Episode 18 - 2024 is the Year of Diversity for ESCRS (An Interview with Dr. Filomena Ribeiro)

On this episode of the BOEI Podcast, we talk with the new president of ESCRS, Dr. Filomena Ribeiro, about the ESCRS Year of Diversity initiative for 2024 and the upcoming Winter Meeting in Frankfurt.

Speakers:

• Kristine Morrill, Founder and President of Medevise Consulting
• Filomena Ribeiro, President of ESCRS

Key Takeaways:

2024 will be the year of promoting diversity and inclusivity for ESCRS

• Diversity is crucial for ophthalmology and science because:
  • It invites different perspectives and experience, which fuel innovation.
  • It enables our field to mirror the population that it serves, which builds trust with patients and helps to improve outcomes.
• Minorities are still are under-represented in leadership. For example, the November 2023 issue of JCRS included a survey that found “Females reported a mean of 18% fewer entire [cataract surgical] procedures than their male colleagues and were also less confident in their surgical skills (P< .05).”
• Greater awareness is needed of the barriers to diversity within ophthalomology, and even more so in surgical ophthalomology, such as the need for parental leave.
• To establish a baseline for diversity within the society and the field, ESCRS will conduct a membership survey in early 2024. This will also enable the measurement of future improvements.
• The US-based think tank Project Implicit (led by scientists from Harvard University and the University of Virginia) is working with ESCRS on assessing unconscious bias. Project Implicit has developed an online assessment tool to help individuals identify and understand their own unconscious bias – it can be found here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
• The ESCRS annual meeting in Barcelona in September 2024 will include a symposium on diversity and inclusion, where Project Implicit will offer a workshop.

ESCRS Winter Meeting – February 2024, Frankfurt

• This year’s winter meeting is a joint meeting with the German Cataract and Refractive Surgeons Society (DGII)
• The program for this meeting is designed as a more focused, more immersive learning program with greater opportunities for networking and interaction.
• There are two main tracks: refractive intraocular surgery and corneal refractive surgery.
• The medical writing workshop that debuted at ESCRS annual congress 2023 in Vienna will return for both the winter meeting in Frankfurt and the annual congress in Barcelona in September.
• Round tables will offer small group interaction
• Escape room activities will be offered as a fun ice-breaker and interactive activity for delegates

Learn more about the ESCRS 2024 Winter Meeting, where more details and plans for the upcoming Year of Diversity will be announced.

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