Ophthalmology Clinical LogBook Goes Paperless!

We have totally embraced the digital world!

Our clinical logbook is now online and we are all very excited about it.

After a clinical interaction either in the clinic, theatre, wetlab, elective term, etc, the student submits the case discussed. The supervisor gets an e-mail alert and is able to review, score and comment on the same online. It is very easy and user friendly.

The feedback to the student is immediate via an e-mail alert.

The cumulative overall result is also available to the student as a percentage at any one time. The student is therefore able to track their performance, per speciality, throughout the academic year.

Both the student and the supervisor are able to submit or review cases in the comfort of their homes since everything is online.

The students are particularly happy with the system because it has eliminated the need to photocopy many forms and chase after supervisors for signatures.

It also means assessment by our external supervisors has been made easier, a very major plus to the students because they do a lot of surgeries and procedures in these centres which are mostly rural. Our Ophthalmology training is what we refer to as a national activity because we involve every ophthalmologist practicing ophthalmology in the region. With this online logbook, supervision has become very efficient and our external supervisors are very happy with it.

All this is done under the supervision of the Residents Director who also approves the users, both students and supervisors. This ensures only approved supervisors can review and assess our students. She’s also able to see and track all the activities of the students and the supervisors at all times.

At the end of the year, the Residents Director generates reports from the system which include, among others, the progressive results for the whole year, for each student, for each class.

The ease at which such reports can be generated has made us push our deadlines for submission of logbooks to 2 weeks to examinations, giving the student more time to complete the logbooks.

Let me end by quoting a student:

“This is the best thing that has happened to ophthalmology training”