Editor's Blog: Ophthalmologists from around the world come to learn

Mark L. Dlugoss, editor-in-chief of Ophthalmology Times (OT), is attending the 2012 congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) in Milan, Italy. As part of OT’s coverage of the meeting, Dlugoss will provide a daily blog offering his observations during the meeting.

For live coverage of ESCRS, follow @OphthTimes on Twitter. OT Editor-in-Chief Mark Dlugoss will be live tweeting throughout the congress.

Did you miss the first two editor’s blogs from ESCRS? Check them out here and here

Day 3 of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) finds delegates well entrenched in attending the various educational sessions and walking the floor in the exhibit hall.

Peter Barry, MD, president of the ESCRS, pointed out during the opening ceremony that attendance at the meeting has reached more than 6,700 physicians, a record for ESCRS./p>

This meeting has drawn physicians from all over the world. Among the countries represented, there is a large contingent of physicians from the Middle Eastern countries (both at the podium and in the exhibition hall), and fewer from Latin America.

In past years, the Latin American physicians seem to prefer the ESCRS to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting. That trend may have had to do with economics. If they are evaluating the best way to spend a practice's money, physicians may want to consider the meeting with the greater availability of technology.

The Latin American physicians always make a strong presence at all of the top ophthalmic meetings worldwide-AAO, ESCRS, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), the World Ophthalmology Congress, to name a few.

Recently, the economic environment of the world has Latin American physicians evaluating which meetings are best suited for their educational and technical needs. As a group, it's not that they prefer one meeting to another. They are looking at what's best for them and their practices. They just are not attending meetings in mass as they have done in other years.

A large number of ophthalmologists from Brazil, which represents more than half of the Latin American total, are probably not at this year's ESCRS meeting. Ophthalmology Times has no official confirmation of this fact; it's just that their lack of presence is noticeable.

However, in all fairness, it should be pointed out that the largest Brazilian ophthalmology meeting is also going on at the same time in Sao Paulo. The Brazilian physicians are extremely loyal to their meeting and the special ophthalmic societies that are tied to that meeting.

Whether anyone is actually taking a roll call of physicians, the fact is there are a record number of ophthalmologists in Milan. The educational sessions have been well attended; the exhibition hall has been busy with physicians taking in the new technology.

The bottom line from all this is that ophthalmologists are doing what it takes to keep informed. As the aging world population gets older and the growing cases of eye disease become more and more apparent, physicians are looking to be prepared-as best as they can be, at least.

For more coverage of ESCRS, follow us on Twitter (@OphthTimes) and keep an eye out for more daily blogs!

Day 1 Blog from ESCRS - Editor's Blog: ESCRS grown to become a unique ophthalmic meeting

Day 2 Blog from ESCRS - Editor's Blog: The year of intraocular lenses (IOLs)