The era of artificial intelligence and virtual reality: transforming surgical education in ophthalmology.

Training the modern ophthalmic surgeon is a challenging process. Microsurgical education can benefit from innovative methods to practice surgery in low-risk simulations, assess and refine skills in the operating room through video content analytics, and learn at a distance from experienced surgeons. Developments in emerging technologies may allow us to pursue novel forms of instruction and build on current educational models. Artificial intelligence, which has already seen numerous applications in ophthalmology, may be used to facilitate surgical tracking and evaluation. Within immersive technology, growth in the space of virtual reality head-mounted displays has created intriguing possibilities for operating room simulation and observation. Here, we explore the applications of these technologies and comment on their future in ophthalmic surgical education. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.