Basic and Clinical Science Course (BCSC) Reading Schedule

There's a lot of material to read in preparation for the OKAP, Written Qualifying Exam, and Oral Board Exam. It's probably even more daunting as a first-year resident, when everything is completely new and unfamiliar.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology has put together a reading schedule that lets you read through every single Basic and Clinical Science Course book (all except for Section 1, Update on General Medicine), starting from July 1 until the end of February. It's broken up so that you average approximately 20 pages per night, which makes it slightly less painful. The reading schedule is also arranged so that the higher-yield sections are presented first, to help first-year residents learn the key subjects first. I think it's a great resource for people who are interested in reading through the BCSC material in less than 1 year. With this schedule, it is very conceivable for an ophthalmology resident to read through the entire BCSC material 3 times in the course of residency (once per year).

When I was in residency, my fellow residents and I followed a similar reading schedule, with goals set at about 120 pages/week, taking a break for Thanksgiving. We also decided not to go through Section 1 (Update on General Medicine) and Section 3 (Clinical Optics), instead using Last Minute Optics, by Drs. David Hunter and Constance West.

Since then, due to the many revisions of the BCSC and changes to my personal philosophies of studying, I've made some modifications to the previous reading schedule to ensure that all topics are still covered but the material is not as disjointed as it otherwise might be jumping from book to book with many areas of overlap. It doesn't completely mesh, but it should hopefully get pretty close. You can download a PDF version of the schedule on the Products page.

*This schedule is based on the 2020-2021 edition of the BCSC.

Week

Book(s) (Pages)

Total Pages

Pages Per Week

Topics

Section 2, Fundamental and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapters 1-3 (5-140)

136

Anatomy, cranial nerves

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapters 14-16 (335-450)

116

Free radicals;
ocular pharmacology

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapters 7-8 (247-268)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapters 5-6 (55-96)

Section 8, External Disease and Cornea, Chapters 1-2 (3-43)

114

Physiology of tear film and cornea

Pathology of conjunctiva and cornea

Structure and function, examination techniques

Section 8, External Disease and Cornea, Chapters 3-6 (45-132)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 20 (237-252)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapters 8 and 12 (129-135, 213-236)

135

Ocular surface disease, congenital anomalies, depositions and degenerations

Pediatric cornea and anterior segment abnormalities

Pathology of sclera and uveal tract

Section 8, External Disease and Cornea, Chapters 7-9 (133-242)

134

Corneal dystrophies, ectasias, systemic disorders with corneal/anterior segment manifestations, infection basics, viral infections

Section 8, External Disease and Cornea, Chapters 10-12 (243-350)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 21 (253-276)

132

Microbial/parasitic infections, inflammatory diseases, neoplasms

External diseases of the eye

Section 8, External Disease and Cornea, Chapters 13-15 (351-454)

Section 13, Refractive Surgery, Chapters 3-4, 7 (49-72, 127-136)

138

Corneal therapeutics, anterior segment trauma/toxic injury, corneal transplantation

Corneal refractive surgery and collagen crosslinking

Section 13, Refractive Surgery, Chapters 5-6, 8-12 (73-126, 137-208)

126

Photoablation, treatments for presbyopia, systemic considerations and post-surgical considerations, emerging technologies

Section 10, Glaucoma, Chapters 1-8 (3-151)

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapter 9 (269-280)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 7 (177-128)

173

Introduction to glaucoma, aqueous physiology, evaluation, open-angle glaucoma

Physiology of aqueous production

Pathology of anterior chamber and trabecular meshwork

Section 10, Glaucoma, Chapters 9-11 (153-286)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 22 (277-292)

150

Angle-closure glaucoma, pediatric glaucoma, medical and surgical treatment of glaucoma

Pediatric glaucoma

Section 12, Retina and Vitreous, Chapters 1-3 (7-58)

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapters 11-13 (293-333)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 11 (163-211)

135

Retinal anatomy, diagnostic testing of the retina, electrophysiology

Physiology of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium

Pathology of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium

Section 12, Retina and Vitreous, Chapters 4-8 (61-188)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 25 (325-335, 347-348, 358-360)

144

Choroidal neovascularization, retinal vascular disease, retinopathy of prematurity

Section 12, Retina and Vitreous, Chapters 9-11 (189-248)

Section 9, Intraocular Inflammation and Uveitis, Chapters 9 (153-218)

126

Choroidal disease, retinal inflammations

Noninfectious posterior uveitis and panuveitis

Section 9, Intraocular Inflammation and Uveitis, Chapters 7-8, 10-13 (115-152, 219-311)

131

Scleritis, anterior and intermediate uveitis, infectious uveitis, endophthalmitis, masquerade syndromes

Section 9, Intraocular Inflammation and Uveitis, Chapter 5-6 (67-114)

Section 12, Retina and Vitreous, Chapters 12-15 (249-306)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 24-25 (311-323, 335-347)

132

Clinical approach to uveitis

Congenital and stationary retinal disease, retinal and choroidal dystrophies, retinal degenerations, toxicities

Pediatric uveitis, pediatric retinal disease

Section 12, Retina and Vitreous, Chapters 16-20 (307-404)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 10 (149-162)

Section 9, Intraocular Inflammation and Uveitis, Chapters 14-15 (313-334)

133

Retinal detachment, vitreous disease, trauma, lasers, injections, and surgery

Pathology of vitreous

Complications of uveitis, ocular involvement in AIDS

Section 5, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Chapters 1-3 (5-98)

Neuroanatomy, imaging, clinical evaluation of vision loss

Section 5, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Chapters 4-6 (99-181)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 26 (361-374)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 15 (285-297)

107

Approach to vision loss, transient visual loss, illusions and hallucinations

Pediatric optic disc anomalies

Pathology of optic nerve

Section 5, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Chapters 10-14 (253-358)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapters 20 (267-268)

108

Pupil, eyelid/face, head/eye/facial pain, nonorganic disorders, systemic diseases

Pediatric pupil abnormalities

Section 5, Neuro-Ophthalmology, Chapters 7-9 (183-251)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 13, 28 (147-157, 385-416)

112

Diplopia, nystagmus

Childhood nystagmus, pediatric systemic diseases

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapters 7-12, 14 (63-146, 159-176)

102

Diagnostic evaluation of strabismus, eso- and exo-deviations, pattern deviations, vertical deviations, special forms of strabismus, strabismus surgery, botulinum

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapters 1-6, 15-16, 27 (3-62, 179-190, 375-384)

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapter 4 (143-168)

108

Pediatric exam, strabismus terminology, amblyopia, sensory and motor physiology

Growth and development of eye, decreased vision, ocular trauma in childhood

Embryology

Section 7, Oculofacial Plastic and Orbital Surgery, Chapters 1-5 (5-108)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 18 (203-226)

128

Orbital anatomy, evaluation of orbital disorders, congenital anomalies, inflammations, infections, neoplasms, malformations

Pediatric orbital disorders

Section 7, Oculofacial Plastic and Orbital Surgery, Chapters 6-10 (109-212)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 17 (191-202)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 14 (261-284)

134

Orbital trauma, orbital surgery, anophthalmia, facial/eyelid anatomy, lid disorders

Pediatric eyelid disorders

Pathology of orbit

Section 7, Oculofacial Plastic and Orbital Surgery, Chapters 11-15 (213-318)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 19 (227-236)

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapter 13 (237-260)

136

Eyelid malpositions/involutional changes, lacrimal system

Pediatric lacrimal system disorders

Pathology of eyelids

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapters 1-4, 9 (5-54, 137-147)

Section 11, Lens and Cataract, Chapters 1-5 (5-78)

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapter 10 (281-291)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 23 (293-310)

154

Pathology basics, wound healing, stains, special testing, pathology of lens

Lens basics

Physiology of lens

Pediatric cataracts and lens abnormalities

Section 11, Lens and Cataract, Chapters 6-9 (69-242)

125

Cataract surgery

Section 9, Intraocular Inflammation and Uveitis, Chapters 1-4 (1-66)

Section 13, Refractive Surgery, Chapters 1-2 (7-48)

108

Basics of immunology

Basics of refractive surgery

Section 4, Ophthalmic Pathology and Intraocular Tumors, Chapters 16-20 (301-388)

Section 6, Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, Chapter 25 (349-360)

Section 2, Fundamentals and Principles of Ophthalmology, Chapters 5-6 (173-241)

145

Intraocular tumors

Pediatric retinal tumors

Genetics

Section 3, Clinical Optics, Chapters 1-3 (3-145)

143

Geometric optics, optics of human eye

Section 3, Clinical Optics, Chapters 4-9 (147-329)

183

Contact lenses, intraocular lenses, keratorefractive surgery, instruments, low vision, geometric optics