Abstract
Purpose
To evaluate the safety of an intensive cataract surgery training programme.
Methods
An intensive cataract surgery training programme was implemented in August 2010 for year 3 ophthalmology trainees in the East Midlands Deanery North Rotation (United Kingdom). Trainees participated in extra-ocular surgery and 50 h of virtual reality cataract surgery simulator training over a 2-year period. Their third year comprised 6 months of intensive phacoemulsification training in a tertiary centre followed by a 6-month period of consolidation in a district general hospital. The complication rates and case numbers were evaluated after the first 2 years of implementation.
Results
At 2 years, three trainees had completed a full year of intensive training. In the first 6 months of training, Trainee 1 completed 156 cases, Trainee 2 completed 194 cases, and Trainee 3 completed 151 full cases as primary surgeons with an average rate of posterior capsule rupture (PCR) of 1%. At 12 months, Trainee 1 completed 291, Trainee 2 completed 318, and Trainee 3 completed 294 cases, with an average PCR rate of 0.66%. The trainees required 84 lists on average to complete 150 full cataract procedures.
Conclusion
The combination of simulation and the new intensive training programme is safer than the traditional programme for cataract surgery training.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Intensive Cataract Training Study Group: Trainers—Professor Stephen A Vernon, Mr Senthil Maharajan, Mr Dharmalingham Kumudhan, Mr Shery Thomas, Mrs Sushma Dhar-Munshi, Mr Srinivasan Subramaniam, Mr Marius Scheepers, Mr Arun Lakshmanan, Mrs Prema Maharajan, Mr Timothy Steel, Mr Philip Alexander, Mr Nainglatt Tint, and Mr James Tildsley. Active support was obtained from the Deanery: Dr David Williams. Other Contributors who allowed timetable reorganisation are: Mrs Lorraine Abercrombie, Mr Winfried Amoaku, Professor Harminder Dua, Mr Richard Gregson, Mr Anthony King, Miss Chea Lim, Mrs Vineeta Munshi, Mr Ponniah Nithianandan, Mr Gavin Orr, Mrs Katya Tambe, and Mr Anwar Zaman. Funds for purchasing the simulator were from the Queens Medical Centre and charitable funds.
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This work been presented as a poster at the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Annual Congress 2012.
Contributors Stephen A Vernon, Senthil Maharajan, Dharmalingham Kumudhan, Shery Thomas, Sushma Dhar-Munshi, Srinivasan Subramaniam, Marius Scheepers, Arun Lakshmanan, Prema Maharajan, Timothy Steel, Philip Alexander, Nainglatt Tint, James Tildsley, David Williams, Lorraine Abercrombie, Winfried Amoaku, Harminder Dua, Richard Gregson, Anthony King, Chea Lim, Vineeta Munshi, Ponniah Nithianandan, Gavin Orr, Katya Tambe, Anwar Zaman
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Baxter, J., Lee, R., Sharp, J. et al. Intensive cataract training: a novel approach. Eye 27, 742–746 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.54
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/eye.2013.54
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