1181: time to up your residency game!

This is being posted on July 31, 2021 and that is one month into the academic year for ophthalmology residency … More

1167: resident graduation lecture

I was honored to speak at the residency graduation annual seminar for the Jones Eye Institute at the University of … More

1156: skill level after 100 cataract cases

July marks the beginning of the academic year here in the USA when our new residents begin their training process … More

1134: Equal Opportunity or Equal Outcome?

Imagine two different doctors: Dr A and Dr B, both of whom are doing their residency training in ophthalmology. Dr … More

1127: keeping track of surgical timing

You are the master of your own domain. The master of your own career. The master of your own life. … More

1122: Remote Capsulorhexis Training

Prof. John Ferris has started a novel program of remotely teaching young surgeons to improve their surgical skills. This can … More

1113: surgery center OR block time

Welcome to another Monday morning from my operating room (OR) at our Beverly Hills surgery center. We are discussing surgery … More

1112: surgical pearls for ocular asymmetry

While most patients have eyes that are very similar, there are a few patients where the eyes are remarkably different, … More

1111: Playlist: Surgical Learning

All great surgeons are students for life: continually learning and evolving surgical techniques to keep up with the latest techniques … More

1099: some amazing surgical pearls

With CataractCoach, I am sharing everything that I have learned or figured out during the past 25 years in ophthalmology. … More

1088: Recent residency graduate critique

This video was submitted by an ophthalmologist who recently graduated from residency training. He has about 350 phaco cases of … More

1086: Do you get nervous or anxious?

I will be the first person to tell you that performing ocular surgery is stressful and not easy. We are … More

1064: lessons from 1 year of COVID-10

Just more than a year ago, we had a nationwide shutdown to attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. This … More

1042: you must practice suturing!

If more than 99% of my cataract surgery cases do not require a suture, then why is it so important … More

1000 posts/videos on CataractCoach

Back in May of 2018, I had the idea to start CataractCoach.com where I would routinely post about cataract surgery, … More

I wish I had this book in residency!

“What your medical school and ophthalmology textbooks can’t teach you, but what your mentors, colleagues, and patients will!” That really … More

Playlist: Critical Life Lessons

Let’s start the new year right and make 2021 the time where you advance your surgical skills. Certainly dexterity and … More

clean your optics & focus the microscope

This is actually a very important lesson. Your microscope optics will determine your view for the surgery and that could … More

Learning Phaco Chop: you can do it!

Young surgeons need to learn to perform phaco chop — it makes cataract surgery efficient and increases safety. Less ultrasonic … More

Review: Career Paths for Surgical Learning

The path to learning surgery is a long and challenging one. True success requires years of dedication and the passion … More

Angle Alpha and Angle Kappa with IOLs

If an IOL has zero power, such as in an extremely myopic patient, where we place it in the eye … More

Surgeon returns after a 3 month hiatus

Performing surgery at a high level is a skill that must be continually honed and practiced. What happens when we … More

great learning resident cataract case

If you are in an ophthalmology residency program in the northern hemisphere, particularly in the USA, then you know that … More

Is ophthalmology residency too difficult?

There is no doubt that ophthalmology residency training is more difficult now than it was 10 or 20 years ago. … More

climbing up the surgical skill bell curve

Learning surgery, particularly micro-surgery, is very difficult. No one is born knowing how to work within the 0.25 cubic centimeter … More

Critiquing my old cataract surgery video

I was digging through some old computer files and I came across an old video that I made in 2006. … More

Review: Soft-Shell OVD technique

The Soft-Shell Technique for viscoelastic use in cataract surgery was developed by Dr. Steve Arshinoff as a method of getting the best … More

Learn as I coach this resident

Many ophthalmologists from around the world have asked if we offer a fellowship, externship, or clinical rotation so that they … More

Mastering Divide-and-Conquer

Most young ophthalmologists start learning phacoemulsification cataract surgery with the divide-and-conquer technique. This is an easier technique to learn than … More

Simplified pterygium technique

There is so much to learn about truly artistic pterygium surgery that we could likely make a PterygiumCoach.com website and … More

Review: fixing beginner mistakes

Learning intra-ocular surgery is not easy and it can take years just to be comfortable with just the basics. Look … More

The Subtleties of Cataract Surgery

The difference between good cataract surgery and great cataract surgery comes down to subtleties. There are very slight nuances to … More

Resident Cataract Surgery Final Exam

Today is June 30 and that is the final day of residency training in the USA since our academic year … More

Resident Case Double Camera Angles

For experienced surgeons (which I define as those who have done at least a few thousand cataract surgeries), the microscope … More

Should you do surgery for this patient?

This is a complex patient who has many systemic medical issues and because her lab tests from this morning showed … More

Does cataract surgery pose a viral risk?

Our colleagues from the University of Toronto recently did an experiment to determine if cataract surgery poses a risk of … More

Lessons from COVID-19

We are now back in our clinics seeing routine patients after almost 2 months of hiatus due to COVID-19. The … More

Techniques to Open DMEK Grafts

Today was supposed to be the World Cornea Congress in Boston (May 14, 2020) and even though it is cancelled, … More

Mentally Recovering from Complications

There are only two types of ophthalmologists who never, ever get surgical complications: (1) those who don’t operate, and (2) … More

Review: External View of Cataract Surgery Steps

Two of the most critical steps in cataract surgery are the main phaco incision and the capsulorhexis. Properly completing these … More

List of Key Videos for Residents

A young doctor in training asked me to put together a list of key videos prior to her first day … More

Cataract Surgery Lessons from Kyoto

I recently went to Kyoto, Japan for ophthalmology business development projects and I also had a chance to visit a … More

Do you really want to learn surgery?

This is one of the most important videos that I have ever made. If you only watch one of my … More

I am thankful for…

Today is Thanksgiving in the USA, which is a holiday in the USA when we give thanks to the people … More

Cataract Surgery Draping is Critical

Watching amazing intra-ocular acrobatics during a challenging cataract case is exciting and makes for a great video, but those cases … More

Surgeon Ergonomics for Ocular Surgery

As an ophthalmic surgeon, you will spend a large part of your future in the operating room performing delicate ocular … More

When should we leave “good enough” alone?

When should we leave “good enough” alone? Ophthalmologists tend to be perfectionists in nature and I certainly fit that description. … More

Advice for young ophthalmologists for future success

Today we celebrate our 500th post with keen advice for young doctors. We did it. We have published a cataract … More

Top 5 Cataract Surgery Tips for Millennial Surgeons

For the Millennial Eye Live 2019 meeting, I am presenting this talk about my top 5 tips for young surgeons … More

Understanding Force Directions in Phaco Chop

Many resident surgeons find it challenging to learn the technique of phaco chop because of the force vectors which are … More

Adjust the Phaco Probe Angle during Chop

The phaco probe angle changes during the procedure. When we embed the phaco tip into the nucleus, the probe is … More

Sub-Tenon’s Anesthetic Injection Technique

Placing anesthetic agents in the retro-bulbar space provides excellent anesthesia and akinesia during ocular surgery. We have previously shown the … More

Different Career Paths for Surgical Learning

The path to learning surgery is a long and challenging one. True success requires years of dedication and the passion … More

Foot Pedal Position during Phaco Chop

Learning phaco chop will make your cataract surgeries safer, more efficient, and more enjoyable to perform. And of course, phaco … More

Review: Divide and Conquer Phaco Technique

Every July, we mark the beginning of the academic year in the USA and this is when our residents progress … More

Foot Pedal Positions for Learning Phaco Chop

Cataract surgery requires both hands and both feet of the surgeon in order to perform the modern techniques. It seems … More

External View of Critical Cataract Surgery Steps

Two of the most critical steps in cataract surgery are the main phaco incision and the capsulorhexis. Properly completing these … More

Review: Basic Principles of Suturing with 10-0 Nylon

I tell my residents that no one is born knowing how to place 10-0 nylon sutures, but rather it is … More

Superior Incision: Hand Position & Microscope Views

While I prefer the temporal approach for routine cataract surgeries, some surgeons prefer a superior incision. Many beginning surgeons who … More

Simultaneous Hand Position and Microscope View

For young ophthalmologists, learning how to hold the instruments and position the hands during cataract surgery can be difficult to … More

Technique for Retrobulbar Anesthetic Injection

To perform a safe cataract surgery and to keep the patient comfortable and pain-free, we need to give a sufficient … More

Review: Learning Grid for Cataract Surgery

July 1 is the beginning of the academic year for our ophthalmology residents and it is an important time to … More

Analysis of a Resident’s 50th Cataract Surgery (Part 2)

Continuing from the previous post, this is part 2 of 2 of the analysis of a resident’s 50th cataract surgery. … More

Analysis of a Resident’s 50th Cataract Surgery (Part 1)

This is Part 1 of 2 where we are analyzing an anonymous resident’s 50th cataract surgery, which is very early … More

Capsulorhexis in 12 consecutive cataract surgeries

Seeing the same step of surgery performed over and over again can help beginning surgeons learn the subtleties of the … More

Review: Give the First Surgeon the Benefit of the Doubt

Sometimes you will examine a patient who had surgery elsewhere and you can tell that there were challenges and complications. … More

What is your ideal Cataract Surgery case? Why?

What is your ideal cataract surgery case? Not your fastest case. Speed does not matter. Efficiency does, but that’s a … More

Achieving the State of Flow in Cataract Surgery

The psychological state of Flow is described as “energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment” of the action being performed. Some … More

Critical Lesson: Giving the Benefit of the Doubt

Sometimes you will examine a patient who had surgery elsewhere and you can tell that there were challenges and complications. … More

Surgical Exposure is Critical in Cataract Surgery

Head positioning and exposure of the surgical field is important for success in phacoemulsification. The patient should be supine with … More

Beginning Surgeon Stop-and-Chop Case

We did a survey recently and about 20% of our viewers indicated that they wanted more videos of novice surgeons … More

Hands or Machines: What is more important?

There is an old saying, “a good workman never blames his tools,” and that holds true for ophthalmic surgery as … More

Draping is an Important Step of Surgery

Though we don’t often show the process of draping for cataract surgery, it is an important step of the procedure. … More

What does the patient actually see?

When we examine patients, we are looking at their eyes and their pathologies from the outside seeing in. We can … More

Cataract Surgery Learning Grid

During ophthalmology residency, residents are exposed to cataract surgery in steps, starting from the most basic and ending with advanced … More

What I learned about Ophthalmology at age 5

I only remember a few things about kindergarten: playing handball during recess, watching Matilda eat paste, and learning the golden … More

Beginning Surgeon Cataract Case Analysis

Becoming proficient at cataract surgery is not easy and the learning curve is quite steep, particularly at the beginning. We … More

CataractCoach.com celebrates 100 articles/videos!

Thank you to all of our readers for their support over the past three months! We have kept up with … More

Nucleus Chop with a 27g Cannula

It is the beginning of the academic year, which in the USA runs from July 1 (start) until June 30 … More

Self-Critical Analysis of Cataract Surgery

For surgeons it is important to be self-critical in oder to continually advance our surgical skills and judgment. The goal … More

Slow Motion Analysis of Phaco Chop

When we are watching a cataract surgery video to learn techniques from others, it is often difficult to understand the … More

3 Golden Rules for Patient Discussions

Physicians need to understand importance of patient discussions regarding surgery Letting patients speak, making a specific recommendation, and explaining what … More

Slow Motion Analysis of Cataract Surgery

There is a lot to be learned from slow-motion analysis and this applies to cataract surgery as well. Think of … More

I teach all young surgeons these 3 Tenets for Success

It’s hard to boil down decades of a career into three easy tenets, but the key principles needed for surgical … More

The Informed Consent Process for Cataract Surgery

  As ophthalmologists, we know the most about cataracts and the potential benefit to our patients of any planned cataract … More

50 Articles / Videos on CataractCoach.com

CataractCoach.com was launched in May and we have kept up with the goal of posting a new teaching article / … More

3 Rules for Maneuvering Instruments in the Eye

Intra-ocular procedures pose the surgical challenge of working within a very small space with limited room in which to maneuver … More

4 times when you should NOT do surgery

Any surgeon can operate, but it takes a surgeon with good judgment to know when not to operate. During my … More

The Biggest Mistake in Ophthalmology that I’ve made in the past 20 years!

From CataractCoach.com: Like you, I love cataract surgery, but there’s more to life than just ophthalmology. Finding Balance in Ophthalmology … More

6 Mistakes that Beginning Cataract Surgeons Make

Learning cataract surgery during ophthalmology residency is critically important for many reasons. It is the most widely performed ophthalmic surgery, … More

Older Surgical Techniques Still Matter

Yes, I love phaco too, but we should all learn to do SICS as well. (Classic ECCE teaching video below) This … More