EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/220233
60 EW MEETING REPORTER Reporting live from the 2013 European Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgeons Congress, Amsterdam November 2013 Reporting live from the 2013 Friday, Oct. 4 Day one of the two-day EuCornea Congress and the only day of the joint European Glaucoma Society (EGS)/European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons' (ESCRS) Glaucoma Day ahead of the ESCRS Congress offered educational information presented in symposia, free papers, and courses for cornea, glaucoma, and general practitioners worldwide. Opening Ceremony welcomes EuCornea attendees The cornea is a "unique structure" that has "many secrets" and a great deal of beauty, said Michel Zaal, MD, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, president of the Dutch Cornea Society, at the Opening Ceremony for the first day of the EuCornea meeting. The 4th EuCornea Congress opened with an introduction and welcome from EuCornea President José L. Güell, MD, Barcelona, Spain, followed by talks from Dr. Zaal and Donald Tan, MD, Singapore, president of the Asia Cornea Society and the Cornea Society, as well as the EuCornea Medal Lecture, delivered by Gabriel van Rij, MD, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. "We are here not only for the attraction of the cornea for its cosmetic appearance, but we are also here for intellectual reasons, and primarily for the patients. We want to preserve the eyesight of patients or improve it," Dr. Zaal said. According to Dr. Güell, approximately 660 ophthalmologists participated in this year's congress, attending the 12 symposia, 12 free paper sessions, and six courses offered. "At a time when we all have to choose carefully which congresses we attend, not only for timing limitations, but because of economic limitations, I think that offering delegates more than one meeting at the same time seems to be very valuable," Dr. Güell said. "Of course, this is something that we will ask you, to know if this is convenient to all of you."