In China, there are no universal examinations for specialist doctors and thus no true benchmark to measure either medical knowledge or surgical expertise. The capabilities and knowledge of a specialist vary greatly between hospitals and between provinces. China still uses a type of apprentice system where qualification is awarded when the master grants the qualification to his apprentice after a certain number of years. Because there is no cross training and no national examination, hospitals can only achieve excellence in a specialty field by having a nationally recognized expert resident in the hospital. This makes it very difficult for other hospitals, particularly those in less developed provinces, to achieve excellence in specialized fields of medicine.
In order to help remedy this situation, Lifeline Express has partnered with the International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO). The ICO conducts a common examination once every year for eye doctors worldwide. The examination is conducted on the same day at the same time throughout the world. Eye doctors who pass the examination receive international recognition of their level of knowledge and adherence to the highest standards of practice. The ICO Exams have two parts: Part I Basic Science and Part II Clinical Sciences.
Through the efforts of Lifeline Express, the ICO has begun offering both Part I and Part II exanimations in China and has agreed to conduct Part I Basic Science in Chinese. Furthermore, the Chinese Medical Examination Center has agreed to organize examination centers for the ICO Exams in the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and allow the Lifeline Express Training Centers to administer the test in the less developed provinces. This enables eye doctors from less developed provinces to be able to sit for the ICO Exams and to test their knowledge and standard. Eye doctors can get the news of the ICO examination, the revision guidelines and apply for the exam online on the Lifeline Express Training Website www.lxlearn.com.
To encourage local eye doctors to prepare well and to sit for the ICO Exams, Lifeline Express has set up a financial assistance program to assist eye doctors in less developed provinces to sit for the ICO Exams. Awards are also being offered to eye doctors who achieve the top three scores in the ICO Basic Science and Clinical Sciences Examinations.
Please click here to view ICO Basic Sciences and Clinical Sciences Examination Sample Questions.
For more information please visit www.icoexams.org