Moving Beyond ‘The Sage on the Stage’

When Moran Eye Center residents spoke up, Vice Chair of Education Jeff Pettey, MD, listened.

Beginning in 2020, Moran will implement an entirely revamped approach to ophthalmic education—one that stresses interactive blended learning over traditional lectures.

“Interestingly, this change came about organically,” explained Pettey. “Around the same time that residents started expressing a desire to move away from the ‘sage-on-the-stage’ model and toward more active learning, we heard from faculty who were equally eager for more dynamic educational exchanges.”

An extraordinary synergy developed, Pettey said, as residents and faculty came together.

Rachel G. Simpson, center, heads the Moran Ophthalmology Learning Experience Committee, which includes residents Ariana Levin, left, and Katherine Hu.

Led by Rachel G. Simpson, MD, residents, fellows, and attending physicians formed a working group, naming it the Moran Ophthalmology Learning Experience.

Simpson, a former Moran glaucoma fellow and now an assistant professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, also serves as Moran’s associate residency program director—a role she embraces.

“The opportunity to change the long-established format is truly exciting,” she said. “Most residents are coming straight from four years of medical school, where programs have had to innovate to compete. These programs make the most of technology and active learning, so our residents are used to podcasts and online options, and more of a case-based learning system.”

Moran’s program is ranked sixth in the nation and boasts a remarkable board pass rate, so one might ask, “If it’s not broken, why fix it?”

The learning committee’s response?

“We have amazing tools and models available to us,” Simpson said. “Let’s use them and make the time that faculty and students spend together in lectures as valuable and memorable as possible.”

While Simpson and her committee acknowledge the time-consuming task of changing longstanding teaching practices, they are focused on the lasting value the changes will bring.

“We have some of the country’s top leaders in their specialties here,” she said. “It’s one thing to have them lecture to you for 45 minutes, but it’s another to have them sit with you for two hours and walk you through cases and learn about why they made the decisions they did. This is why residents come to Moran.”