Concentration: Aging

Project Mentor: Paul B. Greenberg M.D.

Graduation Year: MD 2011

Concentration Title:
Design, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Pre-Clinical Elective on Aging and the Human Eye: Cataracts and Cataract Surgery

Concentration Description:
During the summer after my first year, I designed a preclinical elective course on cataracts and cataract surgery. The course included a web-based MyCourses component as well as a virtual surgery session at the VA Eye Clinic; it could be completed by students entirely on their own time, on an individual basis. The MyCourses component included 5 modules about cataracts and cataract surgery (Epidemiology, Anatomy, Pathophysiology, Surgery, and Complications/Impact) and included Powerpoints for which I drew many cartoons and diagrams, a surgical video that I edited, and quizzes that I wrote. The virtual surgery component utilized the EyeSi ophthalmosurgical simulator. I designed a 30 page “EyeSi for Dummies” user manual that guided students in detail through different tasks pertaining to cataract surgery. The course was approved by the curriculum committee and was offered as a preclinical elective during the 2008-2009 academic year (entitled “Aging and the Human Eye: Cataracts and Cataract Surgery.”) About 20 students completed the course and received preclinical elective credit. I coordinated an interest meeting about the course, held an orientation session at the VA Eye Clinic in which the EyeSi was demonstrated to the students, and scheduled students for use of the EyeSi/answered their questions about the course throughout the semesters. The course continues to be offered on a non-credit basis and the website/virtual surgery user manual are also used by students/primary care residents rotating through the ophthalmology service.