EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/422211
47 EW FEATURE Contact information Berdahl: john.berdahl@vancethompsonvision.com Miller: kmiller@ucla.edu Yeu: eyeulin@gmail.com Editors' note: Drs. Berdahl, Miller, and Yeu have no financial interests related to their comments. "I think ophthalmologists are pretty tech savvy, so I don't think it's just the younger ones who use these electronic resources," Dr. Miller agreed. However, he does not think that electronic resources are being used in the exact patterns originally predicted. He looks at them as supplemental, but not replacing larger meetings. Although there is no specific data on who is using the tools, Dr. Miller thinks that individual societ- ies can track some of this informa- tion. For example, larger societies may be able to track who is visiting their particular online resources and courses. In the future Dr. Yeu thinks that meetings offer more than just education because they are a forum for colleagues to meet up and interact. Participants can gain a huge wealth of knowl- edge in a small amount of time. "Sometimes there's nothing like being able to sit there and hear it and see it for yourself," she said. Additionally, Dr. Yeu weighed in on the future of graduate educa- tion and surgical medical education, which she thinks will experience a shift because of some of the current gaps being identified, especially in refractive cataract surgery. If this unmet need is not being fulfilled at the academic levels, there should be other forums to provide that type of surgical experience. Dr. Miller thinks that large oph- thalmology meetings will continue to be effective for physicians looking for a way to obtain medical educa- tion. Large meetings can provide continuing education and facilitate social interaction among colleagues around the world. Although Dr. Miller noted that he could poten- tially see journals and magazines moving away from print versions, these could still remain effective as digital resources. In the future, there will likely be other avenues besides meetings for doctors to get technical information for their practice, Dr. Berdahl said, but there is still something about wanting to be connected to others in person. EW Going to a meeting forces phy- sicians to block time to attend, and this also helps in setting aside specif- ic time to fulfill continuing medical education credits, he said. "I think the big meetings are here to stay." Dr. Miller added that he thinks print journals and news magazines are still doing exceptionally well because they are filling a need to have timely and important information on hand easily. Regional meetings and electronic education Dr. Yeu thinks that a number of people are demanding a different type of learning, with both virtual resources and smaller meetings. "Regional meetings are very effective," she said. These meetings allow for an interactive setting, with small roundtables and one-on-one time for physicians to interact. "What is interesting is learning from and gauging what the audience utilizes and where they are in their experience," Dr. Yeu said. Smaller meetings may help pinpoint trends of certain demographics and could help identify which doctors are using newer technologies. Meanwhile, Dr. Miller thinks that the smaller meetings may be dying out for a variety of reasons. Industry sponsorship for these types of meetings is slowly being pulled because of all the regulations, he said. This applies to state society meetings and departmental meet- ings. Among the electronic resources available to physicians are online capabilities to obtain CME credits, webinars, and news sources. Webinars have the ability to be more interactive, Dr. Miller said. But he views these more as a niche market and not as useful in everyday prac- tice for the general ophthalmologist. Physicians using these new tools Younger physicians may be more likely to find information using newer resources on their own, but Dr. Berdahl thinks that the vast majority of ophthalmologists are well versed with how to get the information that they need from the Internet, so new resources are useful across the practice of ophthalmology. 2500 Sandersville Rd., Lexington, KY 40511 USA Phone: 800-354-7848, 859-259-4924 Fax: 859-259-4926 E-Mail: sales@stephensinst.com www.stephensinst.com Femtosecond Laser Cataract Surgery Instruments S5-1535 LRI Enhancement Forceps Cross-action provides accurate spreading of incisions pre- or post-operatively, or during slit-lamp examinations. S4-1700 Femtosecond Spatula Double ended sizing and spear shaped, thin blunted tips offer versatility for opening primary and secondary femtosecond laser incisions. S4-1710 Femtosecond Chopper Special design chops femtosecond laser fragmented nuclei with its unique shaped tip. December 2014 The changing face of medical education