Effectiveness of Novel Approaches to Ophthalmology Education in Medical Schools: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Purpose Effective teaching is often described as being the single most important indicator of student achievement. Due to global reductions in time allocated towards ophthalmology teaching in medical school there is a pressing need for more effective ophthalmology teaching. This paper aimed to investigate and analyse the effectiveness of novel ophthalmology teaching techniques in medical student populations through meta-analysis. Method Systematic review of databases EMBASE and Medline were performed up to July 2024. Outcomes investigated included medical student ophthalmology test scores and student satisfaction. Studies were grouped according to intervention and mean effect sizes were calculated. Results Database search yielded a total of 3170 articles, of which 31 were eligible for meta-analysis. Novel teaching techniques described included e-learning, flipped-classroom, team-based learning, ophthalmology intensive courses, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, peer teaching, virtual reality and novel technologies for teaching ophthalmic examinations. Of these modalities flipped-classroom teaching, team-based learning and virtual reality were shown to be the most effective modalities. Conclusions Flipped-classroom, team-based learning and virtual reality are the three most effective novel ophthalmology teaching methods when considering both test scores and student satisfaction. The correlation between effective teaching and these three modalities is likely related to the high level of student engagement developed through active learning tasks. Given the declining levels of junior doctor ophthalmic confidence, there must be further commitment towards implementing effective novel teaching techniques in ophthalmology.