Curriculum satisfaction of graduates of medical residency in ophthalmology.

BACKGROUND: The number of ophthalmologists trained in Brazil has increased, but their satisfaction with the medical residency curriculum is unclear. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the satisfaction and self-confidence of graduates of a reference ophthalmology residency program in Brazil and to analyze whether there is a difference in these parameters among those who graduated in different decades. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional web-based study conducted in 2022 with 379 ophthalmologists who graduated from the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil. We aim to obtain data on satisfaction and self-confidence in clinical and surgical practices. RESULTS: In total, 158 questionnaires were completed (41.68% response rate); 104 respondents completed their medical residency between 2010 and 2022, 34 between 2000 and 2009, and only 20 before 2000. Most respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their programs (98.7%). Respondents reported insufficient exposure to low vision rehabilitation (62.7%), toric intraocular implants (60.8%), refractive surgery (55.7%), and orbital trauma surgery (84.8%), particularly among graduates before 2010. They also reported insufficient training in certain non-clinical areas, such as office management (61.4%), health insurance management (88.6%), and personnel and administration skills (74.1%). We found that respondents who graduated a long time ago had higher confidence in clinical and surgical practices. CONCLUSIONS: Brazilian ophthalmology residents and UNICAMP graduates expressed high levels of satisfaction with their residency training programs. Those who completed the program a long time ago appear to have more confidence in clinical and surgical practices. There were clinical and non-clinical areas with insufficient training identified for improvement.

Evaluation of a Physical-Chemical Protocol for Porcine Tracheal Decellularization.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: Tracheal resection with primary reconstruction is the definitive treatment for many tracheal benign and malignant diseases. When primary resection is not deemed feasible as a result of the length of the stenosis, airway transplantation may become a solution. Tissue engineering offers an alternative way for creating tracheal substitutes. The development of tracheal allograft transplantation includes the decellularized tracheal scaffolds made of extracellular matrix that are seeded with the receptor's cells. Many protocols are used to obtain a decellularized scaffold. Most of them consist of cyclical physical-chemical steps with enzymes. This study proposes a protocol for decellularization based only in physical-chemical steps. METHODS: Decellularization of pig tracheal segments was carried out using a standardized protocol consisting of freezing and thawing, 10 cycles of agitation, exposure to sodium deoxycholate, and washing. The degree of decellularization was determined by quantifying residual DNA. We also analyzed the morphology under hematoxylin and eosin staining. RESULTS: Fourteen porcine tracheal segments were decellularized. All scaffolds obtained showed less than 2% of residual DNA (mean 20 ± 8 ng/mg) when compared to the fresh samples (mean 850 ± 123 ng/mg), P = .001. Morphological analysis showed that the epithelium and mixed glands were completely removed. It was possible to identify residual nuclei inside the cartilaginous rings (73.7 ± 12 × 26 ± 8 nuclei/field, P < .001). CONCLUSION: The protocol tested was able to provide effective decellularization of porcine tracheas.