Your career. Your voice. Your College.
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists is a thriving community of eye care professionals around the world. Membership offers you the opportunity to shape the future of your career and your discipline.
As a College member you can:
Learn
- Develop your skillset and deliver better eye care by taking advantage of our extensive education programme
- Attend our annual Congress for networking and learning at the UK’s largest ophthalmology conference
- Stay informed on the latest research through valuable resources and guidance including ophthalmology journals, College News magazine and our enewsletter EyeMail
- Extend or refresh your knowledge with access to on-demand learning programmes on our online learning platform Inspire as well as discounted training courses.
Connect
- Join your colleagues and peers to form the voice of your profession and belong to a thriving community
- Develop your own professional brand and help to improve clinical practice worldwide by engaging with College work
- Develop a varied and mutually beneficial network in the UK and internationally
- Access best practice by working with fellow professionals with a wide range of experience and knowledge.
Succeed
- Get recognition for your skills and expertise in the speciality by achieving professional accreditation through the College
- Take advantage of support and guidance from colleagues and staff members
- Raise your professional profile by sharing your insights and knowledge through our platforms.
Apply for membership
All doctors applying for FRCOphth should be practising at a clinical standard which meets the College’s standards and guidelines and deliver high-quality, safe care to patients. The nature and quality of an applicant’s clinical responsibilities should be clear. When awarding Fellowship by Election, we feel it is important to recognise the service and importance of ophthalmologists who have not passed the RCOphth exams while preserving respect for the examination system. From 2023 the post-nominals for Fellowship are FRCOphth (by-election). These are not applied retrospectively, so anyone using FRCOphth may continue to do so.
Applicants applying for Fellowship by Election must meet the following requirements
- Be in a substantive NHS Consultant post in ophthalmology for five years or more
- Be a substantive NHS Associate Specialist post (on “old” associate specialist contract, with minimum six years in ophthalmology and minimum 10 years clinical practice since primary medical qualification
- Be a Specialist Ophthalmologist on “new” Specialist Grade contract (which has entry criteria as minimum six years in ophthalmology, 12 years clinical practice since primary medical qualification)
- Be a Specialty Grade (with > 10 years’ experience)
- Be a substantive consultant in ophthalmology in a non-NHS UK healthcare provider for six years or more
Overseas applicants
- Must be a substantive consultant in ophthalmology in a healthcare provider for six years or more
All doctors applying for FRCOphth should be practising at a clinical standard that meets the College standards and guidelines and delivering high-quality and safe personal care to patients. The nature and quality of a candidate’s clinical responsibilities should be clear. The job plan should provide evidence of having a good balance of clinics and theatres being run at a level of a consultant. In addition, evidence of clinical governance, regular audits, research, leadership, service improvement and teaching will need to be provided.
In addition, overseas applicants must provide evidence of one or more of the following activities
- Teaching, training and education
- Innovation and creativity
- Academic and research
- Leadership
Applicants applying for Membership by Election must:
UK NHS applicants
- Be a newly appointed substantive NHS consultant in ophthalmology or a SAS doctor in ophthalmology in a substantive NHS post for five years.
UK Non-NHS applicants
- Be a substantive consultant in a non-NHS UK healthcare provider for three years.
Overseas applicants
- Be a substantive consultant in ophthalmology in a healthcare provider for three years.
Applications are welcomed from consultants, SAS ophthalmologists, including associate specialists, staff grades, specialty doctors, clinical assistants and non-training trust grades
Applications are also welcomed from those who hold a higher qualification and are engaged in ophthalmic research but are not medically qualified.
Trainee membership is opened only to those who have been through a recruitment process and appointed to an Ophthalmic Specialist Training (OST) post within the UK – whether run-through or Locum Appointment for Training (LAT).
We offer Associate membership to ophthalmic nurses, orthoptists, optometrists and healthcare scientists, with the aim of widening eligibility further in due course. Although you will have your own colleges and professional bodies, we can provide further educational opportunities and learning materials, for extended and advanced practice. In recognition of your expertise we will collaborate with you to develop resources, such as specific standards and guidance, that enhance the role of multidisciplinary teams in eye care delivery.
Please view other areas of interest on the website.
RCOphth Educational Programme
The College has developed educational resources so that members can build up their own pathway of learning to suit their development needs or interests.
OPT Programme
The Ophthalmic Practitioner Training (OPT) Programme trains postgraduate orthoptists, optometrists and ophthalmic nurses to develop their skills up to Level 3 in key subspecialties of eye care. Enrolment in this is programme included in membership.
INSPIRE – online learning platform
This is the RCOphth’s online learning platform for life-long learning materials, support and guidance for learners, trainers anywhere at anytime.
RCOphth Educational Programme
The College has developed educational resources so that members can build up their own pathway of learning to suit their development needs or interests.
INSPIRE – online learning platform
This is the RCOphth’s online learning platform for life-long learning materials, support and guidance for learners, trainers anywhere at anytime.
