Surgeon offers tips for building confidence in OR
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First-year cataract surgeons can build confidence in the operating room through a combination of preparation and sticking to a routine, according to a presentation at Real World Ophthalmology.
Alison D. Early, MD, offered her top 10 tips for building confidence in the first year of practice.
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“This is something I’ve mentored a lot of younger surgeons on,” she said. “I tried to distill it down to some really helpful things that I did or wish I did and how it helped me.”
In her first year of practice, Early said she would focus on cases that she was confident with and referred out the rest. She said she was able to build her confidence by doing a lot of routine cases before she moved on to more challenging ones.
Early also found confidence by diligently planning for each case and surgery day. She said surgeons should review cases the night before surgery and visualize the steps as they fall asleep. She also suggested that surgeons should take on the responsibility of selecting their own IOLs.
“The buck stops with you,” she said. “If you’re the one putting it in, you need to make sure it’s the right one. There’s no room for error.”
As she begins her day in the OR, Early takes time to ensure proper positioning for herself and the patient. She also said surgeons need to take the lead on the surgical time-out and repeatedly check to make sure the correct lens is being inserted.
“Every facility has differences in how the time-out is required to be,” she said. “I like to make sure everyone in the room is focused, so that the correct plan is being enacted.”
Early said it is important to have a back-up plan as well as a person to call if trouble arises. That might mean calling a colleague or an industry representative during a tricky part of surgery.
Finally, Early said surgeons should review case videos and see their own postoperative visits.
“It’s important, especially as a young surgeon, to see the outcomes and long-term results of your decision-making,” she said. “You need to learn how your decisions preoperatively and intraoperatively pan out for the long term. Unfortunately, if patients are out of sight, they are out of mind.”
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Early AD. Building confidence in the OR in your first year of practice. Presented at: Real World Ophthalmology; Nov. 5, 2022 (virtual meeting).
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