Practical Neuro-Ophthalmology

Kellogg neuro-ophthalmologist brings innovative, problem-based training course to China

Jonathan D. Trobe, M.D.

Over 100 neurologists, neurosurgeons, and ophthalmologists from all corners of China attended the first national training course in neuro-ophthalmology held in Beijing in April 2011.

Designed and led by Kellogg neuro-ophthalmologist and educator Jonathan D. Trobe, M.D., the two-day interactive, problem-based training course, entitled "Practical Neuro-Ophthalmology," covered diagnosis and management of patients' conditions in a medical subspecialty that deals with visual disorders of the eyes and brain.

"There is a need for more training in this hybrid between neurology and ophthalmology," says Dr. Trobe, a professor in the Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Neurology. "Most ophthalmologists have relatively little experience in neuro-ophthalmology. Moreover, most neurologists and neurosurgeons have limited experience in this subspecialty because they're not trained to examine the eyes."

While the majority of ophthalmologists, neurologists, and neurosurgeons have traditionally learned about neuro-ophthalmology from lectures and encounters with patients, medical educators agree that retention from lectures is generally low; and patient encounters often lack broad exposure to the host of conditions physicians handle. Given such challenges, medical schools around the world are adopting more innovative teaching modalities.

Dr. Trobe reviews case studies with physicians attending a course held in Beijing.

"It's becoming more and more obvious that traditional teaching methods are not the most effective means for training medical students," says Dr. Trobe. "We need to switch the emphasis away from students simply listening to lectures and taking notes to a problem- based model where students actually solve real case problems for which there are real conclusions. When students become active participants in the learning process—testing their abilities to reason from newfound knowledge—it's empowering and exciting."

Accompanied by a 100-page syllabus, the training course included four half-day sessions presenting the essentials of vision loss, double vision, and abnormal eye movements. Dr. Trobe delivered his lectures in English, with translation to Chinese by co-instructors Xiaojun Zhang, M.D., chief of neurology, Tongren Hospital, Beijing, and Shihui Wei, M.D., chief of ophthalmology, People's Liberation Army Hospital, Beijing.

Following each lecture, students gathered over laptops— reviewing data from patient cases and making diagnostic and management decisions, while instructors circulated to coach the students. The course concluded with a discussion of relevant features of diagnosis and management.

"Educators in China are avidly pursuing some of these open teaching methods—especially the opportunity that our medical students have to question what they are being taught," says Dr. Trobe. "The students embraced the interactive format of learning. They had never been taught like this before."

A long-time advocate of international outreach, Dr. Trobe hopes to take the course to Thailand, Australia, and France. He also plans to expand the model to other subspecialties.