The Department of Ophthalmology’s fully functional Simulation Lab, located inside NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center East 41st Street, is home to our Haag-Streit EyeSi surgical simulator, EyeSi slit lamp, and EyeSi indirect and direct ophthalmoscopes.

We also have five Zeiss Stemi 305 stereo microscopes, Bioniko models, and Kitaro training kits for resident, medical student, and fellow utilization and faculty-led dry lab sessions. This brand new, state-of-the-art teaching facility is accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for NYU Grossman School of Medicine ophthalmology students, residents, and fellows to practice their skills.

EyeSi in Medical Student Education and Research

Our Simulation Lab activities offer countless opportunities for research and for scholarship among medical students.

We are currently conducting studies which aim to investigate the utilization of the EyeSi surgical simulator in medical student education. Interested medical students can participate in a series of simulator activities, trying their hand at intraocular instrumentation, and familiarizing themselves with cataract surgery. Research is being conducted to evaluate whether exposure to simulator-based activities increase interest in ophthalmology among medical students. Further, medical student performance on these EyeSi tasks is being measured to assess whether certain activities (playing an instrument, a sport, or even video games) or characteristics (being right hand dominant versus left hand dominant) translates to different performance on EyeSi tasks.

EyeSi in Resident Education and Research

We have incorporated an EyeSi curriculum into resident education to help postgraduate year 1 (PGY-1) and PGY-2 residents become more comfortable with surgical and clinical equipment and for PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents to practice and hone their skills.

One of our prospective resident research studies in the Department of Ophthalmology is aimed at evaluating the construct and face validity of the new EyeSi slit lamp simulator, particularly for assessing the optic nerve and the anterior chamber angle with a 90D and gonioscopy lens, respectively (Institutional Review Board review in process). Ultimately, if validated, this EyeSi simulator can be more formally integrated into early ophthalmology residency training, and potentially even used in the training of other medical specialties.

Simulation Lab Faculty Testimonials

“Simulation is a critical part of resident education in ophthalmology, and we are proud to have a state-of-the-art simulation suite.”—Kathryn A. Colby, MD, PhD, the Elisabeth J. Cohen, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, and Chair

“Across multiple disciplines, including ophthalmology, surgical simulators have revolutionized surgical teaching, leading to an improved residency training experience and better patient outcomes. NYU Langone is one of the first programs in the country to have the complete EyeSi clinical simulation suite, in addition to both the cataract and vitreoretinal surgery simulators. The addition of the slit lamp and both the indirect and direct ophthalmoscope simulators enables our trainees to optimize their own educational curriculum based on their needs and goals.” —Christina R. Prescott, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Director of the Ophthalmology Residency, Vice Chair for Education, and Director of the Cornea Service

“With the EyeSi suite, our residents have unlimited access to hands-on practice modules. In this safe virtual environment, they are able to hone both surgical and clinical skills at an individualized pace, promoting their development into confident and competent ophthalmologists.”—Andrea Blitzer, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Associate Program Director of the Ophthalmology Residency

“The EyeSi surgical simulator is an amazing tool to introduce cataract surgery in a stress-free environment. By approaching surgery step-wise, basic skills are able to evolve into performing complex cataract surgery in simulation. This helps prepare our residents to then take those same steps in the operating room.”—Ilyse Haberman, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Department Surgical Scholar

Previous Simulation Lab Sessions

Previous Simulation Lab sessions include the following:

• New York City Medical Student Summer Surgical Skills Workshops
• Residency Skills Introduction Workshops
• Eyelid Suturing Labs
• Strabismus Surgery Labs
• Corneal Suturing Labs
• miLOOP Practice Labs
• Scleral Depression Practice Labs
• Pediatric Ophthalmology Skills Labs
• Microinvasive Glaucoma Surgery (MIGS) Labs
• Advanced Medical Student Skills Labs
• Oculoplastics Injections Workshops
• DMEK Instruction Courses