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2023 EyeWorld Daily News Sunday

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MAY 7, 2023 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | 3 ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING DAILY NEWS patients was overwhelming that they were unhappy with their results, but what made them angry is they felt that they were abandoned by their doctors." We must acknowledge our complications, embrace the compli- cations of others, and never allow a patient to feel abandoned, he said. Innovation is collaborative, Dr. Donnenfeld said, and he counts himself fortunate to have found a number of friends in ophthalmology. "We love innovating in ophthalmolo- gy," he said, acknowledging Stephen Lane, MD, Edward Holland, MD, and Kerry Solomon, MD. Dr. Donnenfeld said that innova- tion is everywhere. With innovation comes the responsibility to help our patients, he said. Innovation stands on the shoulders of giants but is nurtured at an early age. It borrows ideas from other specialties and is collaborative. Innovation embraces opportunity, expands indications, and is often trial and error. Innovation also requires the support of col- leagues, industry, friends, and family, but especially significant others, he said. It recognizes unmet needs and solves problems. It is rarely disrup- tive but incremental and makes patient care simpler, more effective, and accessible. He said his greatest innovation was convincing his wife to marry him. "My journey through ophthalmology has been a long and winding road," he said. "I wish all of you the pleasure, the purpose, the passion I've had of waking up every single morning and being proud and happy to be an ophthalmologist and every night looking forward to com- ing home to my family." Editors' note: Dr. Donnenfeld has financial interests with a variety of ophthalmic companies. The other speakers do not have relevant financial interests. "ASCRS has always been a special organization on many lev- els," Dr. Chang said, adding that it was founded 49 years ago by four ophthalmologists in private practice in California, and no one knew who they were. Our field of cataract and IOLs has advanced largely in part from having societies that educate and encourage innovation, he said. Dr. Chang said he thinks what draws together those who volunteer with the Society is a love for ophthal- mology. For Dr. Chang, his love for ophthalmology started as a medical student. "It was a real gift to know that was what I wanted to do, and that's what I'm doing 45 years later," he said. Eric Donnenfeld, MD, delivered this year's Binkhorst Lecture and received the corresponding award. "ASCRS has been such an amazing part of my life," he said, adding that it's part of the foundation of where he is today. In his lecture, he shared his story of family, friends, and a pas- sion for the ophthalmic profession. He began by talking about the road to innovation. "I have stood on the shoulders of giants," he said, not- ing a number of ophthalmologists he has worked with and been inspired by. Where does the road to innova- tion begin? In Dr. Donnenfeld's case, it was with his parents. He noted the most important qualities in raising a child to become an innovator: uncon- ditional love, high expectations, and irrational confidence. Dr. Donnenfeld said that ASCRS changed his journey, inspiring him to reinvent himself several times over to become a better person and better ophthalmologist. He started as a corneal specialist but had many opportunities. He added that his background in cornea allowed him to innovate in refractive surgery. Dr. Donnenfeld got involved with research on the excimer laser and LASIK. Innovators often fail, but you keep trying, Dr. Donnenfeld said. He highlighted crosslinking to address keratoconus. He joked that, "I will steal from anyone," discussing bor- rowing from retina research, taking patients with corneal abrasions and using a non-steroidal and putting a bandage contact lens on. This tech- nique was later applied to PRK and crosslinking, he said. Innovation can exist in the sim- plest of procedures, sharing a case study on LRI. He understood the val- ue of LRIs and wanted to make them better. He designed a nomogram to make them simpler, and it's now used all over, Dr. Donnenfeld said. "I also wanted to make limbal relaxing incisions more accessible." For this, Dr. Donnenfeld helped to design a website (lricalculator.com). He also wanted to make these LRIs more efficient, by being able to do them in the office. He highlighted getting more precise, specifically mentioning the femtosecond laser astigmatic incision. This helped to automate surgery, he said. Throughout Dr. Donnenfeld's career, he applied his background in dry eye to refractive surgery. All advances in technology are lost with even minimal disruption of the ocular surface, he said. Then, he referenced a number of publications that discuss the effect the ocular surface and dry eye can have on re- fractive procedures and vice versa, as well as ways to manage dry eye. Dr. Donnenfeld said innovation has helped him expand to treat across many specialties, including cataract, refractive, cornea, and glaucoma. He also highlighted what he called an important teaching mo- ment in his career when he testified at the LASIK FDA hearing in 2008. He said that listening to unhappy patients helped to make him a better doctor. "What I heard from the continued from page 1

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