Eyeworld

EW RESIDENTS 90 October 2011 The ophthalmic surgeon in training (OSIT) can be so entranced by the action at the business end of the phaco tip that he or she loses track of the second instrument. In the best circumstances this results in a longer case. In the worst circum- stances this results in a consultation with a retina colleague. So how do we make our OSIT aware of the non-dominant hand and second instrument? The technique of saying, with increased urgency, "Pay attention to your non-dominant hand" can be effective but is limited by the wake- ful state of the patient. Furthermore, in the time it takes for this long phrase to come out of your mouth and make it into the ears and brain of your OSIT, the chopper can find its way halfway back to the optic nerve. A technique that has helped me with this and other aspects of surgi- cal training is pre-operative focus ad- justment—of the resident. Prior to surgery, OSITs are asked to watch surgical videos. They are instructed to watch not as if they were watch- ing the latest episode of American Idol, but instead paying attention to second instrument position and use. They are asked to describe, out loud, what they noticed. Before the case a code word is agreed upon that is used to refocus the resident on the non-dominant hand when attention wanders elsewhere. After doing a few cases with this in mind it seems to require only oc- casional reinforcement to keep non- dominant hand awareness issues at bay. EW Contact information Tsai: tsai@vision.wustl.edu Cohen: klc@med.unc.edu Waxman: waxmane@upmc.edu Learning continued from page 89 Sugar takes on sweet new role by Jena Passut EyeWorld Staff Writer The journal Cornea is getting a transplant. Alan Sugar, M.D., professor of ophthalmology, Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, will take over as edi- tor on Jan. 1. "I've been involved with sev- eral journals over many years, and I have an interest in that, as well as an interest in clinical re- search," Dr. Sugar said. Dr. Sugar, 67, has served since 2008 as an associate editor of Cornea, which is published monthly by Lippincott Willliams & Wilkins and has a core audi- ence of corneal specialists and general ophthalmologists inter- ested in the subspecialty. Editors serve in 4-year terms. Dr. Sugar belongs to more than 20 professional societies and has had 183 articles published in various journals. He also has writ- ten or co-written 53 book chap- ters on ophthalmology. Gail Reggio, executive direc- tor of The Cornea Society, which sponsors the journal, said Cornea should benefit from Dr. Sugar's vast experience, both with the journal and over his distin- guished career in ophthalmology. "Dr. Sugar will continue to provide excellent leadership at Cornea," Ms. Reggio said. 89-93 Resident_EW October 2011-DL32_Layout 1 9/29/11 4:35 PM Page 90

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