The Mozambican Medical Council (Ordem dos Médicos de Moçambique), in representation of its Mozambican College of Ophthalmology (MOC), has launched a Simulation-Based Education (SBE) Center with an emphasis for cataract surgery. Led by Dr. Amelia Buque, President of the MOC, the Simulation-Based Education Center has been designed around 5 major elements:
- It is a physics-based, computer-generated, anterior segment model.
- It has a high-definition (HD) stereoscopic binocular visual image generator.
- The simulator produces bimanual force feedback with surgical instruments in 3 degrees of freedom.
- The simulator is designed for full-immersion simulation, including realistic operating room setup, virtual patient interaction, and patient complications.
- The simulation platform has an instructor workstation and learning management system to facilitate progression towards proficiency through two levels of simulation.
We thank the Thea Foundation the sponsor of the machinery and equipment for the simulation laboratory.
This center comes as a result of a virtual group mentoring project between the MOC and the Ophthalmology Foundation, led by Dr. Helena Filipe, Chair of Continuing Professional Development. In Mozambique there is an urgent need to train surgeons quickly and comprehensively in high-quality, low-cost cataract removal techniques.
The vision where ophthalmic surgeons in Mozambique can be trained with precision, confidence, and expertise before ever performing live surgery is now taking shape through the creation of a simulation-based education center for ophthalmic surgery.
This initiative includes technology and digital support for remote international teaching, synchronous and asynchronous feedback. It has been collaboratively developed through online group-mentoring, fostering a vibrant community of clinical educators.
The project was designed as a team-driven endeavor, harnessing the collective strengths of the Mozambican College of Ophthalmology. A group of clinical educators passionate about enhancing their medical education competence, aimed at developing a simulation-based education center and train more and better surgeons to meet societal eye care needs.
A structured online group mentoring enabled a dynamic, collaborative environment where ideas were exchanged, challenges were tackled together, and solutions emerged organically. An online curriculum design program, guided the team through fundamental learning principles and empowered them to take ownership of their team-based project additionally developing the MOC outcome-based curriculum for cataract surgery.
This journey can demonstrate how virtual group-mentorship can enact leadership, innovation, and shared growth. By working as a team, the Mozambican educators have additionally built a sustainable, self-driven model for future surgical training. By learning together through online innovative strategies they became leaders in education shaping the future of ophthalmic education in their country.
To increase capacity building in cataract surgery, the MOC aims to optimize teaching time and train more and better eye surgeons. Training ophthalmic surgery by simulation offers objective and performance-based training progression in a protected and standardized learning environment, where learning from mistakes has minimal impact on patients’ outcomes. Trainees can experience a wide range of purposefully built scenarios focusing major aspects of surgical procedures without risk to patients. Trainees have the opportunity to reinforce good practices and while training by simulation find areas of improvement and learn to avoid desirable habits.
On 3 March, the MOC held a virtual and in-person ceremony at Maputo Central Hospital with Dr. Helena Filipe, Dr. Amelia Buque, and others involved in this launch such as the President of the General Medical Council of Mozambique, the President and the Director of the Central Hospital of Mozambique, the Clinical Director of the Department of Ophthalmology, the Leader for Education of the Mozambican College of Ophthalmology, the Leader for Education for Education of the Central Hospital of Mozambique, the President of the Thea Foundation, and the Ophthalmology Foundation Chair of Education. The Ophthalmology Foundation is proud to support this effort.
Learn more about Group Mentoring through the Ophthalmology Foundation.
