Eyeworld

72 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2023 C ORNEA by Julie Schallhorn, MD Cornea Editor T he ASCRS Annual Meeting is fast ap- proaching, and my thoughts have been drawn to the role of the meeting in education and surgical training. We are fortunate to be in a field that moves to adopt new techniques and technologies so rapidly. It has resulted in major advancements in the ways we care for patients and huge improvements in outcomes. One has to look no further than the pages of the Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery and EyeWorld to see the myriad of new ideas that are generated regularly. The best practices and techniques that we learn in residency and fellowship are almost guaranteed to become obsolete over the course of our careers. Sometimes the rate of change can feel overwhelming, even to someone whose primary role is education, such as myself. With this rapid pace of innovation, however, comes a challenge: that of education and dis- semination of new knowledge into the legions of practicing ophthalmologists. We have a rigor- ous system for the education of ophthalmology trainees, overseen by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), and legions of dedicated educators to ensure young ophthalmologists graduate with excellent training. Once graduated, however, ophthalmol- ogists must take it upon themselves to stay up to date with the changes in the field. This can feel uncomfortable; performing a new technique or incorporating a new device or drug into practice presents numerous challenges and can seem like an insurmountable barrier. This issue's article on learning DSAEK in the era of DMEK with Winston Chamberlain, MD, PhD, Clara Chan, MD, and Nandini Venkateswaran, MD, offers excellent insights into this conundrum. The article asks the ques- tion of how do we, as a profession, incorporate advancements into our teaching practices while ensuring that we continue to devote time to learning older but essential skills. The progres- sion of corneal transplantation from penetrat- ing keratoplasty to DSAEK to ultrathin DSAEK to DMEK has exemplified this; the lamellar approaches have significant advantages in some patients, but full thickness PKP is a skill that we are not ready to jettison. The physicians provide an excellent rational for approaching this prob- lem, and it is well worth a read. Also in this issue, Kenneth Beckman, MD, and Parag Majmudar, MD, share insights on cor- neal ulcer management, and Kourtney Houser, MD, and John Hovanesian, MD, discuss when to use amniotic membrane. The mainstay of post-training education for many ophthalmologists in practice has been educational meetings such as the ASCRS Annual Meeting. With instructional courses, wet labs, and numerous didactic sessions, there are ample opportunities to pick up new knowledge. The biggest hurdle to overcome for most oph- thalmologists, however, is the motivation and dedication to education while in practice. This has become more difficult in the era of abundant online CME credits, which beckon physicians to stay in their house rather than bear the expense of traveling to a meeting location. Although this might offer an attractive solution to fulfilling the annual credit require- ment, online CME does not have the capability of replacing that most essential element in education—the direct physician-to-physician transfer of skills and techniques. Online edu- cation also lacks the chance encounters and casual conversations that often spur the most interesting discoveries or the most crucial developments in one's career. Attending the ASCRS Annual Meeting opens physicians to the world of ophthalmology outside of their immediate practice and can open their minds to the possibilities and potentials in their field. I am very much looking forward to the ASCRS Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, and I can't begin to imagine what I will learn when I am there. Essential in-person education We are fortunate to be in a field that moves to adopt new techniques and technologies so rapidly.

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