Abstract: Objective To investigate the efficiency and potential improvement of online course for ophthalmology in eight-year program medical students. Methods Totally 27 students enrolled in 2016 (experimental group) and 38 students enrolled in 2015 (control group) who studied ophthalmology course in Peking University Third Hospital in 2019 and 2020 were recruited as the participants.The experimental group adopted the teaching model of online course, the control group adopted the traditional teaching model. At the end of study, all students were tested by theoretical examination designed with the same rule. The general scoring rate and scoring rate in each teaching section, including anatomy of ophthalmology, disease of anterior segment, disease of posterior segment and optometry was calculated. Correlation between actual study time-teaching video ratio and scoring rate in each teaching section was analyzed. A questionnaire about the demands of online course on teaching organization ability, problems in lesson preparation, problems in the process of teaching and potential improvements in teaching ability was applied to the 29 teachers. Results Compared with the control group, the general scoring rate [ (76.2±8.0)% vs. (70.0±10.7)%,P=0.015], scoring rate in section of disease of anterior segment [ (79.2±14.2)% vs. (71.0±13.9)%,P=0.024], disease of posterior segment [ (92.7±11.8)% vs. (52.0±15.9)%,P＜0.01] and optometry [ (88.1±7.2)% vs. (79.2±13.4)%,P=0.001] was superior in the experimental group. However, the scoring rate in section of anatomy [ (37.0±17.6)% vs. (77.7±15.6)%,P＜0.01] was inferior in the experimental group. The correlation between actual study time-teaching video ratio and scoring rate in the teaching section of optometry was statistically significant (r=0.467,P=0.016). The questionnaire indicated that the teaching model of online course addressed higher requirements to teaching organization ability, lesson preparation and classroom interaction. Conclusions Online course was of practical value in ophthalmology teaching. Attentions should be paid to improvements of strategy in online course of anatomy and elevation of teaching ability.

Key words: Online course, Eight-year program medical student, Ophthalmology, Teaching effect