About

London LRS Course

The London LRS Course simply stands for the London Laser and Refractive Surgery Course.

Established in 2021, the London LRS Course is the first refractive surgery course in the UK specifically tailored around the curriculum of the CertLRS course.

The London LRS course is aimed at preparing surgeons for a career in refractive surgery. The London LRS Course has been established with the aim of teaching important topics in laser and non-laser refractive surgery in an interactive way.

One of its key objectives of the London LRS course is preparation of surgeons sitting key laser refractive surgery exams such as the CertLRS exam and FEBOS-CR exam.

The London LRS course is composed of virtual interactive lectures spanning over a number of days. The course has been running since 2021, receiving excellent feedback.

Negative staining in anterior basement membrane dystrophy. London LRS Course.

Why is a laser refractive surgery course needed?

The objective of the London LRS course is to help eye surgeons around the world learn the principles of laser refractive surgery (refractive and cataract). The London LRS course is based on three key principles that should govern the practice of any laser and refractive eye surgeon:

1. Ethical
2. Safe
3. Evidence-based

The London LRS Course was inspired by the success of the London Eye Course, which was founded in 2016 and helped hundreds of ophthalmologists from all around the globe to prepare for ophthalmology exit exams.

Compared to other topics in ophthalmology, refractive surgery receives little systematic and curricular teaching. It is crucially important for ophthalmologists to have a solid understanding of this topic. The London LRS Course is for those wishing to take their refractive surgery knowledge and skills to the next level, and provide the best possible laser refractive surgery service to their patients.

We hope that you will find the London LRS course to be informative, useful and most importantly enjoyable!

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Course Director:
Mukhtar Bizrah MBBS, FRCOphth(UK), FRCSC(Canada), FEBO(Europe), FWCRS, CertLRS(UK)
Consultant Cornea, Refractive and Cataract surgeon at the Western eye hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London.
Previous Trainee Rep on Examinations Committee and Trainee Rep for North Thames deanery.
London Eye Course co-founder & director: londoneyecourse.com (Part 2 FRCOphth Exam course)

Course Co-Director:
Mr Zine Elhousseini, MBBS, FRCOphth
Consultant ophthalmologist, Royal Free Hospital, London, UK
Deputy academic lead and examiner for medical students at UCL
Examiner for the London Eye Course

COURSE TUTORS

Prof David Gartry

Prof Gartry is a former examiner for RCOphth and presently in CertLRS at the College and helped to set up the exam in 2007. He is Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon to the Corneal, Cataract and Refractive Services, Moorfields Eye Hospital, London.

Having graduated initially with a first class honours degree in Optometry in 1978 (GCU) and then Medicine in 1984 (UCL), his early ophthalmology training and research was at St Thomas' Hospital, London where, in November 1989, he became the first surgeon in the UK to perform excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK). Prof Gartry was awarded a doctor of science degree (DSc hon) by Glasgow Caledonian University in 2011.

He was awarded the higher degree of Doctor of Medicine from London University in 1995 for his doctoral thesis entitled "The development of excimer laser corneal surgery", has authored over 40 papers and co-edited three textbooks. He was appointed consultant surgeon to Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1995 and Director of the Refractive Service at Moorfields in from 2007 - 2013.

He is past president of The British Society for Refractive Surgery, a member of The Royal Institution of Great Britain, an examiner and advisor to The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and an honour award recipient of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Prof David Gartry has been teaching at the London LRS Course since it was founded in 2021.

Prof Dan Reinstein

Professor Dan Z. Reinstein is the Founder and Medical Director of the London Vision Clinic, part of the EuroEyes Group. Dr. Reinstein is a board-certified ophthalmologist in the United States and Canada and holds professorships in the UK, New York and Paris.

Since the 1990’s he has dedicated himself solely to the specialty of Refractive Surgery. Over the course of his career, Dr. Reinstein developed and contributed the first measurements of the epithelium with mapping, developed and published extensively in the new diagnostic field of corneal layered 3D pachymetric imaging and biometry with VHF digital ultrasound, later adding OCT methodology.

He has delivered over 1,000 lectures at professional meetings on 5 continents and published over 210 scientific papers in peer-reviewed medical journals. He is a leader in the field of Therapeutic Refractive Surgery, and founded this section for the Journal of Refractive Surgery where he continues as Section Editor. He has authored a definitive textbook on SMILE, contributed to 44 book chapters and published proceedings, and is extensively published in the ophthalmic press.

His work and patents related to VHF digital ultrasound administered by the Center for Technology Licensing at Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) led to the commercialisation of VHF digital ultrasound robotic scanning with the Insight 100 from ArcScan Inc., which together with his sizing formula is now the most accurate method of sizing the ICL. He developed PRESBYOND Laser Blended Vision, now part of the Carl Zeiss Meditec platform. He has been the Lead Refractive Surgery consultant for Carl Zeiss Meditec since 2001, has a proprietary interest in the Insight 100 technology, and consults for CSO Italia (MS39 OCT).

Mr Vincenzo Maurino

Mr Vincenzo Maurino is the Director of the Cataract Surgical Service at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

He is a world leader eye surgeon and expert in laser vision correction, Implantable Contact Lens Surgery (ICL), Cataract Surgery, RLE (Refractive Lens Exchange) Surgery and corneal transplant surgery.

He is one of the most experience eye surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital and one of the few surgeons worldwide to have performed more than thirty thousand eye surgical procedures to date including laser vision correction, cataract surgery, ICL and corneal transplants.

Mr Vincenzo Maurino has been teaching at the London LRS Course since it was founded in 2021.

Mr Niraj Mandal

Mr Mandal is a highly experienced ophthalmic surgeon specialising in refractive lens exchange, cornea and cataract surgery. He gained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree at the University of Birmingham during which time he carried out an undergraduate research elective at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, USA. He then went on to complete a seven year residency at the London School of Ophthalmology. In 2014, Mr Mandal gained the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Refraction Certificate and in 2016 he became a Fellow of European Board of Ophthalmology and a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. In 2023, Mr Mandal obtained the Certificate of Laser Refractive Surgery from the Royal College.

He also holds a postgraduate diploma in cataract and refractive surgery and is one of the youngest surgeons to become a Fellow of the World College of Refractive Surgery. During his career, Mr Mandal has gained a wealth of experience in hospitals such as Queens Hospital Essex, where he was a Senior House Officer Ophthalmologist, and at the Western Eye Hospital in London. He became a Specialist Registrar Ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. He then completed two fellowships in Cornea and Cataract Surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London. In 2019 Mr Mandal completed a Refractive Surgery Fellowship on Harley Street in London.

After carrying out over 1000 LASIK and PRK surgeries and 1000 refractive lens exchange surgeries as a private refractive surgeon he went onto complete a fourth fellowship in complex cornea and cataract surgery at Vancouver General Hospital at the University of British Columbia.

Mr Mukhtar Bizrah

Mukhtar Bizrah is a consultant cornea, refractive and cataract surgeon at the Western Eye Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Clinical Director of Harley Vision, London. He is one of the few ophthalmic surgeons in the world who is board-certified in the UK, USA, Canada and Europe:

1. Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth)
2. Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS)
3. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC)
4. Fellow of the European Board of Ophthalmology (FEBO)
5. Fellow of World College of Refractive Surgery (FWCRS)
6. Certificate in Laser & Refractive surgery (CertLRS), Royal College of Ophthalmologists, UK

Having completed his undergraduate medical degree at the University of London, Mr Bizrah then completed his core ophthalmology training at the London deanery.

Mr Bizrah completed advanced cornea, refractive and cataract surgery fellowships at two of the world’s most renowned eye institutions:

1. Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust (London, UK)
2. University of British Columbia (Vancouver, BC, Canada)

Mr Mukhtar Bizrah is the former Unit Training Lead for Ophthalmology at Imperial, and has extensive experience in running popular ophthalmology courses attended by ophthalmologists from all over the globe.