Sir,

We thank Dr Swampillai et al for their correspondence1 regarding our article.2 In our study, the main inclusion criterion was ophthalmic trainees with minimal surgical experience2 (as defined in the paper). No other essential or desirable criteria from the ophthalmology training selection process were tested as trainees recruited had already passed through all this process. As Swampillai et al rightly pointed out, the importance of stereopsis in achieving satisfactory skill in ophthalmic surgery still remains debated.3 There are various gradations of stereopsis impairment, and until a clear relationship between these and surgical skills performance is defined their influence on data can only be speculated. There is also a range of other potential extraneous factors that could potentially influence surgical performance, some described, for example, sleep deprivation,4 and likely many more that have not been examined formally. It was for this combination of reasons that during the study, outset inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined as they were.

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