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Purpose: To investigate which patient-related outcomes are dependent on the experience of the cataract surgeon., Methods: The study was designed as a prospective observational study. Novice (<150 surgeries performed) and experienced (>1000 surgeries performed) cataract surgeons from the Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet - Glostrup and Nordsjaellands Hospital - Hillerød were included in the study. Patients operated by the included surgeons were examined preoperatively, 1 day, 3 days, and 3 weeks after standard, noncomplicated cataract surgery. Primary outcomes were change in central corneal thickness and endothelial cell loss. Secondary outcomes were best-corrected visual acuity, intraocular pressure, aqueous flare, central macular thickness, and surgical complications., Results: Surgery performed by novice surgeons resulted in significantly lower visual acuity (mean -3.6 letters (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS)); 95% CI: -7.3; -0.4, p = 0.03) and greater corneal thickness (mean 26.7 µm; 95% CI: 6.8; 46.6, p = 0.01) on the first day postoperative than surgery performed by experienced surgeons., Conclusion: The experience of the cataract surgeon affected visual acuity and central corneal thickness in the immediate postoperative period. In the future, these patient-related outcomes may be used to assess the technical proficiency of surgical trainees and investigate the effect of different training programs., (© 2020 Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between performance on a virtual reality simulator and real-life cataract surgical performance., Setting: Nine ophthalmology departments in Denmark and Copenhagen Academy for Medical Education and Simulation, Copenhagen, Denmark., Design: Prospective multicenter study., Methods: Cataract surgeons with different experience levels were included. The participants performed 3 consecutive video-recorded phacoemulsification surgeries that were rated by masked raters using the Objective Structured Assessment of Cataract Surgical Skills (OSACSS) scoring system. Thereafter, the participants performed a previously validated test on an Eyesi virtual reality simulator. Primary outcomes were the mean OSACSS score from all 3 surgeries and the simulator score from the participants' first repetition of the performance test., Result: Nineteen surgeons participated. There was a statistically significant correlation between the simulator performance score and the mean OSACSS score across all experience levels, with a Pearson correlation of 0.65 (P = .003, R 2  = 0.42)., Conclusion: Simulator performance was significantly correlated with real-life cataract surgical performance., (Copyright © 2019 ASCRS and ESCRS. All rights reserved.)