Eyeworld

28 | EYEWORLD | AUGUST 2020 by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director Contact Goshe: GOSHEJ@ccf.org N YES CONNECT EWS When elective surgeries returned, Dr. Goshe said, "The residents barely missed a beat. They came back in and were performing anterior segment surgery with minimal or no regression. They were impressively good." If anything, Dr. Goshe said residents might have been a tad slower than usual. He noted that most of his residents had already performed at least 200 cataract surgeries when COVID-19 hit. He speculated that if this had happened earlier in their training, they might not have picked surgery back up so easily. When all surgery was stopped, Dr. Goshe said the onsite wet lab was opened up for extra days to allow residents to book more time to practice surgical maneuvers using animal eyes, synthetic eyes, and virtual simulation technology (Eyesi, VRmagic) the clinic instituted several years ago. "I think surgical simulation as a training tool is valuable as a part of training prepara- tion. It does a good job at replicating certain elements of surgery, things like the depth of the Residents back in the OR Residents practice in the wet lab prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: Jeffrey Goshe, MD S tudies have already started to be published on how the pandemic is af- fecting surgical training and education for the next generation of doctors. Its effect on the medical profession and trainees will no doubt continue to be researched. Jeffrey Goshe, MD, said the Cleveland Clin- ic is looking at outcomes before and after the pandemic among all of its ophthalmologists, including residents. Anecdotally, he has found that it's like riding a bike for residents coming back into the OR. Elective surgery at the Cleveland Clinic was halted for approximately 8 weeks between March and May. During that time, when urgent surgeries were taking place, Dr. Goshe said per- sonnel in the OR was limited, which prevented some residents and fellows from participating or even observing. "For the second and third years, they missed out on 15–20% of their volume," he said. About the doctor Jeffrey Goshe, MD Residency program director Cole Eye Institute Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, Ohio

• Cover