My 1 month experience in SICS training at HV Desai was extremely valuable. They have a well structured training programme. Faculty is also approachable. I got 26 cases and was able to do cases independently by the end of session. I would highly recommend HV Desai for new SIC trainees. It’s a great platform to enhance surgical skill and eliminate OT phobia. During initial 15 days, trainer used to stand by our side throughout the case.. when they get confidence in the trainee, they let the trainee to do the case and we can call them if we feel the need, they are present in the same OT.

-Duration - 3 months (Short Term) -Fees - 1 lac (No stipend) -Intake - 1 fellow at a time, waiting period varies from 3-9 months usually. -Good hands on with OPD patients, Lasers, OCT, FFA.  -Also get good number of intravitreal injections. -A fellow can see every Retina patient that walks in.  -No night duties, No camps, No stipend -Work Hours -9 am to 6 pm It's a very good course, for 2 months the exposure is intense and since they take only 1 fellow every month, you get to see and learn a lot.

Duration= 3 yrs They have 4 main campuses (+1 new campus started recently but not taking fellows) so the number of fellows taken in each campus varies, usually 2-4 VR fellows per campus 4 main campuses are KAR campus (the main one) Vijayawada campus Vishakapatnam campus Bhubaneshwar campus Training is the same in all campuses, the management decides where you are alloted for fellowship. You do not have a say in it. Selection- exam + interview 1st 9 months - cataract training, they train you to be fully competent so that u can handle even advanced cases Next 1 year is spent at one of their secondary centres where you manage it entirely and do cataracts the whole year. Their secondary centres see crowds of patients every day. Then you come back to your parent campus and start VR training- this is the last 15 months. Academics- there are regular classes, happens in the main KAR campus, fellows in other campuses attend it online. OP is very hectic, you see a wide variety of cases Good surgical hands-on in all kinds of retina cases, majority of their consultants are usually fellows who join back after finishing, they are your primary trainers, towards the end you get to operate many retina cases independently. ROP exposure is good, you get lasers and intravit injections in ROP babies also. VR dept on non-OT days may finish by 8 pm but on OT days work can go on as late as 1 am at night, even later on some days because they keep operating emergencies through the night as they come. LVP doesn't hold camps- all their patients come directly or from their many secondary centres. Stipend is 50k for 1st 2 years, 70k for 3rd yr. So to summarize, their VR program is - Cataract training in first 9 months - Then 1 year of service at their secondary centre  - Then 15 months of formal VR training  Some rules and regulations in LVP- You have to punch in before  7 am every day. If you punch in at 7 or even 7.01 you will be marked absent for whole day. Similarly you have  to punch out, if you don't, then also you are marked absent for that day. You are given 19 days of leave every year but if your leave exceeds 19 days then you will work extra days to finish your fellowship- for every 1 day extra of leave taken, you have to work 2 days in return.  So if your leave has exceeded 5 days, you will have to work 10 days past your fellowship due date to complete it. So main takeaway point here- never ever ever forget to punch in before 7 am daily . Drop out rate in LVP is high, there are reports of fellows in diff depts quitting fellowshp midway. For eg, they had 7 cornea fellows join one year and by the end of fellowship, only 2 of the original were still left. Penalty for leaving fellowship in between is not huge fines or return of stipends earned. You get blacklisted. That's it. Goodbye. For ever.  Non-vegetarian food not allowed at all in campus.

To get into the fellowship, there is an entrance exam done remotely (online), if you qualify then the 2nd round is in 2 days at Hyderabad centre. Day 1- There will be MCQ exam  Day 2- Face to face interview.  When I did my fellowship entrance, we had to fill in our first and 2nd choice and depending on the MCQ score and interview performance, they announced a list of selected candidates.  A lot of changes in the fellowship program now. However, the basic outline is that any speciality fellowship you choose, you will have a compulsory rotation in all specialities. One gets good exposure in all specialities, both OP and OT exposure is excellent. However, this depends on the campus you get allotted in and the mentor you are assigned.  There is compulsory secondary centre posting where one will have to independently handle a peripheral centre- this builds the foundation to run a centre independently in the future. You will be posting and operating cases everyday for 6 months - 1 year. So before you are posted to the secondary centre, you would have been trained in SICS and Phaco and would be independently operating plus managing complications in your fellow OR.   Constant reviews and evaluations would be done and depending on your performance they will post you in high volume or low volume centre. Post the secondary centre, your performance would be reviewed and you will have an interview or direct selection to the speciality of your choice. Again, which centre and under which consultant would be decided by the team.  The final yr one would be proficient in the speciality of their choice (again depends on your mentor and your centre) and the last 6 months, one is treated like a consultant itself.  Senior doctors are extremely approachable. Anyone can email anyone regarding a case and they respond almost immediately.  It is a well structured program and working hours from 7am to 8pm on most days and sometimes even later until OT finishes. Daily morning classes are taken seriously, attendance is reviewed. There will be presentations. Journal clubs and grand rounds. Overall LVPEI is an excellent centre for overall academic and surgical training. However not everyone fits in easily- there is absolutely no personal time after work and holidays are 10-15 per year. Everyone is a workaholic and if you have similar temperament then it’s the best place to be in. It is entirely the fellow's responsibility to make the most of the fellowship.  You will have to study and put in a lot of hard work and I’m sure that the fellowship would be fruitful. However if one is looking only for a certificate, then pls don’t choose LVP.  If you are seeking a job post fellowship then they even take you in. The whole system is time tested and running successfully, so one will have to fit into the system and cannot question the system.  I can assure you that there is no rigid hierarchy and no bullying by senior fellows.  The whole system works on patient care and pt well being.  Small mistakes which we might not feel significant is reviewed seriously in LVP. Each case you operate will be your responsibility, any issue or complications must be documented well. If there is any lapse in it, then they take it seriously. You cannot fake the outcomes etc. They even monitor your surgical time taken per case etc.  Overall I think it’s the best institution to do a fellowship. In LVP everything is given and anything can be done, provided you do it diligently and do it well.  For some the experience might be too much like repeating PG all over again. They have rules for everything and you will have to obey it.  Things like no AC in rooms, even in peak summer .  No washing machine. No iron box.  No induction stove. Food can be a problem as the canteen that caters to patients is same and shuts in the night.  Things might have changed now .

Duration 1 year Selection by interview 1 fellow/ session Stipend 90k You start with steps in trab in 2nd month- you get around 25 cases in total. AGV is also done but no hands-on for that. MIGS/ GATT not done here. It's daily OT, work gets over by 6 or 8 pm depending on number of cases. Plenty of cases for glaucoma lasers given. Cataract training included, starts with SICS, only 1 OT per week so 1 case/week, can increase to 2-3 cases/ OT. Once SICS is mastered they move you to phaco after 6 months. However phaco numbers are low, you get approx 15-16 phacos. Academics- regular classes are there. Night duties- 2/month, Sunday duty 1/ month. No formal bond but if they want people to stay back they may ask you to commit to bond after fellowship. This is to be clarified at the time of selection interview.

Duration-1 year Selection by interview 1 fellow/ session Stipend 90k You start assisting in paed cases by 3rd month and they give steps by 7th- 8th month, steps are mostly for squint cases, no hands-on for paed cataracts.   Neuro-Ophthal cases are seen in dept but not every textbook case is seen. Cataract training included, starts with SICS, only 1 OT per week so 1 case/week, can increase to 2-3 cases/ OT. Once SICS is mastered they move you to phaco after 6 months, however phaco numbers are low (< 20). Academics- no formal classes, mostly self learning.  Night duties- 2-3/month, Sunday duty 1/ month. No formal bond but if they want people to stay back, they may ask you to commit to bond after fellowship. This should be clarified at the time of selection interview.

(To clarify, Shroff Eye Centre is not the same as Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital even though both hospitals are located in Delhi.) Started recently (2023) Duration- 2 years Stipend is 65k -75k Selection is by interview- theory knowledge is tested but they are more interested in assessing how you handle patients since they get a lot of private patients. No accomodation provided. They have a camp setup so after you settle in and get familiar with how OP and camp runs, they start you on surgeries in 2nd month based on your skill. They may start you on phacos too, though initially it will be 2-4 phacos/ month.. as your progress improves, they step up the phaco numbers. OT happens every day except Sundays but fellows alternate so each fellow gets 3 OT days per week. Daily routine is to see OP in the morning and operate in the evening. Sunday is not working day unless you have operated on Saturday- then you need to go for Sunday rounds. No night duties or calls for fellows, those are handled by DNB PGs. There's also something called "half day" allotted to fellows every week, where half of a working day is free for the fellow to catch up on research work or do other parts of whatever paper/study their respective consultant is working on. Clinical exposure is average, but you do see all the common cornea cases. Good hands-on for keratoplasties which starts with steps at first. You also get good hands-on refractive cases- around 50-60 LASIK flaps, PRK, SMILE, SILK etc Lamellar keratoplasties are also given but they do more of DMEK than DSEK/DSAEK at this hospital. Work environment is not toxic and all consultants are very approachable. Academics are good- theory classes happen once a week and are attended by fellows of all specialties.

- 1st yr exclusive IOL fellowship - 2nd year- formal Cornea training - 3rd yr managing periphery doing both cataract+ cornea  - Refractive training only in last 3 months of fellowship  - Selection- MCQ exam+ interview - No exit exam - 1-2 fellows per session - Admission fee 1 lac, non-refundable  - Stipend 40k in 1st yr, 50k in 2nd, 60k in 3rd  - From your stipend they deduct 7,500 every month as security deposit which is returned when you finish fellowship 1st year - Exclusively IOL - First 3 months is in main centre- you do SICS mostly  - Then you are posted in periphery for rest of the year where you do both SICS & phaco 2nd year - Cornea training  - First 9 months or so- in main centre, posted with a consultant who trains you in corneal surgeries- TPKs, OKs, DSEK, SLET, AMG etc 3rd year - After that you're posted in one of their 5 major peripheral centres where you are the sole cornea consultant and you see and manage cases there independently. You also post cases to operate. - Last 3 months you are given lots of hands-on for refractive procedures, mostly Lasik and PRK, may get few SMILEs also - Work timings are 8-6 pm - In main centre, you'll have night duty and Sunday duties once a month - In periphery, it becomes night calls every 3-4 nights, Sunday rounds only if you have Saturday OT - Clinical exposure is very good, you see every kind of case - Not hectic - Not toxic either - Weekly 3 classes- 2 of those are common with other fellows, third is just for cornea fellows A mention about their peripheral centres and postings: - They have 4-5 major peripheral centres - And many more minor peripheral centres which are also located in other states (eg Haryana, Bihar, Uttarakhand) - In your 1st yr, you may be posted in one of their minor centres without prior notice so it can get hectic with all the travelling back and forth - After your formal Cornea training in 2nd yr, you are posted to one of their major peripheral centres in Delhi and usually not rotated between centres (unless there's some last min emergencies/changes) Overall a very good fellowship and you exit as an independent Cornea and Cataract surgeon. You usually learn everything there is to learn in first 2 years so some fellows find the 3rd year more of a mental hurdle to get through.

(This is the only fellowship program the hospital has.) Selection- interview Duration 18 months Fellow intake is random ie, on need basis Fellows per session- Two Stipend- 30k/m No admission fees, no caution deposits They start with SICS at around 2-3 months and phaco around 8-9 months... but it depends on the fellow's calibre also.. I (reviewer) was fluent in SICS when I joined. Approx 800 SICS 700 Phacos I got. Getting advanced cataracts (PXF, hard cataract, small pupil etc) depends on fellow's calibre... if they believe you have a good hand they will give... I have done almost every complicated case. I learnt complication management also, was taught to put iris claw, ant vitrectomy etc  They also let you do topical phaco if you're good enough.  Clinical exposure is really good.. we see all cases... We were posted in every department...Glaucoma...retina... pediatric.... Also charity OPD is seen independently so ... Clinical exposure is really good....  Work environment is hectic but only in season  Not toxic at all  We have both dedicated senior consultants to train and senior fellows training us  Refractive training is included.. Observation only ...but no hands on Peripheral postings are there.... Camp duties almost 2-3 per week but you're back home by evening... And night duties around 2 per month  Occasionally Sunday duties+

Duration 2 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 18 months of Cornea 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 assigned a senior consultant as mentor (can be from any speciality dept) who trains you one-on-one in SICS and phaco and also in managing complications. They start you on SICS after 1st month while in Gen Ophthal, you get an average of 1000+ SICS over 2 years. While doing SICS, you are also given advanced cataract cases (PXF, small pupil, mature cataract etc) and gradually taught to manage your own complications (put CTR, iris hooks, iris claws, do ant vitrectomy etc)  Phaco cases are given in last 6 months, can expect 70-80 cases (some cross 100). No topical phacos given. Cornea surgeries- You get TPKs, opticals (some 30-35 cases) Also ocular surface procedures like SLET, MMG, AMG etc Lamellar procedure hands-on depends on whether pts are there when you are posted- mostly get few DSEKs; DMEK and DALK are rare Refractive procedures-  In last 6 months, you are given refractive OTs  You get only PRKs (3-4 independent cases, otherwise mostly steps)  Lasik not given  SMILE not done here (no machine) 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).. you 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. As cornea fellow, you are on call for the dept every day.. may be called by DNBs for any c/o redness that comes at night. Sunday OP duties (8-1), Sunday camp duties+

Duration 2 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 18 months of PhacoRef posting Selection- exam + interview Exit exam + 1-2 fellows taken once/ twice a year- on need basis 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 admission fees. No penalties for any cataract surgery complications. At the start, you are assigned a senior consultant as mentor (can be from any speciality dept) who trains you one-on-one in SICS and phaco and also in managing complications.  They start you on SICS after 1st month while in Gen Ophthal, you get an average of 1000 SICS over 2 years. You are also gradually taught to manage your own complications (put CTR, iris hooks, iris claws, do ant vitrectomy etc) Phaco cases are given after 6-7 months. Once you are able to do phaco on your own, then your mentor no longer supervises you and you do all cases by urself thereafter.  Can expect an average of 200-300 phacos No topical phacos given. Refractive procedures-  After 6-12 months, you are given refractive procedures.  First they make you do some 7-10 C3Rs to get a feel for epith scraping after which toy are given PRK You get only PRKs (40-45)  Lasik not given. SMILE not done here (no machine). 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).. you start Sunday duty at 8 pm do till 8am Monday then you're off for the day to come back again at 8pm Monday and to do call till 8 am Tuesday and so on.. till Saturday. Camps are usually on Sunday- one Sunday camp duty per month You exit as an independent phaco surgeon with good experience in PRKs. No topical phaco experience though.

Duration 2 yrs 6 months of Gen Ophthal posting+ 18 months of Oculoplasty posting Selection- exam + interview Fellows taken every Jan and July- usually 1 fellow per centre Stipend 40k No admission fees 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  They start you on SICS from 1st month itself, initially if you are in learning phase your mentor will help you in learning Later once you start doing independently, every fellow is assigned 2 cataract OT days in a week. You do max 25 SICS till the end of your session, they keep giving you cases esp if you can do fast and well. No penalties imposed for any cataract surgery complications. Cataract OTs are usually half day OTs (meaning you operate either in the morning session or the evening session) Phaco cases are given in last 10 months, you can expect an average of 200-300 phacos. Once you join Plasty dept, they assign you 2 days for Plasty OT as well. You get hands-on for all orbit surgeries- blepharoplasty, ptosis, entropion/ entropion correction, external DCR, Botox (complicated cases consultants will teach how to do it) The 2 cataract OT days continue and if you finish your half day and OP is not busy, they might send you to the Plasty OT to do cases there as well. On the dedicated Plasty OT days, you do only Plasty cases. On the dedicated cataract OT days, you do mostly cataracts for half day. And later, have to be in OPD.. if Opd is less and patient are posted for plasty surgeries, they will send you to do plasty cases. Paeds cases are also handled by this dept- they do NLD probings, ptosis repairs etc  Work timings is 9-6  Except on OT days if there are GA cases are posted then you have to come early to check everything is ready around 8 Peripheral posting to other Sankara centres may happen in between, for eg if you're good in cataract, you may get posted to their branches in other states to help with cataract load there.. this gives you very high cataract numbers. Similarly you may also be posted for speciality postings to other Sankara branches in the first 6 months during General Opd, you have night duty in which you have to evaluate the camp patients who come and make them ready for next days surgeries and it's literally the same routine for 1 whole week (Sun- Sat).. you start Sunday duty at 8 pm do till 8 am Monday then off for the day to come back again at 8 pm Monday to do till 8 am Tuesday and so on.. till Sunday morning During that night duty if emergency cases come at night in Opd, you have to see them. And calls have to be attended by speciality fellows depending on case, this continuous weekly duty will be once or twice in initial 6 months (Gen Ophthal posting). This weekly night duty never happen once you enter your speciality dept but you do have night calls where fellows may be called for any emergencies pertaining to their speciality.. usually such night calls are not busy. No night surgeries are done. Good exposure to orbital tumours in dept but intraocular tumours (RB, uveal melanomas etc) are dealt with by the VR dept You are expected to do at least 1 presentation and 1 publication during fellowship- compulsory- otherwise you receive a partial fellowship completion certificate in the end. There is an exit exam at the end of fellowship. Fellowship is good since you exit as an independent Oculoplasty and phaco surgeon.. however you don't get any exposure for topical phacos here.