The contribution of wet labs in the education of ophthalmologists

BACKGROUND: The need for pre-training in experimental eye surgery is considered necessary. It is an essential way to assess trainees in ophthalmology based on their instrument and tissue handling and skills. This article aims to underline this necessity and demonstrate the ocular health professionals' opinion on this issue. METHODS: 74 participants (45 females and 29 males) were included in the study. Ophthalmology residents, ophthalmologists participated in the wet lab session. The evaluation of the contribution of the wet labs were provided by filling a new questionnaire form. In this way, an interactive questionnaire was developed. RESULTS: Regarding trainees' grading of wet labs' significance as a first step for guiding their surgical career, it was positively correlated with their subjective view of labs' utility to both improve their surgical skills (p = 0.001) and maintain pre-existing ones (p < 0.001). We should also note that all of them (100%) stated that wet labs were necessary during residency, especially in repeated sessions, and that they would recommend them to their colleagues. CONCLUSION: The surgical skills improved significantly after participation in a wet lab, according to participants, who rated the experience as highly educational. Wet labs can reduce the learning curve of difficult surgical techniques, accelerate the rate for trainees to achieve surgical competency, and treat patients safely and effectively.