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Cooperation among specialties key to advancing ophthalmology
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WASHINGTON — Thomas W. Samuelson, MD, incoming president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, stressed the importance of inclusivity and cooperation among specialties in his address at the organization’s annual meeting opening ceremony.
Samuelson, who mostly specializes in glaucoma treatment and surgery, said he sees first-hand how cooperation among all anterior segment specialists helps foster better practitioners and, in turn, better treatment for their patients, and how organizations like ASCRS help make that happen.
“I’ve experienced how the boundaries between anterior segment specialties have become blurred and how formerly distinct barriers are now melting away,” he said.
Cataract surgeons are now also refractive surgeons who are also mindful of corneal health and must also be proficient in minimally invasive glaucoma surgery, he said.
“There is no better place to hone these very interwoven skills than ASCRS. More than any other society, ASCRS provides an integrated curriculum of all the skills that comprise anterior segment surgery: cataract and refractive, cornea and glaucoma,” Samuelson said.
In addition, during his tenure as the organization’s president, he would like to see a change in the perception of ASCRS as a society for only high-volume, high-profile cataract surgeons.
“ASCRS is relevant to all surgeons, at all levels of expertise, whether just starting a surgical journey as a resident or in the twilight of one’s career, trying to decide whether or not to adopt the new technologies,” he said. “ASCRS is first and foremost about sharing and teaching surgical acumen, but ASCRS is so much more than that.”
Samuelson takes the reins as president of the organization after Bonnie An Henderson, MD, who served in the role for the past year.
In her outgoing address to the meeting’s attendees, she highlighted some of the innovations in ophthalmology over the past decades and challenged guests to continue that trend.
“I ask you to join me to continue to strive to evolve. Don’t be complicit in the current state of medicine. Don’t accept the status quo. Continue to dream, to innovate, to push the limits, and I hope that together we will succeed in leading ophthalmology into the next chapter,” she said. – by Rebecca L. Forand
Reference: Opening general session: American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting; April 13-17, 2018; Washington.