If you are in an ophthalmology residency program in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the USA, then you know that this is a critical time of year for learning. We start our academic calendars every July 1 and the year finishes on June 30. This means that July, August, and September form the first academic quarter and it is when resident surgeons really start to ramp up the learning curve of surgical skill. This video emphasizes these critical teaching points about the basic steps of cataract surgery and it was performed by a resident who has only done about 20 prior cases. In the video, I guide this resident through every step of the surgery, with time taken to give helpful pointers.
I receive many emails every month from surgeons around the world asking if I have a fellowship program or even simply an observership. No, at this point, I do not offer these programs in person, though we are contemplating starting a one-year cataract, refractive, and complex anterior segment surgery fellowship in the future. For now, the best way to learn from me (and from our many guest surgeons) is to watch and carefully study the videos here on CataractCoach. This video is a fine example of great learning and even experienced surgeons would benefit from watching it. The video is shown at 2x speed and is about 9 minutes in length — well worth the time investment.
Click below to learn from this strong performance by a resident in training:
Completely agree on the vision blue. I find that it actually changes the feel of the rhexsis and makes the capsule a little more brittle and friable.
Also for learning purposes I think its important to watch the position of the junior surgeons second instrument, like in this video. When you’re learning, the focus can be directed soley at the phaco tip and the second instrument location is forgotten leading to anterior capsular tears/iris injury.