Article Review: Top Resources For OKAP And Board Review

Dr. James G. Chelnis contributed an article to the American Academy of Ophthalmology listing 9 very useful resources for OKAP and board exam review.  His article can be found here (this may be member-only content).

I don't have any critiques of the resources he lists; from what I can tell, there is no specific order to his recommendations.  If you used all 9 resources, I suspect you would do very well.

Out of that list, I personally used the following resources when I studied for the OKAP and board exams:

Reading the BCSC: Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapter 1

The BCSC Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, provides an extremely detailed overview of the anatomy and physiology of the eye.  Organizationally, it lays out the “fundamentals” of learning about the eye so that by the end of reading this book, you should be able to understand the anatomical structure of the eye, eye genetics, embryology, growth, and development, physiology of the eye, and medications that are used to treat eye conditions.

For this reason, this book is typically suggested as the first book to read for first-year ophthalmology residents.  Please see the articles Reading The BCSC and OKAPs Reading Schedule to learn how to pace yourself through learning the material.

The 8 Causes of Tunnel Visual Fields

There are relatively few causes for tunnel visual fields (or “gun barrel” visual fields), which is a relatively common finding in neuro-ophthalmology.  There are 8 major categories of tunnel visual fields, which can be determined systematically through careful history and examination.  This differential diagnosis is adopted from Duane’s Clinical Ophthalmology.

Another Approach To OKAP Study

When I started looking on Google for helpful guides for OKAP or board exam study, a thread on studentdoctor.net was listed towards the top.

In the thread, the original poster presented a very thorough and detailed plan of attack for studying ophthalmology in his (I apologize, I'm assuming that the user is a "he" due to the username) first year of residency (PGY-2), including a specific reading schedule, reviews of textbooks and question banks, with links to different articles for additional reading.  In some ways, it sounds eerily like what I'm trying to put together on this site.

Corneal Dystrophies Presenting as Recurrent Erosions

Corneal dystrophies are clinically fairly rare (with notable exceptions) but have pretty easily identifiable appearances.  Because we have learned quite a bit about the genetics, inheritance, etc. about many of the dystrophies, this seemed to be a pretty popular topic on tests – though it seemed like in the past few years the number of questions on corneal dystrophies decreased quite a bit.  I don’t know the minds of the test-writers, so who knows if it was a random thing, or if there was more emphasis on clinically significant questions.

Causes of Leukocoria: CREAM PIGMENT

There are TONS of causes of leukocoria (white pupil).  But this can be a very important differential, as it can be the presenting sign of some sight-threatening and life-threatening conditions (most obviously retinoblastoma).  Because of its clinical importance, it is essential to be able to not only recognize what it is, but to also have a decent differential diagnosis so that you don’t miss out on any key causes when conducting a history and physical.