lasik

[pedseye]

well as most people in ophthalmology i did not get any lasik experience. Now i want to start doing some, and advice on where to go?

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[GuP]

i dont understand your question clearly. so you want to learn how to do lasik i.e. pursue a fellowship or you want to go to a place where there will be more lasik pts. for you to work on?

 

[vtrain]

Sorry - I don't mean to highjack this threa- but what are ppl's thoughts on resident performed LASIK? At a substantially reduced cost, is it worth having a resident perform the procedure with attending supervision? As opposed to other procedures, it seems as though alot of it is machine dependant, thus allowing less room for error on the physicians part. I was tempted to have it done a couple of years ago by a resident down at Bascom but was unsure at the time. thoughts?

 

[GuP]

Sorry - I don't mean to highjack this threa- but what are ppl's thoughts on resident performed LASIK? At a substantially reduced cost, is it worth having a resident perform the procedure with attending supervision? As opposed to other procedures, it seems as though alot of it is machine dependant, thus allowing less room for error on the physicians part. I was tempted to have it done a couple of years ago by a resident down at Bascom but was unsure at the time. thoughts?

i know a couple of pgy-3 residents who are actually now in the process of recruiting patients on whom they can perform lasik for a fractional cost. even though lasik is performed with lasers and is machine dependent, it still takes a bit of skill to lift the lap and then close it. if the flap is made by intralase, the procedure becomes even more machine based and the only human intervention is the flap lifting and repositioning. with that being said, i doubt residents are capable of using intralase, as this new technology is still in its premature years. creating a flap with a microkeratome can be a risky procedure if one is not careful.

with that little prelude, I personally will not feel comfortable having a rookie perform this procedure. that is just my opinion. i will also advise any of my family members against it.

however, there are plenty of people who do go through with this. i do not know what the stats are when rookies are compared to experienced attendings. i am sure the stats, meaning the outcome, are pretty much the same.

do i think it is a bad idea? no
would i get it done? no (maybe yes if i was short on cash and the flap was made using an intralase)
is it a good way to save money? possibly
should i do it? that's your call buddy.

 

[scotttennis]

I'm going to be getting LASIK this Friday from a doctor who has performed about 25,000 of them, including the first use of the excimer laser in Wisconsin. I feel very confident about his results. However, I wouldn't want a less experienced surgeon operating on my eyes. With this in mind, how do young ophthalmologists gain a foothold among the more established eye surgeons? I would think that assisting in the surgery would help the young surgeons gain experience, but with LASIK being such a "quick" and "simple" procedure, there's not much assisting that can be done.

 

[foureyes]

talk to the alcon, nidek, and/or amo/visx rep. also, talk to the intralase ppl. i don't know what their procedures are. you need to get certified on the eximer lasers (not very difficult- esp part 1 which is a 2 day cme course for alcon ladar and then you just need to do 2 patients).

the tough part will be 2-fold: finding 2 patients who will let themselves be guinea pigs and finding an attending who qualified to supervise you. plus, booking the laser suite if you don't own it.

good luck.

well as most people in ophthalmology i did not get any lasik experience. Now i want to start doing some, and advice on where to go?

 

[lola111]

I'm an MSIV and have been interested in LASIK for myself for quite some time, but I'm not interested in optho & don't know too much about the procedure. I am trying to decide who to use - what are pertinent questions to ask when selecting a surgeon & how many LASIK procedures would you look for in someone performing your own procedure? Thanks!