Eye Tea is a group on the app Clubhouse dedicated to hosting live talks with experts on topics of ophthalmology. This has spanned from AI to medical education to research careers in imaging.
EQUALISE - EDUCATION
PREFACE My pedagogical system is called 'Teach to Reach’ where I advocate and act for equality in education. All the students should have an access to free and authentic ophthalmology content relevant to their needs. What I do currently are two things: I teach clinical ophthalmology for residents, and I talk about why young ophthalmologists should educate to attain success. I primarily run a YouTube channel where I take my classes online. Link: youtube.com/kingsclasses In this manuscript, I have condensed my 1 hour podcast talk into a 3 question format with illustrations for easy reference. A) Why I teach? - The Purpose - 3 Reasons B) How I teach? - The Practice - 3 Messages C) How to teach? - The Principles - 3 Rules
A) THE PURPOSE = WHY I TEACH (or why you should teach?) Simple answer: It's my passion! But let me make convincing statements about why YOU should pursue.
a) The role of an educator has given me an identity. We all need an identity; we want to carve a niche for ourselves. There are numerous ways to attain this: a skilled surgeon, a leader in your hospital, a researcher or an innovator who change healthcare paradigms. Education is one of the underrated areas where we can achieve a brand for ourselves. b) Teaching ophthalmology has made me a better student of science. I hope you might be aware of Feynman's technique - which is a brilliant way to learn better. If I want to teach a kid a complex idea, I must rack my brain to find a creative way to explain. In the process, my concepts become stronger. My learning becomes consolidated. What I do here is teach my nursing students and allied ophthalmic personnel. At Aravind Eye Care System, we have young girls from rural background
joining our institute. And it's a challenge to teach them ophthalmology—yet a rewarding experience.
c) Finally, we all NEED to educate; the world needs quality teachers. We have enormous clinical exposure in India, but we certainly lack a structured curriculum for our residents, and the education is highly inconsistent. This is where my role comes into play. In this self-obsessed society, the influence of a passionate instructor is limitless. We all leave someday, but the lessons we teach will last forever as a mark of our legacy.
B) THE PRACTICE - HOW I TEACH? 1. ONLINE: The online platform is called King's Crux (a pretty weird name, I know), which happens mainly on Youtube and partly on Facebook. I lecture on Youtube in 2 ways: 1) Narrated + annotated keynote presentations like Khan Academy videos, and 2) Virtual whiteboard teaching
Techniques: 1) Prepare the Keynote on Mac, then using a common WiFi, the presentation can be wirelessly mirrored on an Ipad, where I can draw on the slides. Then I attach a USB microphone to the Mac. As I navigate the slides on Ipad + annotate + narrate, I screen-record on Quicktime software on Mac. Hence the output is a screencast video ready to be uploaded on YouTube. E.g. https://youtu.be/O43JZKl8J_o
2) I use a note-taking application on Ipad (Notability/ OneNote); first, I handwrite the outline and attach images from the ebooks/ online. Then I screen-record the iPad + give my narration over earphones, simultaneously annotate/ draw on the note-taking app. The output is similar to the 1st technique but provides a simple whiteboard-style lecture. E.g. https://youtu.be/3pBNs82-UFw Then on Facebook, I upload the links for the videos along with the handouts. I also share flashcard style ophthalmology content for a quick assimilation of information. Link: https://www.facebook.com/ophthalcrux/ Flipped Classroom: One of the most significant advantages of creating lectures online is we could use them for flipping the classes. Let me explain to those who are new to this concept. For instance, I want to take a course on Optic Disc changes in glaucoma; I will give my Youtube lecture + textbook materials to my students at least 2 weeks before the class. They self learn the materials at their own pace. I don't teach during the class, but rather active discussions and debates
happen amongst my residents, which enrich their learning experience. So we essentially flip the class.
Apart from my own content, I started a talk show on my channel called TalentsTeach, where young stars in our field share their insights and success stories. For instance, I interviewed the passed out residents who got excellent grades in their exams. And then, I collaborated with them to create short guides as ebooks for my students. So, I have a love for writing as well. I have three selfpublished books: a) Clinical Embryology of the Eye, b) Online Resources In Ophthalmology (ORIO), and 3)
a Language Course for non-native speakers called Essential Ophthalmic Tamil (EOT). All are available for free to download and use. The QR codes are embedded at the end of this ebook. Message: I believe the future of global medical education lies in Social Media. If we can provide quality academic content online free of cost, it will be the most incredible service we could do for society as a teacher. 2. OFFLINE: Talking about the real-world ventures, I am the academic in charge of my residents here at Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore. Being a general ophthalmologist is not very empowering. My current job title requires me to refer patients to speciality clinics. So, to begin with, I placed a simple plain whiteboard in my OPD cubicle, which then transformed/ upgraded into a teaching space; I take daily rounds with my residents on the computer, referring to the electronic case sheets on the desktop. And now, that's empowering.
Message: We all can teach if we have the will. You don't have to be a specialist/ or have a title to teach.
AuroCovai (translates to Aravind Coimbatore) is the official social media platform of my hospital. My residents run this venture along with my assistance. This is my opportunity to expand the teaching beyond my capabilities. You don't need a title to teach, but you have more authority to educate if you are a specialist. So we invite doctors from other departments and engage them in our short academic discussions called X factor - where the specialists bring expertise and experience to the table. Again, I fulfil my passion for teaching through them, by being an anchor and facilitator.
Links: AuroCovai YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCUe996fHQ7JG5bVLcRo1wMA/featured AuroCovai Insta: https://www.instagram.com/ aurocovai/ Message: Teaching as a team can take the standard of education to a whole new level.
C) THE PRINCIPLES - HOW TO TEACH? No matter what the medium is or who the audience is, how we teach/ the methodology matters. Teaching is an art that follows certain principles. Rule 1: Connect with the audience By telling vividly engaging stories, we will be able to employ the students' emotions - and through the narration, our scientific message gets registered
strongly. This is what Aristotle suggested as the three elements of oratory - Ethos, Logos and Pathos. As medical educators, we most often engage the ethos and logos but fail to involve pathos or emotions.
E.g. I use a triangular love story to explain the pathogenesis of amblyopia. It goes like this. 2 guys (2 eyes) try to impress the girl, i.e. the brain. And let's consider impressing as means of giving a bar of chocolate; if one of the guys fail to share the chocolate, it is then deprivation amblyopia. If smaller
chocolate is given, then it is anisometric amblyopia. If he is giving it to another girl, then we call as strabismic amblyopia.
E.g. I use idly - it is a rice cake - as a metaphor to explain cataract. My patients immediately understand the analogy as the idly is a staple food in South India. E.g. I compare the neuroretinal rim of the optic disc with a cut egg. I know it sounds silly, but it actually helps.
E.g. In another class on small pupil management in cataract, I say that ghost has possessed the pupil - so it became small. So we need a hero to save the small pupil, bringing it back to a well-dilated state. Always introduce the villain (= disease) and the hero (= solution) in your talks! The reason why we remember films is because we all love stories. And when we mix
movie plots with medicine, we captivate the audience.
Rule 2: Divide and conquer Every time I teach, I classify/ stratify the lecture into 3 levels. In level 1, I teach only the basics and move ahead to levels 2 and 3, increasing the difficulty levels. It's not a novel idea, but it's surprising to see how many educators lose track while teaching. We all know attention span is rapidly declining! The first few minutes is our opportunity to hit our students with all the vital information. If I violate the initial golden minutes by talking trivia rather than
strengthening the fundamentals, I have mishandled the teaching opportunity. Always divide the topics and conquer them in a piece-meal approach.
Rule 3: Powerpoint Kills! There is a reason why Steve Jobs is a presentation icon. He owns the stage rather than his keynote holding him. If someone will project text-rich PPT slides and start to read from them, what is the point? He might as well leave the room as the audience can read the content by themselves.
In my teaching experience, whiteboards have a special place in simplifying complex concepts. Somehow the white and blackboards take us to our schooldays. There is an emotional connection with the audience when you teach on a whiteboard. Take Dr Najeeb, for instance. He is a terrific teacher relying only on his whiteboards. Since we teach a visual subject like ophthalmology (no pun intended), I use an app called Notability to handwrite + insert images into my presentation as I mentioned earlier.
FINAL WORDS By the end of the day, doing what you love matters. Try to pursue your Ikigai (= Purpose of life). My Ikigai is to Teach! What is yours? Go and discover.
CRUX A) Why I teach? (The Purpose) - 3 Reasons: a) For a strong identity b) To learn better c) To help the world B1) How I teach? (The Practice) - 3 Messages: a) Optimise Social Media b) Be a Title-less Teacher c) Teach as a Team B2) How I teach? (The Principles) - 3 Rules: a) Connect with the audience emotionally, b) Divide and Conquer, c) PPT kills! - Keep it simple
Scan QR code to access the books 1. 2. 3.
Clinical Embryology of the Eye Online Resources in Ophthalmology (ORIO) Essential Ophthalmic Tamil (EOT)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr Pranesh is a Comprehensive Ophthalmologist and Cataract surgeon with special interest in Ophthalmologic Pedagogy and Uveitis. He is currently working in Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore as a Medical Officer. He creates quality academic content on online platform. ‘King’s Crux - Ophthalmology Pearls’. Youtube link: YouTube.com/kingsclasses Facebook link: facebook.com/ophthalcrux