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. 2025 May 29;25(1):796.
doi: 10.1186/s12909-025-07282-9.

Cataract surgical training in Poland: analysis of the European board of ophthalmology survey results

Rémi Yaïci  1 , Małgorzata Mirr  2 , Lauriana Solecki  3 , Emilia Koestel  3 , Eugénie Bazarya  3 , Sorcha Ní Dhubhghaill  4 , Massira Sanogo  3 , François Lefebvre  5 , Wagih Aclimandos  6 , Rimvydas Asoklis  7 , Huban Atilla  8 , Catherine Creuzot-Garcher  9 , Denise Curtin  10 , Barbara Cvenkel  11 , Lisa Flanagan  12 , Tero T Kivelä  13 , Anna Maino  14 , Rafael Martinez Costa  15 , Helena Prior Filipe  16 , Brendan Strong  12 , Marie José Tassignon  17 , Renata Ivekovic  18 , Siegfried Priglinger  19 , Joerg Sturmer  20 , Marcin Stopa  2 , Tristan Bourcier  3
Affiliations

Cataract surgical training in Poland: analysis of the European board of ophthalmology survey results

Rémi Yaïci et al. BMC Med Educ. .

Abstract

Backgrounds/objectives: This study, part of a series, aims to present and analyze the results of the Polish cohort in a European Board of Ophthalmology (EBO) survey on cataract surgical (CS) training in Europe, highlighting national traits and contributing to the discussion on standardizing ophthalmology training.

Materials and methods: This study analyses the survey results of Polish participants in the EBO examinations (2018-2022) and compared them with the largest groups of candidates (Germany, France, Swiss and Spain).

Results: Out of 144 candidates, 79 (55%) answered the questionnaire. Most (70.9%) had taken the EBO exam between 2021 and 2022, with the vast majority of study participants being women (77.2%) with a median age of 34 years and came from 9 different voivodeships. Notably, 25.4% stated that they had carried out 10 or more training sessions on virtual reality simulator, 13.9% on synthetic eyes and 12.7% on animal eyes. There was a significant difference in the concrete use of SBME (more than ten sessions regardless of the simulation tool) between men and women (55.6% versus 23% respectively, p = 0.008). A notable discrepancy was observed between participants with 10 or more training sessions and those without specific training in four key areas: self-assessed confidence and ability to perform cataract surgery (p = 0.003), handling complications like posterior capsular tear (p < 0.001) and in performing corneal sutures (p = 0.015). Less than half (40.5%) of respondents had not performed any steps of cataract surgery on patients during their residency. Unlike in the EBO results, there were no gender differences found.

Discussion: The results show a geographically homogenous group with an overrepresentation of Warsaw. Polish residency training is a hybrid model ensuring that all residents receive uniform surgical training. After completing their residency, Polish ophthalmologists are subsequently categorized into either surgical specialists or clinical practitioners.

Keywords: Europe; Phacoemulsification; Poland; Simulation; Surgical training; Survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the French Society of Ophthalmology (IRB 00008855 Société Française d’Ophtalmologie IRB#1). The survey informed all participants about the study’s purpose, their right to withdraw at any time, and that their data would be collected, anonymised, aggregated and analysed to be part of a publication. Informed consent to participate was obtained from all of the participants in the study. The authors confirm that the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. The results of the European data collection have already been published. Consent for publication: not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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