Over 40+ years, UNC Ophthalmology Professor Emeritus Kenneth Cohen, MD, has invested himself in his patients, his learners and evolving his field. In late career, his educator’s passion for sharing his expertise is felt locally and globally. He remains the department’s longest-serving surgical mentor, guiding each class of residents toward mastering complex, corrective procedures required to graduate to independent practice.
Highly regarded for his knowledge and teaching excellence in cataract and intraocular lens surgery, Dr. Cohen is invited to lecture at forums across the U.S. and globe. Since its inception, Dr. Cohen has been a fixture alongside expert speakers at the Annual Harvard Ophthalmology Intensive Cataract Surgical Training Course, hosted by Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, MA.
To gain exposure to globally renowned expertise on cataract and intraocular surgery, every year, UNC Ophthalmology 2nd-year (PGY3) residents join Dr. Cohen as his conference guests. Back home, Dr. Cohen was inspired to adapt the Harvard Intensive Cataract Surgical Training Course to a scientific-based curriculum for teaching cataract surgery to benefit his UNC learners. Over years of uploading scanned instructive hardcopies from his files, he created an online curriculum storehouse that he keeps current as an invaluable teaching resource for UNC Ophthalmology residents.
In shepherding residents toward surgical competence, Dr. Cohen’s reach stateside is felt where graduating next-generation ophthalmologists is vital to meeting comprehensive and tertiary eye care needs across the U.S. In under-resourced areas and under-developed areas worldwide, he dedicates himself to hands-on procedural mentoring in OR-equipped community health clinics.
Since 1983, Dr. Cohen has led teams of U.S. residents, experienced educators and surgeons in multiple countries worldwide through hands-on skills acquisition in clinical exam techniques, corneal transplants, cataract surgery, and medical treatment of anterior segment eye diseases. Sponsored by vision-dedicated non-profits — Orbis, Sight for Life, Physicians for Peace, and the Hawaiian Eye Foundation — his teaching reach spans Uruguay, China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and the Dominican Republic.
Beyond the clinic, Dr. Cohen shares his expertise lecturing at ophthalmologist forums designed to guide current practice in under-resourced host countries that lack an adequate number of trained eye professionals. In recent years, he has lectured in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as Vietnam on modern techniques of cataract and intraocular lens implant surgery and corneal transplant surgery.
In May 2025, Dr. Cohen participated in Sight for Life’s mission to provide eye care in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In Kingstown, 150 ophthalmological exams were performed daily at an outpatient clinic set up at the community college, and hundreds of free glasses were dispensed. Ninety complex ophthalmic operations were performed at Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. Dr. Cohen served on a guest speaker panel at a CME ophthalmology symposium — “Current Practices for Managing Glaucoma, Cataracts, Grafts and Ophthalmic Implants” — hosted by the St. Vincent and The Grenadines Medical Association and Trinity Medical Sciences University. Where an endemic ocular disease can be explained to global audiences as impetus for procedural innovation, Dr. Cohen described a population-focused surgical solution developed by Brazilian eye specialists to manage intumescent cataracts – advanced, white, swollen cataracts from liquification and fluid absorption in the lens cortex – which are highly prevalent in this 210M+-resident nation.
Dr. Cohen also brings into the fold respected eye specialist colleagues he has worked with to join him in sharing expertise at the podium. In 2025, Dr. Cohen invited Duke Eye Center Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and cornea, external disease, and refractive surgery expert Dr. Chris Boehlke to join him on a panel of speakers and clinical mentors in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The long-time support of a generous UNC Eye patient enables Dr. Cohen to invite residents as well to participate in these activities. A month shy of graduating residency, third-year resident (PGY4) Dr. Vincent Tang will accompany Dr. Cohen in In May 2026 on his next trip to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As they advance in acquiring core medical and surgical knowledge in their field, upper-level residents like Vincent can contribute meaningfully alongside board-certified volunteer ophthalmologists who work long hours on medical mission trips.
Vincent noted: “Dr. Cohen has been an invaluable mentor throughout my residency, guiding me from the fundamentals to the advanced nuances of cataract surgery and helping me cultivate a surgeon’s mindset. I am honored to join him on this mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It’s a unique opportunity to round out my surgical training while gaining a deeper understanding of how ophthalmic care is delivered in a global context.”
To teach his residents purpose and perspective about the science of surgery, Dr. Cohen’s long-time passion and approach to teaching adult skill acquisition has been the Dreyfus model. In guiding learners through the five distinct Dreyfus model stages — Novice, Advanced Beginner, Competent, Proficient, and Expert – Dr. Cohen has experienced long-time success in helping learners acquire and retain core skills.
Dr. Cohen reflected, “If my learners first learn through remembering, these mentees can then truly learn if they dedicate themselves to staying actively involved and applying their skills.”