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58 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | MAY 16, 2020 DAILY NEWS ASCRS VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING How the pandemic impacts those in training competence of an individual program graduate, and are not utilized in that manner by the Review Committees. It is up to the program director, with consideration of the recom- mendations of the program's Clinical Competence Commit- tee, to assess the competence of an individual resident/ fellow as one part of the de- termination of whether that individual is prepared to enter the unsupervised practice of medicine," Dr. Nasca wrote. Going forward, Dr. Goshe said he has been encouraged in this tragic situation to see how the healthcare communi- ty is coming together. He also said it's important, even in the midst of the pandemic, to start taking notes of lessons learned. "It's important for our medical residents and every- one to understand that this is not going to be a problem that goes away. It's going to be something that we have to always be ready for," Dr. Goshe said. are helping share their exper- tise with video reviews, journal clubs, case conferences, and Ophthalmic Knowledge Assess- ment Program (OKAP) reviews. "In addition, the New York ophthalmology program directors have rallied together in this time of need," Dr. Sun said. "We created an online platform to share our didactics with all the New York resi- dents since we are all teaching remotely. We have a weekly call to update each other about the best practices in our own institutions to help protect our patients, our residents, our- selves, and our communities." Dr. Goshe, in addition to distance learning and keep- ing rotations similar to how they were originally laid out, said he gave his residents the opportunity to catch up on re- search projects and things they could do on their own. He also said residents, in some ways, are being put in positions of greater responsibility, which is a good thing, even though the circumstances leading to increased responsibilities is not ideal. When it comes to residen- cy timelines, Dr. Sun said all years will be affected and it is a question that will be addressed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Educa- tion (ACGME) community. When it comes to meeting surgical numbers, Thomas Nasca, MD, ACGME president and CEO, wrote in a message to members that ACGME acknowledges residents may not be able to achieve the minimum number of visits/ cases. He also noted that these minimums were established for program accreditation. "ACGME visit/case min- ima were not designed to be a surrogate for the "The response from our Weill Cornell residents and fac- ulty has been nothing short of inspirational. They have been selfless, brave, and team-ori- ented. They have put the needs of their patients, peers, depart- ment, hospital, and city ahead of their own," she said. As for how the pandemic will impact their training, Dr. Sun said there are definitely questions regarding general timeline and fellowship pros- pects, but both have "taken a back seat to the more immi- nent concerns of the day-to-day realities of living in the current epicenter of the virus." Zaina Al-Mohtaseb, MD, expressed a similar overall sen- timent for residents at Baylor College of Medicine. "Ophthalmology residents, in general, are planners who are used to schedules, and the uncertainty is definitely a big test for them. There is also fear and stress of potential expo- sure and worry about their loved ones and themselves," Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said. "They are also worried about losing clinical and surgical skills given that elective cases and non-ur- gent clinic visits have been canceled." Jeffrey Goshe, MD, said in late March they were still in preparation mode with Cole Eye Institute residents, prepar- ing for various scenarios with the pandemic, including the possibility of redeployment of residents and staff, if needed. Drs. Sun, Al-Mohtaseb, and Goshe said distance learning opportunities were created for those in training, in light of distancing requirements. Dr. Sun said she video confer- ences daily with her residents, discussing cases and giving updates from the hospital. She said faculty members remotely by Liz Hillman Editorial Co-Director This article originally ran in the May issue of EyeWorld as the YES Connect column. During the ASCRS Virtual Annual Meeting, a session co-run by the Young Eye Surgeons (YES) Clinical Committee and the Vanguard Ophthalmology Society will be livestreamed on Saturday, May 16 from 4:30–6:00 p.m. ET. The session, titled "COVID Crashed My Life … How to Survive and Revive," will focus on the impact of COVID-19, keeping surgical skills sharp, rethinking clinical care, and looking to the future. T he COVID-19 pandemic presents an extraor- dinarily challenging time for everyone in medicine, from those on the frontlines to those sidelined by postponed elective surgeries to those who are still in training, uncertain about their short- term and long-term future. "As expected, there is an atmosphere of anxiety and un- certainty among the residents, not only about their training but also about what the future holds," said Grace Sun, MD. "This stems from a variety of reasons, including concerns about the health of loved ones and the community, uncertain- ty about their own futures, losing clinical and surgical learning opportunities, and even some guilt over not being as active on the frontlines as other friends and colleagues in the emergency rooms and ICUs." Many Weill Cornell resi- dents in New York City, one of the U.S. cities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, have been redeployed to the emergency department and medicine units, Dr. Sun said. About the doctors Zaina Al-Mohtaseb, MD Associate residency program director Baylor College of Medicine Houston, Texas Jeffrey Goshe, MD Residency program director Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute Cleveland, Ohio Grace Sun, MD Director of the ophthalmology residency program Weill Cornell Medicine New York, New York

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