Eyeworld Daily News

22 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | APRIL 7, 2024 ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING DAILY NEWS T he ASCRS Foundation held a symposium Saturday, cover- ing the many initiatives and areas of interest to the ASCRS Foundation, the philanthropic pillar of ASCRS. Volunteering: Pearls and perspectives Adrienne Grave, PhD, led a panel on volunteering, conversing with a number of physicians who participate in humanitarian eyecare. She asked panelists how they got their start. Martin Spencer, MD, described how he made contact with Seva at the meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1986, but even be- fore that, he had heard about Seva's work. Lisa Park, MD, got involved when she was a resident, through a non-ophthalmology source, an operating room nurse who went on surgical missions. Dr. Park was asked to come because they needed eye surgeons. Roger Furlong, MD, was a fellow of Alan Crandall, MD, so he got involved fairly quickly since Dr. Crandall was doing work in Sub-Sa- haran Africa. "Once you start going, it's pretty hard to quit," he said. David Crandall, MD, said that he got started by growing up around it. He joined on trips once he felt he had enough skills. Cathleen McCabe, MD, began doing service missions even before she was in ophthalmology. "It's absolutely addictive," she said, adding that the evolution and seeing that ripple effect is very powerful. Matthew Oliva, MD, has been doing this work for 25 years. He met Geoff Tabin, MD, and Sanduk Ruit, MD, in a remote eye camp in 1998 and saw the miracle of sight-restoring surgery in a remote location. Dr. Oliva has been taking things he's learned from partners in Asia and trying to apply those same systems in Africa. Editors' note: The panelists have no relevant financial interests. Technology Part of the symposium covered how technology is transforming global surgical training. Bonnie Hender- son, MD, said that ophthalmology training around the globe is variable. Surgical training in some places is standardized and requires a mini- mum number of cases, but in others, there is no requirement or very few require minimum number of cases. In low-resource regions, variability is even greater. Simulation technology can help level the playing field, she said. Utilizing simulation-based training could help to standardize it, make it more accessible, allow more practice, and increase skills and confidence. In terms of simulation-based training in the U.S., she said that most (greater than 85% of ophthalmology residenc- es in the U.S.) incorporate VR. Editors' note: Dr. Henderson has finan- cial interests with HelpMeSee. Domestic programs A section of the program led by Vance Thompson, MD, discussed domestic programs. Dr. Thompson specifically highlighted Operation Sight, ASCRS' domestic program for charitable cataract surgery. Some- times doctors want to get involved, and it's hard to figure out where to start. Operation Sight helps to connect the doctors and the patients who need their help. Lori McCoy offered several tips on how to get started in helping to address needs at home: find a local community partner, engage with phy- sicians within the community, reach out to your industry partners, do an assessment of the needs in your community, have a plan to offer full eyecare services. Editors' note: Dr. Thompson and Ms. McCoy have no relevant financial interests. Promoting global work among young surgeons Russell Swan, MD, moderated a section of the program on promoting global work among young eye sur- geons. He mentioned the Young Eye Surgeons International Service Grant (YISG). Both Milad Modabber, MD, and Simon Fung, MD, spoke about their experience being grantees of this award. Dr. Modabber said that global health is not easy but so worth it. The generational impact is unde- niable, he said. Education models are becoming more accessible. He said that going to Aravind in India showed him an example of health- care systems based on passionate capitalism. There is a continuous need for more funding and champi- ons. Editors' note: The panelists have no relevant financial disclosures. ASCRS Foundation symposium encourages attendees to 'Be the Change You Wish to See' Dr. Modabber speaks about his experience with the YISG at the ASCRS Foundation symposium. Source: ASCRS

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