The education of ophthalmic surgeons / by Freeland Fergus.

  • Fergus, A. Freeland (Andrew Freeland), 1858-1932.
Date:
[1916?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The education of ophthalmic surgeons / by Freeland Fergus. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    good knowledge of the anatomy of the brain, and especially of those parts connected with vision, for that information will help him immensely in the work of localization. In the second place, there ought to be a special course of physiology. The subjects which this should take in are very numerous; the whole phenomena of colour perception, of light perception, of binocular vision, of the field of fixation and field of vision should be discussed in a special physiological course arranged for ophthalmic students, and along with this there should be a certain amount of laboratory instruction. I regard as of primary importance the subject of physics. Personally, I spent three years in a physical laboratory working at light, and although perhaps this was an excess of zeal, I have found that it has served me in good stead ever since. The ordinary course for a medical student who is going to be an ophthalmic practitioner should be extended from three months to six months, and there ought certainly to be laboratory practice. In addition to that, the ophthalmic student should take a good course in geometric and physical optics, also accompanied with laboratory work. He ought to have a thorough knowledge of the properties of lenses, of mirrors and of prisms. He should have a working acquaintance with the spectrometer, the spectro¬ scope and the optical bench, and he also ought to be familiar with the various methods of calculating indices of refraction. Without knowledge of this kind a man cannot even read the standard books on ophthalmology, such as that of Helmholtz, and without it he can never be anything more than a rule-of-thumb practitioner. These courses should be arranged by the professor of physics, and the laboratory work done under his supervision. I think there might be a reasonable arrange¬ ment between him and the teacher of ophthalmology as to the extent and scope of the courses. I am also quite clear that the would-be ophthalmic practitioner should