- Duration of fellowship= 18 months - Selection is by interview  Twice in a year, January and July. - 1 fellow taken per session. - Phaco training included, glaucoma fellows share cataract OT with other fellows.  - Phaco will be given in the last 6 months. You will get to operate 1-2 phaco cases on your OT day. - Trab will start as early as you can master SICS. You will learn phaco trab also. In the starting, senior fellows will teach you all basic steps. Senior consultants also train you surgically. - Good clinical exposure, depending on your interest, you will get an opportunity to learn every clinical case. - Work environ hectic but not toxic. - For glaucoma, you get countless lasers and PIs. - You are given advanced cataracts also to operate... at the end of your session, you will do small pupil, CTR, PXF, brown mature cataract, ant vit and many more things - No hands-on for MIGS GATT.... you get hands-on and opportunities to do them independently. - No peripheral postings. Only camps will be there and that also, once or twice in a month, depending on the no. of current students. - Academics- regular classes by senior consultant, everyday 8AM class.

The fellowship is called Comprehensive Ophthalmology but the only surgeries you are given is cataract. Duration= 2 yrs Selection is by interview. Stipend is 60k for first 3 months, 80k for next 9 months. They will increase it in 2nd year. For the first 3 months, fellows are kept in observation (rotation in general ophthal opd, speciality opd and tele-ophthalmology). Simultaneously, there will be wet lab postings (on simulator), suture practice. OT will start after 3 months of joining.  Training OT is 2 days a week. 1 fellow/ week is taken for Training OT. Even though 4 fellows join AJEH on the same date, they don't start OT posting together. 1st person gets OT after 3 months 2nd person, after 3 month 1 week. 3rd person, after 3 month 2 weeks. 4th person, after 3 month 3 weeks. Basically, for the 4th person OT will start after 4 months from date of joining. First they will start with ECCE 30 cases, followed by SICS. According to the fellows, during the first year of fellowship you will get 100- 200 SICS. By the end of 18 months, you will have done 1500- 2000 cases, even more. Phaco will start after 18 months. You get at least 130 cases. First 100 phaco cases - you do sclero-corneal tunnel with rigid IOL. Next 30 phaco cases- you do clear corneal incision with foldable IOL. May get advanced cataracts (hard cataracts, PXF, small pupil etc), but chances are less. Opd timing - 9am to 5pm. There are evening camp duties (2hrs) on alternate days for first year fellows. Camp duty is on rotation till 11 pm. "Camp" is conducted in hospital premises itself- camp patients are brought from peripheral vision center. Team of optometrists do preliminary workup and 1-2 fellows are posted till 11 pm. Compensatory offs are given only if you do camp duty on Sunday. No night duties.

1.5 yrs long. Fellowship is under guidance of Dr Jitendra Jethani sir. Hospital is mainly focused on diagnosing and treating myopic and squint disorders.  Good place- you get exposure to wide range of paed strabismus cases- weekdays you sit with sir and manage op. Starts 10 am, goes till 2 pm then lunch break and then op picks up again from 4-7 pm. Wednesdays you will be sent to manage op at one of their charitable branches where squint screening is done- you post pts for squint sx. Camp squints (depending on no of cases) are operated on Sundays  OT training starts early, fellows are given small steps at first and then guided to do full surgeries.. after 6-7 months, you will be operating squints independently. You also do ROP screenings- but lasers when needed are done by sir. Other paed procedures like NLD probing or paed ocular injuries are not treated here- this program focuses primarily on myopia control and squints. Work environ is very good, not toxic, not very hectic either. Jitendra sir is a very good teacher, other consultants are also approachable. Accommodation not provided, has to be self- arranged. No night calls/ emergency duties.

It's 1.5 years (18 months) duration, 1 fellow taken per session. No adult cataracts given to operate for anyone in any department except General Ophthal (including consultants). Surgical hands-on starts by month 5-6 (cases are less in March and April due to children's exams) Clinical exposure is very good. You also get to evaluate cases and measure squints yourself. Dept- no toxicity. Consultants are approachable.  Continuous chutti ka thoda sa problem hai (translation- they don't give long leaves) because Sundays and public holidays are anyway off. It is not hectic. Working hours are 7.5- 8 hours a day max, with Sundays and public holidays off. Consultants train you. Both junior and senior consultants. I got good number of muscles, around 35+. Superior oblique I didn't get as no case came by the time I was competent enough to do one. It depends on how many cases come during your duration.  Got roughly 10 paediatric cataracts including cases with posterior capsulorrhexis and ant vitrectomy. This also depends on how many cases come during your time. Also got to do 4 intravitreals in ROP babies and a lot of ROP lasers. Haven't counted lasers, since I did many ROP lasers. Camp duties- very less. Night calls 0. Specialty fellows don't do calls as of now (2025).

No short term phaco trainings here. Only long term :- 18 months 2 fellows taken per session. Every alternate day OPD and OT. OPD :- See pts and refer them for cataract and if needed, to other specialties. Major emphasis on cataract as there are other specialty fellows who look into their respective specialty.  OPD timings:- 8:30 - 3:30 Duties of fellow:- Morning 7-7:30, all fellows reach. Some see post op pts while others do remaining paperwork. Then OPD/OT. After 3:30, depending upon camp distance, pts come and fellows do work up.  20-30 pts on average come in camp. Camps are all days expect Saturday.  Average daily OT list is 50 pts. For the first 3 months, the fellow has to do camp work up everyday. Then after 3 months, he/she has to do camp work only on their call days. Call duty frequency is every 3 days.  For the first 6 months, SICS are given. Roughly 2 cases per OT.  So 25-30 cases in a month. Depending upon progress and learning curve, phacos are started after 6 months.  All seniors are great and patient teachers. Will even help you in wet lab for refining and correcting your mistakes.  Roughly you will get 100 phacos by the end of fellowship. Salary :- 22k per month No accommodation provided. Have to find your own. Timings for fellow:- 7-7:30 am up till when camp work up gets done. Usually by 10 pm as lots of paperwork.  For the first 3 months, it's hectic. Plus on call days, you have to stay in hospital. Other days, you are  free by 5-5.30 pm.

I went there for a 3 week hands-on phaco training which included 15 cases. I extended it for another week for 5 extra cases at extra cost. One case is given each day but they are flexible and cases can be adjusted if required.  In the morning, you get to observe all the paying phaco and discuss or enquire any questions you might have. You can also observe other surgeries if you are free. Hands-on is done after the paying list is completed, usually in the afternoon. After that, you are free.  The consultants are helpful and approachable. Different consultants teach you on different days. So you get to observe and learn different techniques. They are patient and guide you. They do not take over the case unless you’ve messed up real bad. If you’re stuck during a step, they tell you how to do it and let you proceed.  Phacos are taught through a corneal incision with a foldable IOL. Wet lab is also there to practice in your free time.  Overall it has been a great experience and they make sure that you learn phaco by the time you’re done. They charge 5500 + 18% GST per  extra case. Fee (as of 2025) was 1,05,000 + 18% GST for 3 weeks, 15 cases. They do provide single accommodation for 2500 per night.

Duration= 1.5 yrs They take 2 fellows per session OT is twice a week and in first 6 months, you will be doing mostly SICS (3 SICS/ OT) Trab hands-on starts after 6 months. And in final 6 months, they train you in phaco and you get phaco-trabs. On an average you can expect to get 40 combined trab cases. OP is from 8- 4.30 pm so it's not hectic, dept is also cool. Clinical exposure is good, patient load is high. You get plenty of hands-on in lasers and other glaucoma op procedures. You will have evening op duties 2-3 times a month and camp duties 5-6/ month. No night duties. Stipend= 30,000/ month. You also get exposure to MIGS and GATT in the last 6 months, can expect hands-on for few cases.

It was 18 months at first, then they changed to 24 months in 2024 but now there is talk of reverting back to 18 months from next batch onwards (Jan 2026). Selection is by interview (no written exam). 1-2 fellows taken per session (based on need). Taken twice a year (Jan, July). Email them with your CV and fellowship of interest, they don't usually reply but will call you when the time comes. For those looking to join the Jan batch, start sending your applications from Oct and for those looking at the July, start from April. Stipend 30k in 1st yr, increased to 35k in 2nd yr. Clinical exposure is very good, you see all kinds of cases. Phaco training is included but you start with SICS at first, given phaco only in 2nd yr to last 6 months, usually 1 phaco per week. You get only penetrating keratoplasties (PKs)- therapeutic PK is started at 6 months, optical PK at 12 months. Good exposure for lamellar surgeries and refrac procedures but no hands-on. You also get amniotic grafts, C3R, pterygiums, tarsorraphies, corneal tears etc Dept is very hectic. Op usually finishes at 4 pm followed by camp duty for whichever cornea fellow is posted that day- this duty is to see cornea referrals in the camp pts who come, not for cataract pre-op workup. Classes are there- about 2-4 per month.

1 year fellowship. 1 fellow taken per session. First 9 months SICS- they get around 500 cases. Last 3 months phaco- 100 phacos, clear corneal incision and foldable IOLs (we have the Oertli and Legion phaco machines). CTR, MST (multiple sphincterotomy), iris claw, everything fellows get during 9 months SICS training. Trab, pterygium, DCR, intravitreal injections also given to fellow. As of July 2025, 23 fellows have been trained (including short term fellows). We felt keeping 18-24 months for an IOL fellowship is a waste of time for fellows, hence decided to keep it only 1 year duration. After 1 year, some fellows join here as consultant for 6 more months to do private topical phaco. We give 25k stipend and free accommodation in hospital premises. Sessions start from January and June. Selection by interview- the CMO interviews applicants to be sure about their eagerness to learn.

1 month SICS- 30 cases, 60k fees. 1 month Phaco (basic)- 30 cases, 1 lakh fees. 1 month Phaco (advanced)- 1.2 lakh fees (small pupil, pxf, hard cataracts, anterior vitrectomy, 2 iris claws) Most short term fellows looking for phaco training select 2 months phaco program.  1 month basic and 1 month advanced. Approximately 60-70 cases they get, it's a good number to be confident in phaco.

It is very systematic training. A bit expensive, though. Travelling may be a little difficult. From Kerala (the reviewer is from Kerala) there is one direct train Poorna express weekly once. From Sangli railway station, it is 10 minutes by auto.  If planning to go by flight, there is connecting flight to Kohlapur. From there, around one hour travelling distance to the hospital.  Accommodation they will provide. It is not one month training like other short fellowships. They will give 50 cases. You can finish it earlier, depending on your hands. If you are ok with your hands, they will give up to 5 to 6 cases per day. So I think you can finish it by 20 to 25 days..  Initial two days, there is 3D video class for beginners. Then, there is individual trainer.  Training is very systematic.. all steps are well explained, all trainers will teach same technique. So there won’t be any confusion in technique. They taught mainly divide and conquer technique. If you are ok with it, they will teach stop and chop method if you are good enough. I think after 20 cases you will start to do phaco independently. After this training, you will get enough confidence in phaco, but if you have your own centre, my personal opinion is that it’s better to have surgical support in the initial days.  They have decent canteen. Dinner they will bring to your place. Sunday is holiday.  Working time- There is no fixed working time. Morning it will start at 9 am. When ever you finish your cases you can leave.. There is basic course and advanced course. In Basic course, you will get normal NS2 , fully dilated pupil. In Advanced, you will get small pupil, iris hook, CTR, mature cataract, soft NS1, ant vitrectomy and 3 piece IOL.  For basic course, it's 3.5 lakhs for 50 cases. One advanced case is equal to two basic. So if you want to do one CTR or iris hooks case, you can ask for it. Either you pay for it or you give up 2 basic cases to do the advanced case.

1 month paid course  1. One case per day.. you can book your time slot .. you can just attend for that 1 hour and you'll be free for the rest of the day. 2. Consultant will be monitoring and will guide you during the whole surgery. 3. You should select either clear corneal or scleral tunnel incision at the time of slot booking (You learn scleral incision to implant rigid IOLs and corneal incision to implant foldable IOLs). So fees differ based on which incision you opt to learn. 4. Divide and conquer will be the first technique.. if you are good at it, then they proceed with teaching stop and chop method.