Teaching Eye Surgery
March 30, 2012 
admin
0A nervous, insecure ophthalmology resident with sharp instruments inside a patient's eye is an interesting teaching situation for a seasoned surgeon. Yet, I find this situation thrilling and fulfilling. The process of mastering eye surgery takes decades to develop, but one must start somewhere. Residents spend years learning anatomy, physiology, pathology etc, before venturing inside a real eye. And then, they only start step by step. The teaching surgeon allows the resident to perform the parts of the surgery that are easiest, gradually allowing him or her to do more complicated maneuvers. Eventually, third year residents get their own patients from beginning to end.
The bigest obstacle to a successful surgery by a new eye surgeon is fear. Paralyzing fear and anxiety. Thus, the most important job a surgery teacher does is provide a calming, reassuring presence. If a resident feels that they can be bailed out of a difficult situation by the person sitting with them, their stress is reduced dramatically. Reduced stress results in better thinking (we say in surgery and in life that stress makes you stupid) and less tremulousness.
What is in it for a surgery teacher? Money? That is definitely not the reason. Teaching pays very little, and in my case nothing as I do it on a voluntary basis, literally for the pleasure of it. But the rewards for the tacher are incalculable. The teacher has the opportunity to positively influence a younger colleague, a great privilege. The teacher also learns. To teach a delicate, potentially blinding procedure that is made of thousands of little steps requires one to deconstruct one's own technique, analyze it, rationalize it and defend it (yes, defend it for residents questions why you do what you do). The net result is a more rational, more scientific, better surgeon.
One of the greatest accomplishments in life is to have been unanimously elected "Teacher of the Year" while in the faculty at Georgetown University. It was a humbling honor and one that will bring a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment for the rest of my life. Of course, all teachers know that feeling. Ultimately, teaching is the noblest profession. It is kindness made real. It is the privilege of influencing the course of humankind.
Take care,
J. Alberto Martinez, MD
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