When Vicky Trantou, MD, FEBO, was finishing her 18-month fellowship in refractive surgery, she eagerly took advantage of available opportunities to enhance her knowledge and surgical skills. Instead of immediately pursuing a private practice, Dr. Trantou shadowed a well-established surgeon and facility to further her knowledge base.

"I knew it would be for my benefit to learn from a top cornea expert," said Dr. Trantou, in an interview with Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today Europe. "I wanted to get exposure to corneal pathology and be familiar with the latest advancements in diagnosis, treatment and surgical techniques."

Real-world Experience
To that end, the Greek surgeon continued her training in London — only now she was getting real-world experience by shadowing Sheraz Daya, MD, FRCS(Ed), director and consultant ophthalmic surgeon at the Corneoplastic Unit, Queen Victoria Hospital and in practice at his Centre for Sight clinics. Dr. Daya is the cochief medical editor of CRSToday Europe. Dr. Trantou shadowed Dr. Daya for 4 months.

Dr. Trantou received her training in Greece, Ireland and England. She was interested in the cornea and wanted to get more experience and familiarity in the specialty.

Dr. Daya's practice is busy and well organized, she said. "The staff is pleasant, expertly trained and friendly to the patients. Everyone works hard. I had the chance to come across many interesting, complicated cases that I would not have seen working in a general ophthalmology clinic."

Shadowing Dr. Daya was a wonderful experience; Dr. Trantou wanted to stay longer and study more cases. "Every day you pick up a small detail — at the end when you are about to finish — you feel as though everything is coming together. This helps you to clarify things and get the best result for the patient. I believe this is invaluable experience."

Dr. Trantou is now in a hospital-affiliated, private practice in Larissa, Greece. She continues to have a special interest in refractive surgery and cornea.

Some of the challenging cases Dr. Trantou observed while working with Dr. Daya included complicated cornea and anterior segment surgical techniques (eg, ex vivo stem cell transplant; Descemet's stripping; endothelial keratoplasty; deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty; and homoplastic automated lamellar keratoplasty). "I was able to update my knowledge with the latest techniques and equipment, like computer-guided femtosecond laser technology for refractive surgery. It was an interesting and instructive time."

Examine, Analyze, Be Curious
"What I believe is the most valuable thing I learned from Dr. Daya is the way he taught me to examine, analyze and have curiosity. He highlighted the way to investigate and differentiate the clinical data — starting from the very basic medical principles and then using the finest equipment to get the best results for the patient."

Dr. Trantou said that Dr. Daya's reputation was the motivating factor for her to visit his practice and learn from him. She said that any combination of support and training that a surgeon can receive before starting a professional career is important. She would recommend that new surgeons consider shadowing an established surgeon before entering into their own practice.

"I am really happy with the experience I received there, and I would like to visit his practice again (or another practice) in order to keep myself up-to-date with advancements in the field," Dr. Trantou said.

Vicky Trantou is in private practice in Larissa, Greece. Dr. Trantou may be reached at vickytrant@yahoo.com.