2 years duration. Most of the surgical training happens in their trust/charitable hospital. Admission fee= 2 lacs (non-refundable) First 3 to 5 months you get SICS, then they start Phaco training.  You start Phaco first with learning bimanual I&A, then you progress to Phaco tunnel construction and then topical Phaco in the last 4 to 6 months. You get around150 - 250 cases (SICS + phaco) in two years. You get exposure to all premium and latest IOLs in the market. Refractive department exposure is good and you will be doing few PRK, LASIK, SMILE, C3Rs as well. Expect to be busy with regards to research work. You get opportunities to present papers in all major national and international conferences. One minus for some fellows is that you won't be trained to handle special cases like RFIOL, anterior vitrectomy etc Monetary penalties exist- For nucleus drops- you have to pay 10,000/ drop. For any camp pt OT cancel (camp pt who decides not to do sx)= 5000 charged from the fellow who went as camp doctor Penalty for leaving fellowship midway is 5 lacs + you have to return all the stipend earned till then.

(Retina Institute of Karnataka is part of Eye Foundation.) 6 months duration. You get all retinal lasers and intravit injections. Selection by interview, intake is in June and Dec every year. OP good number of clinical cases seen, timings 9am- 6.30pm No call duties, no Sunday duties. There is an online class every Wed. Stipend= 25,000/ month. Good training, you can do all medical retina procedures independently by the time you finish. Good option to consider if you are looking to do more than 2 months training but not long duration like the 18 months Medical Retina fellowships.

(Retina Institute of Karnataka is part of Eye Foundation Hospital) 2 yrs long. Hands-on is ok, but the numbers you get is lesser compared to other places. There is alternate day OT and you get mostly steps in surgeries till the end. Good range of retina cases seen in op. Stipend 35k. Online monthly classes are there in collaboration with other Eye Foundation branches. Has exit exam since it's under RGUHS.

Most other specialty fellowships in SNC are of 3 yrs since they include cataract training. VR is the only one with duration 2 yrs. No phaco training. 3-4 fellows taken per session. Selection by exam + interview (intake time depends on when current VR fellows are finishing), notice put out on their website and alumni whatsapp groups.  Only 1 fellow given direct fellowship (2 yrs), the others may be asked to do initial research work for 3-6 months (idea is to not have all fellows pass out at the same time which would disrupt case allotments and work schedules). Most common duration now for VR is 3 years. During research time, you will work in the dept and ward but not see OP. Clinical op is good- you see lots of patients, see every textbook case. First 6 months spent on medical retina work- lots of lasers and intravit injections. After that they start with SOR, then proceed to vitrectomy, macular hole surgeries etc  Initially you are given steps but once you pick up, you will be given cases to do independently. You get good hands-on. Unlike other places where VR fellowship means you only get steps in retinal surgeries till the end, here you get steps in the beginning and then progress to operating independently once you pick up well. Cases are posted in your name by the end of fellowship. Stipend 50k in 1st yr, 60k in 2nd yr. For the 3 yrs VR program, it is 50k, 60k and 70k in 1st, 2nd and 3rd yr. Work timings 8- 6pm. Hectic++ but no toxicity No night duties or Sunday duties unless an endoph case comes. Food and accommodation provided on campus, not charged from your stipend. Plus, fellows get single room (even AC). ROP exposure is good, you are given lasers in babies and you also get few intravit injections in ROP babies towards end of fellowship. Regular classes- 4 times/ week, once a week common rounds. One of those rare, good VR fellowships where you pass out as an independent VR surgeon and don't have to join a trust/ charitable place afterwards to fine-tune your surgical skills. Note- If you leave fellowship in between, you will have to pay 2 lacs. The 1st month is observation period and if you decide not to continue, you can leave without paying any penalty. But if you quit fellowship any time after the 1st month, you will be charged 2 lacs.

Duration of fellowship - 3 years  Selection- exam and interview both. Fellow intake is on need basis. Fellows per session- varies from 2 to 8 as per need of the dept. Phaco training included, cornea fellows share cataract OT with other fellows. Phaco start at 1.5 years into fellowship. Cornea surgeries are given from the start. We start with pterygium and tear repairs and TPKs from first year itself. It starts with training first followed by independent surgeries based on your skill set. Clinical case exposure- you see every textbook case and even more. Work- hectic during winters. Both senior consultants and senior fellows train you. A fellow typically gets around 350-550 phacos by the time they finish. By the end of the fellowship, 1-2 lamellar surgeries are given and sometimes even more also. You get to operate advanced cataract cases as well (small pupil, PXF, vitrectomy etc) No hands-on given for iris claw insertions though (done by IOL fellows). No peripheral postings. Night calls are along with DNBs. Very rarely DNBs call at night if at all some confusion, otherwise we never usually get called for any emergency patient. Academics- classes are thrice a week but many things are subject to self-learning.  In Cornea we have morning 7.30 am rounds for designated doctors for 4 days and on the rest 2 days there is class at 7.30am. Penalty is if we leave fellowship in the middle, we have to pay 2 lacs.  After joining, you have the first month to decide if you will stay or not. If you leave in 1st month, you are not charged any fine. But if you decide to quit anytime after the 1st month, the penalty of 2 lacs is in effect. Caution deposit also- it is 1st month salary + 3k per month till end of fellowship.

Duration of fellowship 3 yrs. All fellowships here are of 3 yrs (with cataract included) except for the exclusive retina fellowship that is 2 yrs.  Selection only on the basis of interview. There is no fixed intake. Interviews are conducted twice a year (February & August). They are not strict about number of fellows they take per session. They may increase or decrease the seats as per requirement but there are minimum 4 seats per specialties. Glaucoma fellows share cataract OTs with other fellows of different specialties. Along with this, differnt specialties have fixed specialty OT days. On your allotted day, you get to do cases of your specialty. Initially they will train you in SICS under consultant supervision. After n number of cases, you'll be free to do SICS surgeries independently depending upon individual surgeon's confidence.  Phaco will start in 2nd yr only after you are confident enough in SICS.  After that they'll train you in vitrectomy and how to do complex cases like small pupil, zonular laxity, brown cataract, PXF, subluxated lens etc. You get vast exposure of each and every kind of clinical cases not only in glaucoma but other specialties also. Its very, very hectic due to high patient load both in opd or OTs. But no toxicity in the workplace. Depending upon their availability, both senior consultants and senior fellows will train you in SICS but phaco training will be given by only senior consultants. On an average, cataract / IOL fellow will do approx 550 to 600 phacos while other specialties' fellows will get approx 350 to 400 phaco cases.  This difference is due to fact that other specialty fellows will have to do their specialty cases also. They'll train you in advanced cataract cases also (small pupil, pxf, hard cataract).  Iris claw lens insertions given only to IOL fellows. Reg MIGS & GATT- Honestly speaking, I didnt get any MIGS cases. This is due to fact that majority of our pts belong to rural backgrounds (cost not affordable).  Along with this, majority of cases we see are moderate to advanced glaucoma (so MIGS/ GATT not indicated). No peripheral postings, no camp duties. On your night call duty you have to stay in hostel. One DNB student will be there to attend the emergency, they inform you as and when cases come. There will also be a consultant on call. If required you may call them for opinion. As such, night duty is not an issue. Academics-  There is a mandatory journal club class conducted on Saturday morning 8 am in which all senior consultants & all fellows will be present for discussion. There is a separate class schedule for particular departments, at least 3- 4 days per week. They are generally scheduled for 7: 45 am to 8: 00 am. Classes may be discontinued in peak cataract season and then resumed after. NOTE- After joining, there will be an observation period of 1 month.  If you feelm you're not comfortable enough to continue then you may leave the institute within 1 month.  Beyond this if you resign, then you have to pay a bond money of 2 lacs.

Duration 1.5 years  1-2 fellows per session. Fellows are taken annually.  Has an interview based admission and an exit exam. Stipend 30k for 12 months, 35k for the last 6 months. Good number of OPD Exposure for cornea as well as refractive cases . Surgical hands on with cornea cases include penetrating keratoplasties (PK), descemetopexy, AMGs, corneal tears, cornea tattooing etc.  When it comes to Keratoplasties - decent number of PKs.  Chances for lamellar cases are slim.  The surgical number depends on individual efforts to build up the skills.  Refractive exposure is excellent as well - includes work up on a daily basis with observation and hands on with PRK, femtoLASIK, SMILE and ICLs. One can get good exposure on recent advances in investigation of cornea and ocular surface diseases. Added advantage- Cornea-Ref fellows get to operate cataracts as well (SICS and Phaco) in almost equal numbers as Phaco-Ref fellows.  PS: Towards the end of fellowship- if the fellow is interested in any other branch, the institute provides opportunity to work under that speciality for few days (retina/ glaucoma etc). Becomes advantageous to the ones who are planning for private practice later .  Downsides- Hectic schedule Can be a bit of a hustle to manage between Cornea and Cataract OTs (Cataract OT runs congruently with Cornea OT so you need to make time after Cornea OP/ OT to do cataract cases. Might need to come early next day or stay late after work to do cataract cases). There are also penalties in case of complications during cataract surgery. If patient ends up requiring iris claw lenses, the doctor is expected to pay for the same from his own pocket.

It's a pure cornea fellowship, not cornea-refractive. Cataract surgery training not included. It's for 18 months. Selection is only by interview. Stipend is 25k. Usually 2 fellows taken per session. There's no fixed time for fellow intake. When the current fellows finish, they take the next ones. There's one consultant only and yes, she teaches you directly. There's also lot of self learning involved since there is no regular classes. This is a charitable hospital so there is no refractive setup. The cornea hands-on is good. The numbers are not as much as premier institutes but they let you do every case that comes. They'll give you DSAEK also once you're doing well with the PKs. There are no camp duties. No night/ holiday duties. It's not at all toxic. Timings from 8 to 4 or sometimes 5 depending on the ward work.

Minto Eye Hospital is the Ophthalmic Hospital of BMCRI (Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute) - 18 months course. - ⁠Affiliated to RGUHS, so there is an entrance and exit exam. - ⁠Exposure to vast variety of Cornea cases in OPD. - ⁠Good number of TPK hands on from the beginning and few Optical keratoplasties - ⁠Lamellar cases- no hands-on, can assist and observe. - ⁠Slim chances in Refractive surgeries  - ⁠Cataract- 1 SICS case once in a week or 2 weeks in the last 6-7 months . No hands on with Phaco.  - ⁠Work hours are relaxed with ample free time and holidays as per any government institution . - ⁠Academics- no formal theory classes- more of self learning. Good place for self motivated people. The admission to the course is through an entrance exam with MCQs followed by interview.  The release of applications have to be enquired from the hospital itself by calling the College (BMCRI). They also release a notification in newspapers. Intake is once a year, usually around June-August.

Minto Hosp is the Ophthalmic Hospital of BMCRI (Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute) Duration= 18 months. The clinic days are pretty consistent, usually 9 AM to 4 PM in the glaucoma OPD. You'll see a huge variety of cases, honestly, it's like watching your textbook come to life. This means you'll get super confident with medical management of glaucoma. Seriously, you'll feel solid on that front. Lasers & Surgical Time When it comes to lasers, you'll get plenty of chances to do PIs (Peripheral Iridotomies) and even some Hyaloidotomies. Just a heads-up though, we didn't have an SLT/ALT machine available for training. On the surgical side, the main focus is SICS Trabeculectomy and Phaco-Trabeculectomy. What's cool is you can start getting hands-on pretty early, sometimes even in your first month, depending on your prior experience and how confident the consultants are in you. I personally started doing independent SICS Trabeculectomy around the 6-7 month mark. You'll likely get one or two SICS cases a week – again, it really depends on your progress and the consultant. A big thing to note is that we didn't get to do any independent phacoemulsification cases. You might observe shunts or tubes, but those aren't very common. We typically had two OT days a week, with each day having at least 2-3 trab /EUA with trab cases per consultant. We usually split these turns among the fellows. Learning & Academics The academic bit is largely self-driven. Don't expect a ton of formal lectures or structured classes. Most of your learning will happen during one-on-one discussions with consultants in clinic or during surgery. Presenting cases to them was definitely where a lot of the learning happened. One of the best parts is that the work-life balance is really good. You'll be on a general duty rotation, maybe once or twice a month, depending on how many total fellows (all departments) are around. They recently started letting fellows operate or assist on duty cases like corneal tears if something comes up, which is a nice bonus. The stipend was around ₹75,000 a month when I was there. The fellowship is RGUHS accredited. You'll have an entrance exam (MCQs), usually announced in August. And there's an exit exam, both practical and theory, which is common for all RGUHS fellows. If you're looking to become incredibly strong in medical glaucoma management and a pro at trabeculectomy surgery, this program is fantastic. It's especially a great fit if you're okay with less hands-on experience in independent phaco, advanced lasers like SLT/ALT or MIGS.

Minto Eye Hospital is the Ophthalmic Hospital of BMCRI (Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute) 18 months fellowship. There is entrance exam and also exit exam. 4 fellows taken per session. They start giving you steps in VR surgeries within 2-3 months of joining. You may get some phacos also but only if you are already trained in them. It's a high volume centre. So you will get all variety of cases, clinical exposure is vast. Work environ is hectic but not toxic. Senior consultants are the ones who train you, initially you get diabetic VH, TRD, drop nucleus, dropped IOL, later even RRD. ROP posting will be there. So you get enough exposure and lasers too. No peripheral posting. Camps rarely. Night duties depend on the number of fellows.. usually weekly once or twice. Stipend 75,000/ month.

It's for 2 yrs Selection was by zoom interview.  I knew how to do SICS when I joined and I got to do around 150+ phacos including lots of topical phaco as well.  Training starts with SICS and then based on your progress, they move you to phaco. They let you operate all kinds of cataract and you are also allowed to manage complications but they will not train you specifically in it. Work starts at 8 am, finishes typically by 6.30 pm but in the initial 6 months, you will work late evenings. You don't get much off-time after work. Research participation is mandatory at NN so case workups and data collation works (excels, powerpoints etc) are something you are expected to pick up. It might feel crazy but it's balanced by their conference opportunities- you can attend national or international conferences as many as you want- and the plus is you get to represent NN at the conferences which builds your professional reputation. There are of course night duties, camp duties, Sunday duties. Almost all Sunday mornings are working- after morning Refractive rounds, the rest of the day is free. On the refractive side, I got plenty of hands on in LASIK, PRK, SMILE, INTACS, ICL, C3R. You also learn to work up for toric IOLs, how to select good candidates etc Leaves are not encouraged. Stipend is 56k per month. They require a 1 lac caution deposit upfront when you join and if you decide to drop out in between, you have to pay back all the stipend you got before you can get your certificates and leave the program.