ADDRESSING AN UNMET NEED FOR YOUNG OPHTHALMOLOGISTS

Real World Ophthalmology offers clinical, business and practical advice beyond training.

BY JULIE GREENBAUM, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

While teaching young ophthalmologists across the country how to improve their negotiation skills, Lisa Nijm, MD, JD, realized that many of them had the same questions that she once had early on in her career — questions that went beyond the clinic. Many expressed concerns about the real-world aspects of making the leap from training to practice.

To help bridge the gap, in late 2021, Dr. Nijm created Real World Ophthalmology (RWO), an educational resource led by physicians to help the next generation of ophthalmologists learn what they need to know to succeed in early practice.

“During the first several years of practice, your knowledge as a surgeon grows tremendously and at times it can be overwhelming,” says Dr. Nijm. “We can do a better job as a profession of sharing our real-world knowledge of being in practice with those coming after us.”

ACCESSING EDUCATION THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

In an effort to make this accessible to all young ophthalmologists, RWO is free for all ophthalmologists in their first 10 years of practice. A hallmark feature of RWO is its bi-annual virtual meetings: “Top 10 Things I Wish I Knew Sooner” and “Tell Me Your Secrets.” At these meetings, a distinguished faculty of 70+ ophthalmology leaders deliver engaging, high-paced sessions.

Hand-picked experts cover topics such as finding the right job, setting up a solo practice, negotiating contracts, ergonomics, navigating the OR, work-life balance and avoiding embezzlement.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” says Dr. Nijm. We have had over 1,000 registrants for each meeting and 1,800+ young ophthalmologists have joined the RWO community in less than a year.”

UPCOMING EVENTS, AWARDS AND MORE

The next virtual meeting for RWO will take place Saturday, October 29, 2022; however, prior to the fall meeting, RWO will host in-person educational and networking events at AAO 2022 in Chicago. RWO will also introduce the Real World Ophthalmology Podcast. In addition, RWO is accepting nominations for its awards, which recognize 10 young ophthalmologists for their accomplishments.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK

Grayson W. Armstrong, MD, MPH, moderated an RWO panel titled, “What I wish I knew sooner about finding the right job,” and says he learned from the advice and wisdom of the panelists. “Aside from the content, the meeting was highlighted by incredibly high levels of social engagement by trainees and faculty,” says Dr. Armstrong, director, ophthalmology emergency services at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and instructor in ophthalmology and director of ophthalmic education in core medicine at Harvard Medical School. “I was blown away by the amount of networking and mentoring that occurred live in the chat during the educational sessions. This highlighted the incredible need that trainees had in seeking out and identifying mentors to have their real-world questions answered.”

Imane Tarib, MD, attended both virtual meetings and says they were perfectly curated to young ophthalmologists’ questions, needs and worries. “I learned that there is a wonderful supportive community of ophthalmologists who are willing to mentor, guide and share their highly valuable inputs with me every step of the way when I need them,” says Dr. Tarib, founder of Young Ophthalmologists of Morocco and co-founder of Women in Ophthalmology Morocco. “Ophthalmology is moving forward at lighting speed, and RWO is the best place to stay up to date with things that are not always available in all training facilities.”

Follow RWO on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit www.RealWorldOphthalmology.com to join the community, receive access to RWO educational content and register for upcoming events. OM

WHAT’S NEW IN RETINA

BY JULIE GREENBAUM, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Bausch + Lomb and Clearside Biomedical announced the US commercial launch of XIPERE (triamcinolone acetonide injectable suspension), the first therapy approved by the FDA for suprachoroidal use for the treatment of macular edema associated with uveitis. Suprachoroidal administration is done via the proprietary SCS Microinjector developed by Clearside.

DORC International launched EVA NEXUS for efficiency in retina, cataract and combined surgery. Features include: SmartIOP combined with EquiPhaco technology for anterior surgery; and the EVA INICIO microinjection system for precise, ± 1psi control of sub 1ml injections with complimentary cannula systems for sub-retinal injections.

Gemini Therapeutics was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA for its investigational dry AMD treatment, GEM103. Gemini is evaluating GEM103, a recombinant, human complement factor H (CFH), for its ability to address the multiple AMD pathobiologies in genetically defined subsets of AMD patients caused by CFH loss-of-function variants and slow the progression of their disease.

Genentech received FDA approval for Vabysmo (faricimab-svoa) for the treatment of neovascular AMD and diabetic macular edema (DME). The FDA also approved Susvimo (ranibizumab injection) 100 mg/mL for intravitreal use via ocular implant for the treatment of people with wet AMD.

The FDA approved iCare USA’s EIDON Ultra-Widefield Lens module that enables the capture of 120˚ images of the retina in a single shot or up to 200˚ with its expanded “Mosaic” function. The module can be retrofitted to most of the EIDON fundus imaging systems.

Novartis announced that the FDA approved BEOVU (brolucizumab-dbll) 6 mg for the treatment of DME. The approval represents the second FDA-approved indication for BEOVU, which was first approved for the treatment of wet AMD in 2019. BEOVU is available as a pre-filled syringe in the United States.

RetinAI Medical AG announced FDA 510(k) clearance of RetinAI Discovery, an image and data management platform that can be used to organize and analyze ophthalmic medical images from a variety of medical devices. The company is planning to submit to the FDA in 2022.