Now this is not the third time that this resident surgeon has scrubbed and participated in a cataract surgery. This young surgeon has participated in 100 to 200 prior cataract surgeries by doing parts of the attending surgeon’s cases. An easy way to do this is to “back in” to surgery by starting with the final steps of the procedure. For example, removing viscoelastic and sealing the incisions after the IOL is already in the capsular bag is a relatively easy procedure that allows the resident to get a feel for working within the eye and pivoting in the incision. After that is learned, the resident can move on to filling the empty capsular bag with viscoelastic and inserting the IOL. This is continued until the resident is at the beginning of the case with creation of the incision and the capsulorhexis, which are two of the most critical steps of surgery.
