Masterclasses Aim To Replace Anxiety With Proficiency

Small pupils. White cataracts. Eyes with corneal scars and poor visibility. Pseudoexfoliation syndrome.

The challenges that can complicate cataract surgery are many, while opportunities to acquire the skills and knowledge to overcome them are few. Beginning this month, the ESCRS hopes to change that dynamic by providing an intensive “masterclass” to train qualified ophthalmologists to tackle complex cataract cases. Three other masterclasses will focus on microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) for cataract surgeons, toric IOLs, and presbyopia-correcting IOLs.

“I think quite a few surgeons out there would like to get into one of these technologies but simply have a little anxiety about some of the issues that may arise,” says Dr Oliver Findl, president of the ESCRS. “If you have a really comprehensive curriculum that extends over several months and then ends up in a face-to-face, wet lab/dry lab sort of situation, you can really be much more effective on the topic.”

The four masterclasses resulted from a two-day retreat on education the ESCRS Executive Committee held in October. Other projects inspired by the retreat, including simulators that travel through Europe to provide opportunities for simulated training and a digital education platform, are under development and will roll out in the coming months.

Masterclass Structure

Each masterclass will admit no more than 50 participants and divide students into groups of 10, each with a mentor. Experienced surgeons who are knowledgeable about the class topic will serve as mentors.

The groups will hold monthly Zoom meetings to discuss the class topic and share insights about published articles they are reading. ESCRS also plans to create a WhatsApp group so students and mentors can exchange questions that may arise in between their meetings.

The masterclasses will begin in May and have four modules, one month for each—May, June, July, and August—covering the four topics.

The masterclasses will conclude at the ESCRS Annual Congress in Vienna in September with a face-to-face element immediately beforehand. The one-and-a half days of intensive exploration will consist of small groups solving different cases and scenarios as well as participating in dry labs and wet labs.

“It’s essentially self-learning at your own pace, with Zoom meetings and WhatsApp groups in between to enable students and mentors to have exchanges,” Dr Findl says. “Then, at the Congress, there will be intense, face-to-face small group discussions and hands-on work on cases and dry labs, wet labs, and simulator training.”

Masterclass Teachers

The masterclass tackling complex cataract cases is intended for surgeons who have performed 300-500 cataract surgeries but have shied away from cases with out-of-the-ordinary complications. It will be coordinated by Richard Packard, a UK ophthalmologist with extensive experience teaching cataract surgeries.

Dr Findl says the masterclass covering microinvasive glaucoma surgery is intended for “the cataract surgeon who gets a patient who also has glaucoma—not the worst of all glaucomas, but one that needs maybe one, two, or three drops.” The class will be led by Ziad Khoueir, a specialist in glaucoma and cataract surgery.

Adi Abulafia, a renowned cataract surgeon in Israel, will teach the third masterclass on toric IOLs, while Ramin Khoramnia from Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany will lead the fourth on presbyopia-correcting IOLs.

Ophthalmologists who want to enroll in the classes should expect to put their newfound knowledge and skills to work immediately.

“These are really for somebody who wants to take this step now and really wants to change their practice in the next few months,” Dr Findl says. “We don’t want people to take a course just to have another certificate on their wall, but really to be able to engage with the topic immediately afterwards. The idea is that when they go back to their practice or their hospital after the Congress, they can start using their new skills straight away.”

Prior to starting the masterclasses, students will complete a knowledge self-assessment on the chosen topic. A similar survey will be administered after the course ends, then again six months later.

“We want to find out whether they have actually changed their practice patterns—for example, whether the junior surgeon who has really not done any toric IOLs or very few is now doing 10 per month,” Dr Findl says. “We want to get feedback from the participants and see how they ranked the classes, and that will obviously be critical for us to develop the programme further.”

2023 ESCRS Masterclasses

The ESCRS will be offering four masterclasses in 2023 on the following topics (class leaders in parentheses):

• Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgery (Ziad Khoueir)
• Toric IOLs (Adi Abulafia)
• Presbyopia-Correcting IOLs (Ramin Khoramnia)
• Complex Cataract Cases (Richard Packard)