As challenging as it was, the pandemic had a silver lining: It opened the door for the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology to host its first-ever virtual congress.
Among many sessions of the five-day congress, the YO Symposium was the most exciting session by the APAO YO committee, chaired by Dr. Seng Kheong Fang and Dr. Marcus Ang. Together with the YO representatives from around the world, including Academy’s YO and European Society of Ophthalmology’s YO committee, the symposium had five top paper presentations from YOs.
After Dr. Fang’s welcome address, Dr. Ang presented updated APAO YO activities. The last part of this session was the long-awaited session for the YOs of the APAO region, the YO Awards Presentation. YOs received awards in following categories:
- Best Presentations (top two of five): First: Dr. Hong Da Chou, Taiwan; Second: Dr. Bhavya Gorimanipalli
- Best Surgical Video: Dr. Aarti Heda, India
- Best YO Influencer (based on most-liked picture at Instagram): Dr. Kendrick Shih, Hong Kong
- Best YO Mentor: Dr. May Zun Aung Win, Myanmar
- Best YO: Dr. Ashraful Huq, Bangladesh
The YO Symposium had interactive discussion session from participants, moderated by Dr. Ang. They discussed the Rising Star Program, a Zeiss collaboration with the APAO YO committee, which will help YOs develop their clinical skills, communication, business and professional development.