Learning by doing: it’s all about education

Nowadays there is no doubt that increased time spent practising surgical technique will speed up the learning curve.

There is also, however, no doubt that being taught the correct thing to practise is as important.

No single technique is uniquely better than another, and for the trainee, it is very important to learn a range of techniques to build surgical adaptability.

This ability to adapt to a changing situation in a surgical context is one of the features of a good surgeon with good decision-making capability.

Practising these techniques outside the operating theatre makes time spent in the operating theatre more productive and safer.

Hence, for all these reasons, THEA is proud to have set up for the 1^st time, an international DRY LAB session in collaboration with the YO from SOE. The dry lab session was a large success with more than 90 attendees from 22 different countries.

During the class, YOs had the opportunity to learn about the first steps of cataract surgery, capsulorhexis and cornea suturing. Classes were fully dedicated to practise and gain confidence.

The classes were supervised by three outstanding experienced ophthalmic surgeons: Dr Alex Shortt, Dr John Ferris and Dr Andrew Scott.

Dry lab was part of the YO activities programme over 3 days, sponsored by THEA.

This session with all the other events dedicated for YOs (EBO, TROPHY etc.) strengthen the role of THEA in the education of the YOs.