Teaching doctors about the eye: trends in the education of medical students and primary care residents.

Ophthalmologists play a relatively peripheral role in medical student and resident education. A review of the evolution, funding, and administration of medical education in the United States lends insight into why this is so. The author reviews the current status of education in ophthalmology for medical students and residents; the development of an ophthalmology curriculum; alternatives to the traditional medical school curriculum and how these have been incorporated into ophthalmic education; and the effect of new trends in medical education and pressures created by health care reform on the education of medical students and residents. The role of ophthalmologists in the general practice of medicine and in teaching doctors about the eye is discussed. Finally, the opportunity that the current climate presents for ophthalmologists to define their role in health care through education is considered.