Exam by body system

How to use an ophthalmoscope

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Fundoscopy takes practice. A steady routine makes it work.

Step by step

  1. Set up

    Dim room, patient looks at a distant point, set the lens to 0. [1]

  2. Same side

    Your right eye and right hand for their right eye. [1]

  3. Red reflex

    From about 15 inches, look for the orange-red reflex. [1]

  4. Move in

    Follow the reflex in slowly, about 15 degrees from the side. [1]

  5. Optic disc

    Follow a vessel to the disc: margins, color, cup. [1]

  6. Vessels and macula

    Each quadrant, then ask the patient to look at the light for the macula. [1]

  7. Abnormal

    Swollen disc, bleeding, exudates, pale disc. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

VMS cases that train this skill

33 VMS cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam)
  2. NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint
  3. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)

Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint; Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam). VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.