Eyeworld Supplements

CREATING A TRULY COMPREHENSIVE SUBSPECIALTY SOCIETY 60 | SUPPLEMENT TO EYEWORLD Developing the next generation A place for young eye surgeons e YES Clinical Committee was championed by Dr. Yeu, who was the first chair of the committee, followed by Sumit "Sam" Garg, MD, and then Dr. Al-Mohtaseb. Prior to this, the first chair of the Young Physicians and Residents Committee was Elizabeth Davis, MD. Educational and mentorship opportunities contin- ue to expand. e YES Clinical Committee has grown from having one sponsored symposium at the Annual Meeting to having a full day of educational activities and networking, as well as regular online engagement opportunities. "We have wet labs on Friday and a YES Day on Satur- day where we're in the same room from start to finish, with many learning opportunities and opportunities for networking and mentorship. … We also put a star on all the topics throughout the meeting that we think are beneficial for a young eye surgeon. We also have month- ly webinars with amazing education and topics that you can learn from," Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said. Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said that being part of YES and attending YES events at the Annual Meeting is a great "equalizer." She said that she had very supportive men- tors when she was in residency at Baylor College of Medicine and fellowship at Bascom Palmer, but not ev- eryone does. "By meeting experts in the field through the YES programming, that's a way to equalize. You'll get those opportunities, even though you're not at a residen- cy program where those faculty specifically are. It's an opportunity for you to make those connections and be able to help in your group," she said, noting that there are also dedicated Mentor Meetups at the meeting for YES members. "ASCRS is special for me. It's where I invest my vol- unteer time, and I think ASCRS is the premier meeting for surgical education, and it's really the best anterior segment meeting that concentrates on that surgical ed- ucation," she said. Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said surgeons in their first 5 years of practice are encouraged to get involved by volunteering for skills transfer labs, signing up to be part of a webinar, or expressing interest in helping with EyeWorld. Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said young eye surgeons need to ap- preciate not only where ASCRS is but where it came from. "I think it's so important because we don't want to repeat mistakes, and we want to continue to be ad- vanced and true to the reason ASCRS was created," Dr. Al-Mohtaseb said, continuing later that this sentiment fosters pride in the organization. "It's so important for people to know how much ASCRS is going to bat for our profession especially with education, advocacy, and philanthropy so that we can continue doing what we do well and be able to help more patients." ASCRS has expanded education options for young surgeons at the Annual Meeting and online. Source: (le, top) ASCRS Source: (bottom right): Zaina Al-Mohtaseb, MD

• Cover