'Cataract surgery: 'Telling it like it is' program expands

Sarasota, FL-As Robert H. Osher, MD, pulls together plans for his second "Cataract Surgery: Telling It Like It Is!" course here Jan. 19 to 22, he is excited to capitalize on last year's successful debut.

Evaluations received after the first course were highly positive, but several attendees said they would have preferred the course to last longer.

In response, he has added an optional movie night on Wednesday, Jan. 18, the evening before the course officially begins. He said this event, for which there is no additional charge, will feature interesting and humorous videos from his 28 years of editing the Video Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. A light dinner will be served.

The next day, when the meeting opens, there will be at least 40 exhibitors presenting their products.

"I have decided to let each one select the 'hottest' item that they have and present it briefly at our New Technology symposium," Dr. Osher said. "Often you have to walk around and see what is new, and you can easily miss something important. Here, we serve our attendees on a silver platter!"

He said he expects a showdown between femtosecond laser manufacturers as they seek to differentiate their products, as well as a competitive face-off among the biometry companies.

Dr. Osher's goal on Friday, Jan. 20, will be to "pack the entire day, from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with really relevant, clinically important information."

Highlights will include Ike Ahmed, MD, assistant professor at the University of Toronto and clinical assistant professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who will review all new devices, including capsular bag retractors and pupillary dilators.

Warren Hill, MD, who is in private practice at East Valley Ophthalmology in Mesa, AZ, and is an expert in IOLs, will present "What Went Wrong? Biometry & IOL Selection Misadventures." Also, Dr. Osher will present a course on complications and Richard Mackool, MD, director of the Mackool Eye Institute and Laser Center in Astoria, NY, will share insights on the efficiency necessary to maintain a high-volume practice.

Friday afternoon will feature an optional wet lab on vitrectomy with Lisa Arbisser, MD, who directs the vitrectomy course for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Also on Friday afternoon, Michael Snyder, MD, voluntary assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Cincinnati, and in private practice at the Cincinnati Eye Institute, will present a wet lab on iris reconstruction and IOL suturing.

In addition, there will be a three-dimensional symposium on interesting cases directed by Robert Weinstock, MD, director of Cataract and Refractive Services at the Eye Institute of West Florida.

On Saturday, Jan. 21, David Chang, MD, clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and in private practice in Los Altos, CA, will kick off the day with a focus on vitrectomy. Dr. Chang recently gave the Kelman Lecture at the 2011 meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

He also will direct a session on "Oops! What to do now?" in which the management of complicated cases is discussed. Dr. Osher predicted this will have attendees "on the edge of their seats."

Dr. Ahmed will make another presentation, this one on minimally invasive glaucoma surgery for the cataract surgeon.