Microsurgical Skills Course

On Thursday 2nd June, 20 junior doctors from across Australia and New Zealand joined us at the Save Sight Institute for the seventh Microsurgical Skills Course, and the first with international staff and students attending since November 2019.

Students honed their microsurgical skills on a combination of synthetic and organic materials, including skills boards, model eyes, and human cadavers. They practiced suturing on eyes, muscles, and corneas, eyelid repair on cadavers, and intraocular lens insertion on a phacoemulsification machine.

The course was developed for Australian and New Zealander doctors by Dr Graham Wilson, Dr Yves Kerdraon and Dr Con Petsoglou in collaboration with consultant ophthalmologist, Mr Nigel Cox, who established the very successful microsurgical skills course for the Royal College of Ophthalmologists in the UK.

The teaching team comprises of consultants, fellows and senior registrars from Australia, New Zealand and the UK. It is run with support from Johnson and Johnson Vision.

Each course is capped at 20 students to ensure a staff to student ratio of 1:3 and to enable staff to create a safe and supportive learning environment. Students consistently comment on the approachable, friendly and knowledgeable teaching team.

There is a strong focus on teaching and developing relevant practical skills the doctors can take away and use straight away. During the course, students receive 16 hours of hands-on practical training and 3 hours of lectures designed to support the practical work. They have access to 10 hours of online resources prior to attending the course.

84% of students who attended the course in June rated it 10/10 and no student rated it below 8/10 with one student commenting, “Amazing course. Renewed my love for this part of medicine!” 

If you are interested in attending a future session of our Microsurgical Skills Course, join our short course mailing list here to receive notifications.