Background: I'm building GCMS, a platform that runs structured hands-on fellowship training at accredited hospitals. First programme: Phacoemulsification Mastery at SCEH.
Why phaco specifically?
Most MS/DNB programmes teach you SICS (manual small incision cataract) — a technique from the 1990s that pays ₹3–5K per case in government settings. Phacoemulsification pays ₹25–50K per case in premium setups. The skill gap is direct income.
The problem: phaco requires far more wet lab time than most residency programmes provide. An MS graduate in India might have done 5–50 phaco cases depending entirely on which institution they happened to train at. There's no floor.
What we're running:
4-week programme across two campuses (Daryaganj, Delhi and Vrindavan surgical centre):
Week 1: Wet lab only. Wound construction, capsulorrhexis (20+ attempts on artificial eyes), hydrodissection, machine settings
Week 2: Advanced wet lab + EyeSi VR simulation (phaco chop, divide-and-conquer, complication simulation)
Weeks 3–4: Live OR at SCEH. Observe → assist → perform. 5–8 complete phaco cases under direct HOD supervision
Digital case logbook for every procedure. HOD-signed certificate on SCEH letterhead at the end.
Strict screening: 3-stage (application + NMC verification → MCQ + surgical video → HOD interview). About 12–15% acceptance rate. We don't compromise on this.
Questions for this community:
1.For those who finished MS/DNB — how many independent phaco cases did you do before graduating? Was it enough?
2.Is the 4-week timeframe sufficient, or should we be pushing for 6 weeks?
3.Anything in the curriculum above that you'd change?