Monocular cues?

Panacea Financial Contract Review
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
J

jwhiteys

New Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Members don't see this ad.
OK. So I have searched this forum and found one thread (ended up being a troll - I didn't know what that was till I wikipedia'ed it today) about vision and surgery. Specifically monocular blindness.

I have been blind in one eye since birth (retinal detachment) and see reasonably well out of my other eye.

In my Gen Surgery rotation, I didn't notice that big of an issue - only every now and then I would past point with scissor tips if I had to advance the scissors straight toward the suture (ie. not from an angle). I feel like I can do it, but worried I might have to slow down or modify my technique for certain things, which may make me look incompetent, make attendings mad, etc...

I guess my questions are:

1) anyone know a surgeon with monocular blindness?
2) What problems can you foresee for someone like me in gen surg? With the increasing use of laproscopy (2D anyway)? and new robotic technology capable of 3D?

I asked one of my senior residents about it toward the end of my surgery core and they said I should do surgery anyway. Is this bad advice?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

J
 
jwhiteys said:
...I have been blind in one eye since birth (retinal detachment) and see reasonably well out of my other eye.

...I guess my questions are:

...2) What problems can you foresee for someone like me in gen surg? With the increasing use of laproscopy (2D anyway)? and new robotic technology capable of 3D?...
Click to expand...
I don't have much of answer for the rest of your post.... but, IMHO, the open procedures may be a problem when lacking natural 3D vision. With standard ~single optics (i.e. not 3D) laparoscopy, you should be fine. The robotics 3D, HD, magnified view via advanced optics are critical to maximizing performance. You would be at a disadvantage there.
 
jwhiteys said:
1) anyone know a surgeon with monocular blindness?
Click to expand...
Yes. I can't tell you how he deals with it or what compensations he has made, but he made it through a general surgery residency.
 
jwhiteys said:
OK. So I have searched this forum and found one thread (ended up being a troll - I didn't know what that was till I wikipedia'ed it today) about vision and surgery. Specifically monocular blindness.

I have been blind in one eye since birth (retinal detachment) and see reasonably well out of my other eye.

In my Gen Surgery rotation, I didn't notice that big of an issue - only every now and then I would past point with scissor tips if I had to advance the scissors straight toward the suture (ie. not from an angle). I feel like I can do it, but worried I might have to slow down or modify my technique for certain things, which may make me look incompetent, make attendings mad, etc...

I guess my questions are:

1) anyone know a surgeon with monocular blindness?
2) What problems can you foresee for someone like me in gen surg? With the increasing use of laproscopy (2D anyway)? and new robotic technology capable of 3D?

I asked one of my senior residents about it toward the end of my surgery core and they said I should do surgery anyway. Is this bad advice?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

J
Click to expand...

General surgery still has a large volume of deep belly cases where depth perception is important. I don't deal with it often, but when visualization is limited in a tough, deep belly case and I lose my depth perception, I feel like I'm at a definite disadvantage. I couldn't imagine going through an entire residency without one of my eyes.

When it comes to robots, 3-D technology doesn't really work if you can't see out of one of your eyes.

I definitely don't think pursuing a surgical career is impossible, but it will be more difficult than usual. You may want to look into some of the subspecialties where there's less work in deep dark holes.
 
If general surgery is your dream and the only thing that can make you happy, go for it. You'll figure out a way to make it happen. As you become more senior, you can control things as the surgeon to make operating easier for you. Stereovision isn't as important in general surgery as it is in ophthalmology for example where it is vital. If it were, surgery residencies would test you for it (some ophthalmology residencies do at the interview). Some "normal" people have poor depth perception, too.
 
I feel that if you are able to incorporate an eyepatch somehow, you cannot fail. Everyone loves a pirate doctor.
 
I'm blind in one eye, traumatic fertilizer accident at 19. I've had to work hard to show may capabilities. I think that's what a good program looks for. However early on in residency, I had to prove that it was not a factor and I could operated safely. Tomarrow I start pgy4, and I did 85% of a left liver lobectomy today. If you find a program that you really want, try to find a surgeon in the area that the attendings know who may have monocular vision, it helped relieve some of their worries. Some compenstations include tapping tissue with scissors or bovie before engaging cautery. Setting needle on drapes to regrasp and using a technique call redirecting which if you've been blind most likely do anyway. I think in laparoscopy it may even have been an advantage. True robotics and 3-D will be useless, but is the 3d the advantage or more dexterity? Biggest advice work hard and practice so when you get up to the plate you can perform, unlike most interns or ms. Try to be stellar in every way, but be humble.
 
totid said:
...True robotics and 3-D will be useless, but is the 3d the advantage or more dexterity?...
Click to expand...
In traditional laparoscopy, you have some haptic feedback through the instrument shaft. There is limited to no haptic feedback in robotics and depth perception helps with this. It is both the 3D and the range of motion.... but, yes, as folks have said for years, robotic 3D optics are spectacular and provide a great advantage.... that will be lost to someone blind in one eye.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top