• George M Saleh, Julia Lamparter, Paul M Sullivan, Fiona O'Sullivan, Badrul Hussain, Ioannis Athanasiadis, Andre S Litwin, and Stewart N Gillan.
• NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, UK. George.saleh@moorfields.nhs.uk
• Br J Ophthalmol. 2013 Jun 1; 97 (6): 789-92.

BackgroundTo investigate the effect of a structured, supervised, cataract simulation programme on ophthalmic surgeons in their first year of training, and to evaluate the level of skill transfer.MethodsTrainees with minimal intraocular and simulator experience in their first year of ophthalmology undertook a structured, sequential, customised, virtual reality (VR) cataract training programme developed through the International Forum of Ophthalmic Simulation. A set of one-handed, bimanual, static and dynamic tasks were evaluated before and after the course and scores obtained. Statistical significance was evaluated with the Wilcoxon sign-rank test.ResultsThe median precourse score of 101.50/400 (IQR 58.75-145.75) was significantly improved after completing the training programme ((postcourse score: 302/400, range: 266.25-343), p<0.001). While improvement was evident and found to be statistically significant in all parameters, greatest improvements were found for capsulorhexis and antitremor training ((Capsulorhexis: precourse score=0/100, range 0-4.5; postcourse score=81/100, range 13-87.75; p=0.002), (antitremor training: precourse score=0/100, range 0-0; postcourse score=80/100, range 60.25-91.50; p=0.001)).ConclusionsStructured and supervised VR training can offer a significant level of skills transfer to novice ophthalmic surgeons. VR training at the earliest stage of ophthalmic surgical training may, therefore, be of benefit.

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