BACKGROUND: Simulation in medicine is an indispensable tool to improve doctors' responses to different situations, enhancing their performance. However, simulation in ophthalmology is a very recent trend, mainly because of the high complexity of developing newer teaching tools, with the need for highly realistic models, mostly in surgical ophthalmic simulation. DISCUSSION: The whole development of simulation in ophthalmology, from the very first attempts that used basic models, to the newer virtual reality models, allows for a comprehensive, faster, and more efficient development of skills necessary in basic and advance procedures in ophthalmology, creating a better learning environment, improving costs, and developing a very promising panorama, in which simulation can be incorporated in teaching programs all around the globe. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation in ophthalmology allows for better results in the formation of ophthalmologists, and it is becoming a new tool to achieve better results in medical and surgical procedures, thus improving outcomes and quality of care.
BACKGROUND: Simulation in medicine is an indispensable tool to improve doctors' responses to different situations, enhancing their performance. However, simulation in ophthalmology is a very recent trend, mainly because of the high complexity of developing newer teaching tools, with the need for highly realistic models, mostly in surgical ophthalmic simulation. DISCUSSION: The whole development of simulation in ophthalmology, from the very first attempts that used basic models, to the newer virtual reality models, allows for a comprehensive, faster, and more efficient development of skills necessary in basic and advance procedures in ophthalmology, creating a better learning environment, improving costs, and developing a very promising panorama, in which simulation can be incorporated in teaching programs all around the globe. CONCLUSIONS: Simulation in ophthalmology allows for better results in the formation of ophthalmologists, and it is becoming a new tool to achieve better results in medical and surgical procedures, thus improving outcomes and quality of care.