Over 20 percent of Academy members practice outside the United States. At the Nov. 14 “Ophthalmology Around the Globe — A YO’s Perspective” event during AAO 2017, attendees got the inside scoop about what’s going on in their parts of the world.
Marie Louise Roed-Rasmussen, MD, PhD, chair of the European Society of Ophthalmology YO Committee, discussed how the diversity of SOE membership strengthens the organization. With that diversity comes challenges, however — namely a lack of standardization in training, particularly surgical training, as well as few fellowship opportunities to meet the demand for subspecialty training. The organization is making it one of their top priorities to meet this need with a directory of available European fellowships.
Attendees also heard from a number of international YOs and graduates from the Academy’s Leadership Development Program:
- Bayanda Mbambisa, MD, from South Africa discussed her new endeavor to develop the first-ever YO group in South Africa as part of her African Ophthalmology Council project.
- Marcus Ang, MBBS, an Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology graduate from Singapore, shared his efforts to develop a YO presence in the APAO and invited us all to the March 2018 APAO meeting in Hong Kong.
- Camila Ventura, MD, a Brazilian graduate from the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, discussed how the young ophthalmologists from Latin America raised funds and spirits at a recent PAAO meeting in Peru by throwing an “Eye Ball” party.
- Seyhan Bahar Ozkan, MD, who just graduated Nov. 11 from the Academy’s LDP XIX class, shared her project, “Outcomes of Central Asian YO Forum.”
In addition, Academy YOs highlighted the different resources available to both domestic and international physicians for getting more involved internationally:
- Samir Patel, MD, discussed a popular Academy resource, the Global Ophthalmology Guide, which provides educational listings, videos, online courses and more for members-in-training who have a desire to deliver care in underserved areas of the world.
- Audina M. Berrocal, MD, a recent LDP graduate andmember of the Academy’s Global ONE Advisory Board, shared how she’s hosted international fellows at Bascom Palmer and how all YOs can use the Academy’s Global Directory of Training Opportunities to track down similar opportunities around the world.
In the video below, author Grace Sun, MD, a member of the YO International Subcommittee talks with Steve Christiansen, MD, about Academy resources available to YOs interested who want to become more involved in international ophthalmology. She emphasized how the Academy is not only helping domestic YOs to serve abroad, but also supporting international YOs to develop their own organizational structures and to take advantage of educational opportunities in the United States.