowship you become an SR and start seeing OP independently and posting cases and you get to fine-tune yr surgical skills in this time. You are an independent corneal surgeon by the time you exit from fellowship. Phaco skills will require further fine-tuning after fellowship, however.

Duration- 18 months  Selection- by exam followed by interview  They take 1 fellow per session  Stipend- 55k 1st month is orientation period where you shadow an assigned fellow (of any specialty) in OP and OT Thereafter you are posted to different specialty depts for a month x next 17 months. No cataract surgeries given in main SN hospital. It's in your posting at JCOC (their camp hospital) that you are given cataracts. You get 3 rotations of JCOC posting. SICS given initially- 100 cases promised Phaco given only in the last month and 3rd JCOC posting- only 30 phacos  No training in difficult cataracts or managing complications. You may get pterygiums and Yag caps.. no other procedures/ surgeries given  Hectic work environment  The consultant under whom you are posted with teaches you. Academics- regular classes, fellows attend with PGs, also have to give monthly internal exams.

It is a paid fellowship.  I had selected "screening and management" category in their main campus under Dr. Anand Vinekar.  There are other categories like screening alone, machine diagnostics alone.(mainly for health workers), screening+ machine diagnostics+ treatment.  The ROP fellow will travel with the KIDROP team to different districts in Karnataka for four days a week.  The remaining two days, the fellow will stay back in the department for lasers.  Sundays are holidays. The KIDROP team technicians are very knowledgeable. They will teach you the screening part.  There would be one retina fellow who would be doing their ROP posting along with you.  The screening cases will be divided between them and you. Indirect ophthalmoscope is provided to you. But you should carry your own 20D lens. There would be around atleast 5 to 10 babies for screening daily. You will get atleast 2 lasers per laser day.  The fee is 15,000 per week. You may mention how many weeks you might need in your mail. Most of the candidates opt for 2 weeks. Selection process is by mailing them with your CV. The contact details are provided in their website. Stay is not provided by the hospital. However the contacts for the accommodation places are given. It is important that you do the screening and management in your practice regularly, starting soon after your short term fellowship.

Selection- MCQ exam+ interview  2 fellows every 6 months Stipend 75k Admission fee= 2 lacs, non-refundable No phaco/cataract surgeries 1st yr is exclusively medical retina work- you do lots of retinal lasers, B scans, FFAs, intravitreals injections etc.. starts after 1st month Start getting steps from 2nd yr onwards.. you get steps in simple vitrectomies, tractions, scleral bands, buckles etc  As your proficiency gets better they give you steps in more complex cases  For complicated cases like TRD, you don't get to do the whole case, you may get only steps You also get to do ILM peeling in macular surgeries in few cases Fellows are usually not allowed to operate cases independently. OP- clinical exposure is good, you see many diff cases Work is 9-6 pm ROP exposure is very minimal since patient load is low Sunday duties once every alternate month Night duties once a week Rarely there might be peripheral posting at one of their smaller centres

2 years duration Selection- by MCQ exam and interview One fellow taken per year, one fellow per session  No phaco training  Stipend- ₹50,000 first year, ₹55,000 second year Retina surgery training  • Initially start with steps  • Independent minor surgeries (SOR / vitreous hemorrhage) by end of first year  • Independent retinal detachment / macular hole surgeries by the end of fellowship Clinical exposure- Very good, you see almost every textbook case Work environment- Not hectic or toxic There is a dedicated senior consultant who trains you  You get 400–500 + lasers and intravit injections Common retina surgeries fellows perform- Vitrectomy for vitreous hemorrhage, SOR, retinal detachment repair, macular hole surgery, etc. ROP exposure is good, hands-on limited to ROP lasers only No peripheral postings, on-call duties on alternate days and Sundays Academics- weekly one class Daily work timings 8:30 AM – 5:30 PM No bond, no caution deposits, no unusual rules

3 year duration Stipend 50k x first 2 years, 70k in last 15 months Selection- online exam+ interview Fellow intake- number variable, depends on need per campus, usually 1-2 fellows per campus, can be 4-5 fellows for the main KAR campus in Hyderabad  First 9 months is comprehensive ophthal posting, fellow is rotated thru all specialities for 1 month And for 2 months in his own speciality dept During this time they are trained in SICS, phaco, pterygiums, intravit injections etc Next 12 months  they are posted to a secondary centre which they manage solely, seeing op and posting cases Some secondary centres do more of SICS while others do equal proportions of SICS and phaco  You do at least 1000 surgeries in a secondary centre per year. Last 15 months  is exclusive speciality posting In PaedO you get good exposure and hands-on for all squints, both simple and complex  You also get paed cataracts, 50+ cases Neuro-Ophthal cases are also seen exclusively by Paed Ophthal so good exposure for that as well. 1 month ROP posting in VR dept where you primarily learn ROP screening.  May get few intravit injections but no ROP lasers given.  During your fellowship, if you want to be posted to any of their other campuses to work with/shadow some eminent faculty, you can also request for the same and they make allowance for it. Academics- classes every day, strict entry before 7 am is mandatory. 3 days classes for all fellows. Other 3 days classes for particular speciality fellows.  No camp duties for fellows in LVP. No bond post fellowship. ----------- They have another program called "Fellow to Faculty" where if selected, you do only speciality for 2 yrs. You get phaco training in this too but case numbers are less than those that 3 yr fellows get. Also after the 2 yrs, you agree to 3 yrs consultancy posting with LVP (bond, in other words).

Selection- exam+ interview on same day  2 fellows taken per session (1 surgical &1 med retina fellow) No phaco training (but if you know phaco, you can do few phaco cases per month). Stipend 60k in 1st yr, 65k in 2nd yr They start you on intravitreals in 1st month and retinal lasers by end of 1st month. Retinal surgery hands-on is started after 1st month, based on your dexterity and how well you pick up.. ports making, SO removal, vitrectomy etc There are 2 main retina consultants who are in charge of your training Based on skill and progress, you may get few independent cases to do towards end of fellowship.  Good clinical/OP exposure to retina cases. ROP exposure is decent- you are trained in screening and given few cases but no intravitreals done in ROP babies. Academics- online classes via Zoom twice a week (pan-india) Work timings 9 - 9 for 1st yr fellows, 8 - 8/8.30 pm for 2nd yr fellows Night duties are on rotation basis between fellows in all depts

1.5 yr fellowship Only those knowing SICS are selected since fellow will be supervising PGs when they are operating. You can call in between if you can’t deal may be a PCR/ difficult prolapse .. but sir expects you to manage simple complications. Later, bigger ones also. If you know SICS, you are given paying patients to operate. Phaco case volume for training is comparatively less . You get only steps. But you will be able to learn. Ample volume of refractive procedures is there. But hands-on is given quite late. YAG cap you will get, that’s very simple, if you do 2-3 of those, you will learn. Work is extremely light compared to other similar fellowship programs. Some Sundays you may have to come for half day duties.

Recently started (2023) Duration 2 years As of now they have had only 1 VR fellow who finishes this year No new VR fellow intake happened in 2024 or 2025 Selection- exam+ interview Stipend 70k in 1st yr, 80k in 2nd yr No admission fees/ caution deposits. No bond. Phaco training not included. But if you know SICS/ phaco, they may give you few cataract cases per month. There are many retina consultants but you primarily tag with Ganesh sir (Dr Ganesh Pillai). The first 6 months-1 year you sit with sir in OP and see cases with him teaching you findings et al.. afterwards you are put on independent OP duty. Hands-on start initially with intravit injections from 1st month itself, then you progress to making ports.. by 2nd-4th month you get SOR and start with steps in other retinal surgeries.  Last 3-4 months you start getting cases to do independently based on ur skill. TRD surgeries given in last few months only. For macular hole surgeries, you get all steps except ILM peeling step. Hands-on for retinal lasers tend to be less since most pts are paying and prefer to get it done by senior consultant.. camp cases are given for retinal lasers when available. ROP exposure is minimal, they don't see many referrals, no screenings. OP sees a good range of retina cases. Work timings 10-7 pm or 11-8 pm, may rarely go till 10 pm also Hectic but not toxic No peripheral postings  No night duties Sunday duties 1-2/ month Academics- regular classes, 2 per week.