The Daily Schedule Of An Ophthalmologist 

Ophthalmologists will see their hospital patients on a daily basis and provide them with post-surgical and medical care until they are ready to be discharged. 

Ophthalmologists will usually be on call for one week at a time since they don't have to consult too much after hours. That isn't to say that emergency cases, such as traumatic injuries to the eye, don't occur and these cases need to be managed urgently. Primary healthcare workers will also consult these specialists on how to care for problems such as foreign objects in the eye and severe eye-related infections.

Monday

On a Monday morning, the ophthalmologist will deal with administrative duties such as confirming patient consultations and the surgical lists for the week, confirming meetings with hospital management and medical reps and completing important documentation. The specialist will thereafter begin consulting with patients. The management of these patients will depend on the issue at hand. Some eye-related problems such as conjunctivitis and keratits can be managed medically with oral or topical antibiotics and analgesia.

Procedures that can be done under local anaesthesia, such as removal of a foreign body from the eye or lancing a sty, will be done in the specialist's office. Procedures that need to be done under general anaesthesia will be done either at a day-surgery clinic or at an acute hospital. Patients will then have a surgical date booked for them.

Tuesday  

Tuesdays are surgical days and the ophthalmologist will spend the rest of this day in theatre performing surgeries. 

The procedures that are done on this day can include laser surgery to correct any refractive problems, pterygium removal and other corneal surgeries, large hordeolum or sty incisions, removal of traumatised eyes and placement of eye prosthetics and procedures to relieve raised intra-ocular pressure.

Wednesday

The removal of opacified lenses of the eyes (cataracts) is one of the most common surgery of any surgical discipline. An ophthalmologist would be able to fill an entire day's surgical list with just this procedure alone. Therefore, Wednesdays will be used exclusively to perform cataract surgeries.

READ Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Linked To Increased Risk Of Cataracts: Ten Things You Need To Know

Thursday

Thursday mornings may be spent operating in the day-surgery clinics or the acute hospitals.

The afternoons may be used for teaching under- and post-graduate students if the doctor is involved with the academic curriculum of the training school. The specialist may also use this time for their own academic training and professional development, for writing motivation letters to medical insurance companies or for providing feedback to referring healthcare professionals.

Friday

The mornings may be used to consult with patients and to perform minor surgical procedures in the specialist's office. The afternoon is then used to settle any unfinished administrative duties and to confirm the surgical lists for the following week. 

The ophthalmologist will make sure that all patients that need to be discharged are done so. They will then either hand the care of the remaining patients to the specialist who is on call for the weekend, or accept the care of their colleagues patients if they are working.