HANDS AND EYES

Ophthalmology trainees learn the vast majority of their clinical skills by observation of their mentors and repetition of what they have seen.

It is essentially impossible to perform cataract surgery after having only read about it, and without having seen how it is done. Experiential, on-the-job learning is a natural approach to developing expertise, but it is not very efficient on its own, as trainees are often unprepared for what they see. The combination of reading preparation and hands-on experience is far more efficient.

This is the premise of the 135-page Ophthalmic DOPS and OSATS: The Handbook for Work-Based Assessments, by Sam Evans and Patrick Watts (Radcliffe). It is intended, as mentioned in the foreword, to “provide the trainee and trainer with lucid explanations of workplace competency requirements”, of which The Royal College of Ophthalmologists has 179.

The handbook is divided into five sections, which seem to move chronologically through a trainee’s learning process. “Clinical Assessment” covers basic topics like applanation tonometry and slit lamp examination. “Patient Investigation” describes more specialised exam techniques, including ocular electrophysiology (ERG, VEP and EOG) and biometry. “Practical Skills” and “Surgical Skills” describe the skills, like anterior-chamber paracentesis and biopsy of ocular tissues that every ophthalmology resident wants to be able to perform, but often never get the opportunity to do.

About 45 skills are described, including the aim, equipment list required, step-by-step procedure and potential complications. This book is most useful as a learning tool for ophthalmology trainees, but can also be used by trainers as a reference guide.

FS LASER TECHNIQUES

Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Cataract Surgery: Facts and Results, edited by Zoltán Z Nagy (Slack Incorporated), is a highly specialised manual for the transfer of knowledge and skills regarding the use of femtosecond laser techniques.

In the introduction, Dr Nagy states that he writes for “those just starting” and for “those who are already advanced and skilled femtolaser users”. I agree. As suggested by the title, this book is full of evidence in terms of data, figures and postoperative results, based both on the authors’ experience (Section I: Original Chapters) and on peer-reviewed, published papers on femtolaser cataract surgery (Section II: Classic Papers).

The sections complement each other; whereas the original chapters are instructive and provide clinical know-how, the classic papers, a selection of the most interesting and relevant published articles on the topic, support the rest of the book and provide scientific support.