Eyeworld

R APRIL 2023 | EYEWORLD | 65 refractive surgery education. The usual offerings are week- end courses at the national meetings. The easy part is the hands-on training. The hardest part is the diagnosis, the preoperative testing, and the postoperative management of complications. That can't be learned in a few hour-long courses. If you want to be a good refractive surgeon, you have to invest in one of the refractive surgery fellowships that are now available. When I was training, there were very few such fel- lowships available, compared to just 5 years later. Now I think there is a plethora of refractive surgery fellowships available in private practice settings. I think for ophthal- mologists who want to learn it, that's the best way, under the apprenticeship of a refractive surgeon with real patient cases. … It's all hands-on training, not didactics. I know some practicing ophthalmologists don't have time to dedicate to this. I have some colleagues who took a break to do a fellowship and come back. The other option is to do something similar to what I did and learn it on the job. If you can find a practice to join where there is a high-volume refractive surgeon willing to take you under their wing, that would be a great substitute. EyeWorld: There are several refractive surgery options: PRK, LASIK, SMILE, ICL, RLE, etc. Where do you think a young ophthalmologist interested in refractive surgery should get started? Dr. Zhu: I think that most people start with an excimer la- ser. Quite a few cataract surgeons don't do primarily refrac- tive surgery, but as you're offering more premium lenses, patients need enhancements, and having an excimer laser in-house means you can at least do PRK enhancements. … To do LASIK, you need two lasers—the femtosecond laser to make the flap and the excimer laser to do the ablation treatment. To do SMILE you need a whole different laser, but that laser also does LASIK flaps. EyeWorld: Any final thoughts about resources for young ophthalmologists? Dr. Zhu: The YES Connect Webinar will be great to watch because it's providing resources and tips on how a handful of us young refractive surgeons got into it and how they can do the same. … I would also give a shout-out to the Refractive Surgery Alliance. The refractive surgeons who are part of this group form a great network; it's a forum where we're often presenting cases and we get to hear from refractive expert minds across the world. Our Charity Delivers High-Volume, Well-Equipped Phacoemulsification Projects to the Impoverished of Mexico. We are Now Recruiting Volunteer Phaco Surgeons for Our Upcoming Surgical Projects in 2023. Learn More About Us and Contact Us at: www.choseneyemission.com

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