AAO 2023 was held in San Francisco and marks my 30th Academy annual meeting. Each year I plan my meeting schedule around educational content, catching up with friends and enjoying what the host meeting city has to offer. The meeting was well attended and stands as the biggest event in ophthalmology. My colleagues and I found the city and the weather to be very comfortable. Future Academy meetings, “Where All of Ophthalmology Meets” will be held in Chicago in 2024, Orlando in 2025, New Orleans in 2026 and Las Vegas in 2027.
If you registered for the meeting in person or virtually you can still watch all portions up until March 1st. Virtual meeting registration is open through January 31, 2024. Consider watching the sessions, described below, that were specially designed by the Senior Ophthalmologist (SO) Committee for our colleagues.
Our key SO committee symposium concerned an extremely important issue, Professional Longevity. The symposium was created by SO committee member Stephen Obstbaum, MD and SO Committee chair, Samuel Masket, MD. The topic was stimulated by The New York Times guest essay entitled “How Would You Feel About a 100-Year-Old Doctor?” The central question was “What are the Essential Elements in Our Approach to This Emerging Challenge?”
The panelists included Alfredo Sadun, MD, PhD, who presented a real example of an anonymous possibly cognitively impaired ophthalmologist. Flora Lum, MD explained that the Academy’s membership is aging such that 37% of US ophthalmologists are over 60 years of age while 64% of them remain in clinical practice. John Irvine, MD posed this question – “Do aging physicians represent an ethical dilemma”? Paul Lee, MD, JD described employer groups utilizing written policies concerning physician competence. American Board of Ophthalmology CEO George Bartley, MD proposed self-regulation, using periodic evaluation, with oversights and ABO involvement. Tamara Fountain, MD discussed practice transitions. Overall, it was a fantastic session with many questions from the audience. Members may likely see more around this topic at future meetings.
Eve Higginbotham, MD gives the Jackson Memorial Lecture during the Opening session at AAO 2023.
It was a great honor for our SO committee member, Eve Higginbotham, MD, to present the 2023 Jackson Memorial Lecture during the opening session. Her superb talk was entitled “Striving Toward Better Eye Health Beyond our Waiting Rooms”. The three themes of her lecture were the clear documentation of the social determinants of health, an evidence-based argument establishing the value proposition for eye and vision health as a population health imperative and the need to understand the ancestral contributors to the burden of disease and risks for individuals and specific populations. Dr. Higginbotham also led a panel discussion in the learning lounge on “The Value of Serving on Boards”. It was very well attended, and the participants were amazing. I continue to be impressed by Dr. Higginbotham and we are lucky to have her as a colleague, committee member and friend.
The SO Committee hosted a very enjoyable SO Program: An Ophthalmologist’s Love Affair with Wine and Sensory Diversity featuring two outstanding speakers. The first was Ivan Schwab, MD concerning “Evolution of Specialized Senses and the Eye”. He unveiled the evolution of three specialized senses that allow only animals to see in ways that humans cannot. Bees use electroreceptors so they don’t return to the same flower. Herons with the sense of light polarization can capture prey that is just under water. Pit Vipers use their infrared to sense the warmth of small animals even when hidden under leaves. David Hardten, MD, an ophthalmologist from the mid-west and winemaker then described his “Love Affair with Vineyards and Wine”. While enjoying his talk the audience sipped four varieties of wines. Those attendees holding the winning raffle tickets received a bottle of award-winning Cabernet from Hardten Family Vineyards. At the close of the meeting, the YO committee presented the EnergEYES Award to Tamara Fountain, MD. She has been an active member and leader of the Academy and now a member of the SO Committee. We are proud of her and love having her on our team.
The SO Committee partnered with the Young Ophthalmologist (YO) Committee, and I had the pleasure of co-chairing the session with YO Committee chair, Andrea Tooley, MD. Our joint session “Start, Stop, Continue: Lessons From a Lifetime of Surgery” consisted of both SOs and YOs who described how or why they did or didn’t make changes to their surgical practices. We are grateful to all the speakers for sharing their wisdom, specifically - Tom Oetting, MD, Robert Bailey, MD and Ruth Williams, MD who spoke as SO’s, however, their surgical hands, brains and hearts remain young.
Dr. Masket joined the Academy’s Committee on Aging chair, Simon Law, MD who developed the joint Symposium titled “Function, Frailty and Fatality in Care for Aging Patients”. The collaboration between both committees has been going on for years and will continue with relevant, mind-provoking content.
2023 Artemis Award recipient Grayson W. Armstrong, MD, MPH pictured (center) with Daniel Briceland, MD, 2023 Academy President and Samuel Masket, MD, SO Committee Chair.
On behalf of the entire SO Committee, Dr. Masket presented the 2023 Artemis Award to this year’s recipient Grayson Armstrong, MD, MPH. Dr. Armstrong was honored and humbled by the award and received recognition throughout the meeting. He is so deserving as his work in telemedicine is outstanding.
Between courses, I had the wonderful experience of speaking to YO members on the value of mentoring. Earlier this year, I was matched to Mahsaw Mansoor, MD, a University of Iowa Ophthalmology Resident who participated in the Academy’s Advocacy Ambassador Program. I shared my pearls on the seven roles a mentor can play in their lives - Sponsor, Advisor, Coach, Role Model, Confidante, Teacher, and Agent.
If you want to mentor a resident or play an active role in the Academy, please plan to attend the AAO Mid-Year Forum in Washington, D.C. beginning on April 17th, 2024. As ophthalmologists who remain engaged in our great profession for a lifetime, the spring meeting enables each of us to share our ophthalmic wisdom, advocacy skill, and practice management experience with the next generation of ophthalmologists.
John Stechschulte, MD and Mashaw Mansoor, MD during AAO 2023.
AAO 2023 proved to be a great meeting experience. I look forward to next year’s meeting in Chicago where the SO Committee will continue to develop impactful programming with our SO colleagues in mind.