The teaching of ocular fundus exam: experiences and perceptions of medicine students

Abstract: Introduction: Medical education has undergone changes in recent decades. Educational objectives tend to change with recent technological advances, especially in the area of information technologies. Objective: This research addresses the examination of ocular fundus by exploring and analyzing the difficulties medical students encounter in relation to this component of the clinical examination and seeks to propose guidelines for its teaching in undergraduate medical training. Method: Qualitative research with direct observation techniques and interviews with content analysis with a population of students at the University of the State of Pará (UEPA), in the city of Marabá. Content analysis used resources from the free text analysis program Iramuteq. Results: Of the 21 volunteer students participating in the research, only two reported previous experience with direct ophthalmoscope (9.52%) and one student had participated in a campaign using a portable device to record the fundus image (4.8%). Research activities included discussion of clinical cases, performing direct ophthalmoscopies in volunteer patients and retinography analysis. In the analysis of the texts corresponding to the interviews, four classes generated by the Iramuteq program were categorized, highlighting the value of theoretical and practical integration in the students’ testimony. Conclusion: Training programs with theoretical and practical integration using meaningful learning concepts can help qualify medical students in the ocular fundus exam, adapting to the emergence of new technologies.