Duke, Cullen, Moran residents honored with awards

Jonathan Etter, MD, of the Duke Eye Center, Duke University,Durham, NC, won first-place honors in the sixth annualOphthalmology Times Resident Writer's Award program, itwas announced Sunday evening in a dinner presentation at theWestin Peachtree Plaza.

The program was sponsored through anunrestricted educational grant from Advanced Medical Optics(AMO).

George Neal, senior vice president of global refractive andcataract surgery
for Advanced Medical Optics (AMO), left,presents the first-place
Resident Writer's Award to JonathanEtter, MD, of the Duke Eye Center. The annual
OphthalmologyTimes program is sponsored through an
unrestrictededucational grant from AMO. (Photo by Greg Janney)

Dr. Etter placed first among 14 entries received fromparticipants representing ophthalmic teaching institutions fromacross the country and, for the first time, a Canadianinstitution, the University of Toronto. His presentation wastitled "Fungal keratitis: enhancing antifungal delivery withfemtosecond laser-assisted keratectomy."

Dr. Etter's mentor wasAlan N. Carlson, MD; 2008 marked the second consecutive year thatone of Dr. Carlson's residents earned the top spot in thecompetition.

The entry of the second-place winner, Jennifer Y. Li, MD, of theCullen Eye Institute at Baylor University, Houston, was titled“When tissue is the issue: addressing iris defects at the time ofcataract surgery.” Her faculty mentors were Mitchell P. Weikert,MD, and Douglas D. Koch, MD.

Capturing the honorable mention was Karyn Bourke, MD, of theMoran Eye Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Herpresentation was titled “Granular dystrophy: treatment withPTK/PRK,” and her advisers were Sonal Dave, MD, and Mark Mifflin,MD.

The Resident Writer's Awards program is designed to encourageexcellence in writing and presentation skills amongresidents.

“The ability to write and present everything clearly andconcisely is a gift that not everyone has,” said Peter J.McDonnell, MD, chief medical editor of Ophthalmology Timesin remarks to attendees. “Some people have the gift, and somedon't. The residents here tonight have the gift.”

Dr. McDonnell, director of the Wilmer Eye Institute, JohnsHopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, said that as anacademician and educator, the event is one of the highlights ofthe annual meeting for him.

George Neal, senior vice president of global refractive andcataract surgery for AMO, presented the awards to the residents,noting that the company supports the competition because it has a“focus on patients and patient outcomes.”

This year's entries were judged by three previous winners,including Jason Halverson, MD (2005), Omesh P. Gupta, MD (2006),and John P. Berdahl, MD (2007). Dr. Etter’s winning entry willbe featured in a future issue of OphthalmologyTimes.