
Welcome to my daily learning journal. My daily goal is to watch one Ted Talk and one cataract surgery. I also plan to read one journal article and read/listen to a book chapter, podcast, or significant work.
Here’s today’s list:

1. Ted Talk – Ajay Banga: Financial inclusion, the digital divide and other thoughts on the future of money. “Roughly two billion people worldwide don’t have access to banks or financial services like credit, insurance and investment — or even a way to formally prove their identity. How do we bridge this divide? Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga sits down with TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers to discuss how innovative public-private partnerships can help bring everyone into the digital economy — and why COVID-19 recovery hinges on financial inclusion.” (ted.com)
This is a relatively long Ted Talk and worth the 20-minute investment. I enjoyed listening to the conversation and especially Banga’s story of Indian farmers who once relied on cash (with potentially “bad outcomes” when they sold their crops far from home) and the efficiencies of electronic transactions.
And for everything else, there’s Mastercard.

2. Cataract Surgery – Richard Mackool MD – Episode 27: Determination of IOL Power in Keratoconic Eyes. Dr Mackool writes, “This case demonstrates the use of intraoperative aberrometry plus the Aphakic Refraction Technique to best determine the final IOL power in a keratoconic eye. Tips for visualization, a comparison of phaco chop and divide and conquer and the advantages of a high IOP setting round out this very educational case.”
Great case by Dr. Mackool. Please see also his Phaco Tips book below.

3. Sun H, Temeck JW, McCune SK, Chambers WA. Using Historical Data to Support Approval of Drug Products for Ophthalmia Neonatorum: Innovative Approach Toward Evidence-Based Medicine. JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online December 17, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.5558
This study is an innovative approach toward evidence-based medicine.

4. Mackool, Richard J. Phaco Tips: The First Ten Years (2002). Reviewed phaco tips 16-40. (Thanks to social media super-star and frequent Prism Eye Rounds panelist Rikki Enzor MD PhD for picking up this book off her bookshelf & reading along!)
I visited Dr. Mackool twice in my early years of practice. Each time, he performed dozens of complex cataract surgeries with ease. The original pearls appeared in a monthly column (starting around 1990). The 2002 edition includes updates of original pearls. Superb observations to optimize cataract surgery efficiency. Many timeless pearls for cataract surgeons.