Abstract
Purpose::
To evaluate whether performance on the anterior segment microsurgical simulator ("EYESI" by VRMagic) correlates with surgical skill level using medical students with no previous surgical experience, residents with minimal surgical experience, and skilled attending ophthalmologists. The various modules require the user to perform ophthalmic surgery-like tasks that are then evaluated and scored.
Methods::
This is a prospective study that recruited participants in various stages of microsurgical training. All participants signed an informed consent. Participants were divided Into 3 categories comprised of medical students without previous microsurgical experience, ophthalmology residents with minimal microsurgical experience, and skilled attending ophthalmologists. All participants were given a 30-minute tutorial of the simulator. The participants were then asked to perform 2 modules: the anti-tremor module and the capsulorrhexis, a total of 3 times. The minimum score to proceed from one level to the next was set at 70.
Results::
An evaluation of the participants’ level of training and the maximum scores of each module were compared. A direct correlation between training level and scores was tested by statistical analysis.
Conclusions::
Final results will show that previously untrained medical students scored the lowest and that the score improved as the level of surgical experience increased. This will demonstrate that the EYESI is an efficacious instrument that may be useful for assessing the level of microsurgical skill among medical professionals.
Keywords: training/teaching cataract surgery • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: systems/equipment/techniques • cataract