Dr. Pushkar Dhir ventured into ophthalmology because he developed a passion for it. He recalled beginning his ophthalmology residency with morning tutorials, journals, seminars . . . and days which would end with the hope of seeing something different the next day.
One day when he was sitting in the lecture hall, he began to observe the students and lecturer and found that most of the students looked bored and sleepy. While some juniors were trying to understand what was being taught, others were fiddling with their cellphones. The next day was the same, and the day after . . . it was a monotonous routine.
He said that it was like a leader coming on stage every day and giving a dreary speech to a passive audience with no elements of interactivity. Most of the sleepy students were just waiting for the “Thank You” slide to come on, signifying the end of the class.
He realized that these lectures were a waste of time and energy. Lectures cannot only be a one-way communication – the lecturer must carry the crowd with him or her until the end and deliver a fruitful message.
Dr. Dhir recalled that in his school days, his teacher used to say that the average attention span of a human brain is only six minutes. And though he never checked the validity of that statement, it stuck in his memory forever. He firmly believes that the lecturer cannot think of themselves only – they need to think of the audience and how to captivate their attention and maintain it.
That was when he started his concept of “Out of Box – Out of Class.” He ensured his presentations were relatable to real life scenarios with fun elements. For example, he used a pirate wearing black cover as a sign
Once, he was asked to make slides on the pupil and he thought: Why would this interest anybody? But then, he read an interesting fact: “Whenever we see someone we like, our pupils grow larger.” It’s almost as if our eyes are trying to see as much of this person as possible. Shakespeare once said: “For she had eyes and chose me.’’ He made these the starting lines of his presentation.
Dr. Dhir always makes sure not to compromise on clinical aspects of various topics, but rather gives the audience something interesting that touches their everyday life, reeling in their attention and not letting it escape into boredom. Videos are referred to as “Game of Thrones.” Competitions are converted into IPL fights in India, which correlates with famous Cricket tournaments.
Through this method of teaching, Dr. Dhir’s continuing passion for ophthalmology is evident – and just like he used to look forward to something new and different each day, through his dedication and creativity, he’s now creating that same excitement for his students.
