Abstract
VR surgery is a complex procedure, requiring special training to optimize the surgeon’s decision-making process (“the brain”) and achieve the required dexterity (“the hands”). If the fellow has no possibility to be in a formal training program, he must identify experienced and accomplished VR surgeons at other institutions – often in other countries – who are willing to take them on as “unofficial” fellows. These visits are typically rather short but extremely useful as long as the mentors (tutors) honestly share their experience and the fellow is able to process all the new information and consciously build on it. Repeated visits, including to different mentors, even after the fellow has started his own career, are indispensable mileposts on the road to becoming a well-trained surgeon.
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Notes
- 1.
All trainees are called fellow in this book.
- 2.
Do not expect that everybody around you will treat you well (see the Appendix, Part 2).
- 3.
Obviously, some of the lectures will at the beginning be way above the level of the fellow. This difficult initial period will not last very long, and the fellow should not be discouraged if he has problems understanding all he hears (or reads). If the information is conflicting, it may simply be due to the complexity of the field, not a sign of his incompetence.
- 4.
Shadowing. You should bombard him with questions, and while remaining respectful, do not hesitate to challenge him (see the Appendix, Part 2).
- 5.
- 6.
If this is not allowed or possible during a visit, at least observe closely, as if you were assisting.
- 7.
Imagine two people being taken by a football fan to a game: one of them understands it, the other has never seen one. Even though these two people will see exactly the same events unfolding in front of their eyes, one will be able to share exciting moments after the game with the fan (“Did you see how player X passed the ball in the 40th min with his heel?” – “Yes, it was fantastic”). The inexperienced person will have no idea what the other two are talking about. The image of that heel-pass was cast on his retina, but his brain did not register it.
- 8.
See Sect. 3.4 about the behavior of the fellow in the ORs he is visiting.
- 9.
Such as peeling an epiretinal membrane.
- 10.
All this is also normal.
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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
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Kuhn, F. (2016). How to Train as a VR Surgeon Outside a Formal Fellowship. In: Vitreoretinal Surgery: Strategies and Tactics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19479-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-19479-0_2
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