In the summer of 2020, the tough decision was made to cancel the annual Phacoemulsification Course hosted jointly by the University of Wisconsin and University of Iowa Departments of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (DOVS) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Instead, the training was reimagined as a mini-course that was held April 23, 2021. The Mini-Multiphasic Phacoemulsification Course offered training to a small group of senior ophthalmology residents from UW DOVS and UI DOVS and was sponsored through in-kind contributions by Alcon. Two UW DOVS faculty, Sarah Nehls, MD, and Anna Momont, MD, facilitated the training, alongside colleagues from UI DOVS: Thomas Oetting, MS, MD; Jaclyn Haugsdal, MD; Tim Johnson, MD, PhD; and Mark Greiner, MD.
The wet lab course took place from 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the Madison Surgery Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Three ACGME competencies for cataract surgery were addressed:
- perform basic cataract wound construction, capsulorhexis and hydrodissection, and basic phacoemulsification
- understand parameters of the phaco machine and the use of capsular tension rings and iris hooks
- perform intraocular toric lens insertion
