Surgical Learning: A Survey to Evaluate How Ophthalmologists Learn New Surgical Techniques.

Purpose: To evaluate ophthalmologists' attitudes and approaches to learning new surgical techniques. Methods: This cross-sectional, prospective study distributed an anonymous, voluntary web-based survey via email to surgeons of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO). The survey collected data on demographics, fellowship training, practice location, the number of trainee surgeons supervised, the impact of Coronavirus disease 2019, resources for surgical learning, and perceived barriers to learning and adopting new techniques. Multiple-choice, scaled response, and open-ended questions were used in the survey. Results: Seventy-five surveys were completed (7.1% of 1050 members). Multivariable analysis demonstrated that the number of new surgical techniques adopted over the preceding 5 years was associated with the number of trainee surgeons supervised ( Conclusions: This is the first study exploring how ophthalmologists learn new surgical techniques. The widespread use of YouTube for surgical learning highlights the opportunity for postgraduate colleges to create or post quality-controlled online video resources for their members.