Muhammed Owais Patel
Clinical Education Fellow, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
A practical guide for foundation doctors and students booking their first EyeSi session, from the journey to the report.
Why the hours matter
If you are thinking about ophthalmology, EyeSi time is one of the ways to earn ST1 portfolio points. The self-assessment awards 1 point for each simulation activity of at least four hours, up to a maximum of 2 points, and where there is any doubt it only scores points backed by objective evidence (1).
The points are not the only reason to go. The simulator is the closest a foundation doctor can get to working down a microscope with an instrument in each hand. Registrars must complete set EyeSi cataract modules before they operate (2), so an early session shows you what that training feels like and whether microsurgery suits you. For an introduction to the simulator itself, see Akhtar’s overview (3).
Access is uneven. A 2025 Eye News article counted 26 EyeSi machines in England, of which only nine had no financial or experience-based barriers to use (4). When you do get a slot, it pays to plan it.
I booked a room in the Prince William Education Centre (PWEC) at Kettering General Hospital from 10:00 to 16:00 on Wednesday 21 October 2026, at a cost of £100. By the end I had logged exactly four hours across 191 tasks in six courses. These are the things I wish I had known beforehand.
Before you go
Book more time than you need. The report only counts time spent inside training tasks. My six-hour booking produced four hours on the report, so if four hours is your target, book six. Confirm who will let you in and set up your profile.
Plan the journey. Parking at a busy hospital takes time to find. Check the parking options with the department before the day, and aim to arrive 30 minutes before your slot.
Bring lunch. Once you are set up, you will not want to leave the room to find food. Bring something quick to eat away from the machine, and plenty of water.
Sort out the report before the day. Ask the centre how reports are exported: USB stick, email or printout.
If it is a USB stick, make sure you test it at home and to take it with you.
On the day
Only training time counts. Logging in, choosing tasks, reading instructions and breaks are not recorded. My first and last tasks were almost six hours apart, yet the report shows 4h 0min. Check your running total at each break so you are not caught short at the end.
Pace yourself. I worked through all four CAT-A courses (anterior chamber navigation, intracapsular navigation, bimanual navigation and instruments) and two CAT-B courses (navigation and instruments, and capsulorhexis). The first three took me 15 to 35 minutes each. Instruments took an hour and capsulorhexis nearly 90 minutes, and I ran out of time before its last two tasks.
Expect zeros, then get stuck in. Each task asks for three passing scores: 50 or more in the CAT-A courses, 60 in CAT-B. My very first attempt scored 0. On the first capsulorhexis flap task I scored 42, 0 and 0 before reaching 97. You learn more by repeating a task than by reading every instruction screen, so treat a poor score as information and go again.
Get your set-up checked early. Ask a supervisor or trainee to check your seat and microscope position in the first ten minutes. If you are left-handed, as I am, you can record it in your profile.
Look after your wrists
By early afternoon, partway through the instruments course, my wrist was aching. Fine instrument work in a fixed position is tiring in a way that ward work is not. Around the same time I scored zero on three attempts in a row at the hard-sphere phaco task before it clicked, and my next four attempts scored 17, 70, 81 and 68.
Next time I would do three things from the start:
- Set the chair and microscope height so you sit upright with your forearms supported, not reaching up or hunching down.
- Hold the instruments lightly. Gripping hard tires your hand faster and makes your movements less precise.
- Take a short break every 45 to 60 minutes to stand, stretch your hands and look into the distance. The break will not count towards your hours, but it keeps the next hour productive.
Leave with your report
This was my biggest mistake. The USB stick I had brought did not work with the machine, and I left without my report. A colleague at the site kindly downloaded it for me afterwards, but it could easily have cost me the point.
When it arrived there was a second surprise. The report was dated 6 and 7 June 2026, months before my session, because it uses the simulator’s internal clock. Anyone checking your portfolio could reasonably query a mismatch like that, so get the centre to confirm your session date in writing.
The report is your evidence, so treat getting it as part of the session:
- Bring a USB stick of the type the centre recommends.
- Before you log off, photograph the summary screen showing your name, total training time and number of tasks.
- Check the report before you leave: your name, the date and the logged time.
Take-home points
- Each EyeSi activity of at least four hours earns 1 ST1 portfolio point, up to 2, so keep objective evidence.
- Only time inside training tasks is logged. My six-hour booking gave me four hours.
- Expect early zeros. Repeating a task teaches more than reading about it.
- Set up your posture from the start and take short breaks to protect your wrists.
- Sort out the report export before the day, check its date, and get confirmation of your hours.
References
- NHS England. Ophthalmology ST1: self-assessment and supporting evidence [Internet]. 2026 [cited 2026 Oct 25]. Available from: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/medical-specialty-training/ophthalmology/opht halmology-st1/overview-of-ophthalmology-st1/self-assessment-and-supporting-evidence
- McClay T, Lockington D. Time requirements for mandatory cataract simulation modules. Eye (Lond). 2024;38(2):404. doi:10.1038/s41433-023-02700-y
- Akhtar R. Eye-Si simulation: an overview. Journal of the Foundations of Ophthalmology [Internet]. 2022 [cited 2026 Oct 25]. Available from: https://www.jfophth.com/eye-si-simulation-an-overview/
- Fallon H, Gobbett A. Should points for simulated surgery be removed from the ophthalmology ST1 evidence folder? Eye News [Internet]. 2025 [cited 2026 Oct 25];31(6). Available from: https://www.eyenews.uk.com/features/ophthalmology/post/should-points-for-simulated-surgery-be-re moved-from-the-ophthalmology-st1-evidence-folder