Wills Eye Institute 5-Minute Ophthalmology Consult




Media Type: Textbook


Target Audience: General ophthalmologists, ophthalmology residents and fellows


Synopsis: Every ophthalmologist should develop a systematic approach to evaluate ophthalmic complaints and diseases. The Wills Eye Institute 5-minute Ophthalmology Consult is an excellent textbook to present information to the reader in this manner. The authors present a concise up-to-date handy tool to use when presented with an ophthalmological consult, symptom or finding. The book presents the material as easy to navigate algorithms and alphabetically listed topics. Additionally, an online color image bank is available. This book will be useful for ophthalmologists in training, as well as practicing ophthalmologists. It provides a quick office reference and a study guide for ophthalmology examinations.


Review: The editors are experienced and accomplished ophthalmologists, each of whom has contributed to this book in specific areas of expertise. Dr Maguire has been a long-time member of the retina service of Wills Eye and has been involved in teaching students and clinical trials. Dr Murchison is Co-Director of the Wills Eye Emergency Department and active in teaching residents. Dr Jaeger is the director of Wills Eye undergraduate program and one of the editors of the invaluable classic General Ophthalmology textbook edited by Drs. Jaeger and Tasman.


The book is intended for any physician involved in the management of ophthalmology patients from the resident in training to the more experienced attending who may need a handy tool to quickly look up an issue encountered in the office setting.


The book is divided into two sections: Algorithms and Topics. The “Algorithms” section uses boxes to breakdown patient complaints and systemic findings in a systematic fashion. For example, the finding “cotton wool spot” is described and then divided by pathogenesis and further subdivided into potential causes. Additional boxes describe the work up and key history to consider in an individual with this finding. The “Topics” section is organized alphabetically and literally covers over 330 ophthalmic topics, each in a highly formatted 2-page spread. The topics range from common items such as conjunctivitis to more unique findings like retinal vascular tumors that are less likely to be encountered daily. Evidence-based references, billing codes and clinical pearls are provided as well. Many of the topics are written by staff and former residents/fellows from Wills Eye Hospital. The online color image bank illustrations are alphabetically arranged.


There are a few limitations. It is a large book and could not easily be carried by an ophthalmology student while seeing patients. One should remember that this is not a primary text, but rather this book is intended to be an abbreviated concise up-to-date review to work up different ophthalmic conditions.


In summary, developing an orderly way to approach ophthalmic conditions as outlined in the Wills Eye Institute 5-minute Ophthalmology Consult will provide an ophthalmologist-in-training with an important outline for success. The presentation of information in this book would also be useful for an experienced ophthalmologist in daily practice and for study review.

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Jan 9, 2017 | Posted by in OPHTHALMOLOGY | Comments Off on Wills Eye Institute 5-Minute Ophthalmology Consult

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