I am a strong advocate of learning all different techniques of phaco and nucleo-fractis because I want to have all of the tools in my toolbox. I encourage you to do the same, but then take a step back and think carefully about your patient population. Are most of your patients presenting for cataract surgery with modest nuclear density? If so, then you are like out anonymous Australian surgeon who performs phaco flip and chop as the go-to technique. If your patient population tends to have small, hyperopic eyes with dense cataracts, then vertical chopping in the capsular bag may be better suited.
