Bhargavee Gnana, third-year medical student at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, created a new learning lab to help provide students with early hands-on experience with microinvasive glaucoma surgery. It involves using microscopic equipment and surgical procedures to relieve pressure in a patient’s eye.
Glaucoma, a chronic eye disease that damages the optic nerve, is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States.
Gnana’s inspiration for launching this learning lab came from the wet labs she participated in during conferences as a medical student. The hands-on experience with surgical technologies drove home her interest in pursuing ophthalmology. She wanted to find a way to recreate the experience for medical students.
“Right now, in the local school, there’s very limited exposure to ophthalmology until you’re in your third-year rotations,” Gnana said.
The learning lab will help medical students get more hands-on experience with surgery. It will be a learning opportunity students can take advantage of much earlier in their careers.
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“I think this early exposure really makes a difference in helping students envision what their career could look like at a very early stage,” Gnana said.
Glaucoma surgery has been one of the fastest-growing areas in ophthalmology in the past few years; as a result, new technologies are being developed to aid with the surgical process.
Gnana contacted local doctors who worked directly with students to develop the lab. She pitched the idea of launching the learning lab and gained the support of industry representatives.
She looked forward to increasing interest in ophthalmology, especially because rural areas like Champaign-Urbana tend to have fewer ophthalmologists.
“To take part in this lab, see how these devices work, understand how it’s affecting the path of physiology behind glaucoma and understanding why it’s making a difference to patients — even at a surface level — it can really pique students’ interest,” Gnana said.
Dr. Erica Person, ophthalmologist at Christie Clinic, was one of the faculty members of the College of Medicine who helped launch the learning lab. She expressed that the learning lab provided students with a meaningful opportunity to get exposure to ophthalmology. In doing so, students can bring their creative ideas to the field of ophthalmology — particularly glaucoma.
“It’s important to emphasize that our creative engineering medical students are going to be the ones to discover the next technology that cures diseases like glaucoma,” Dr. Person said.
