Under the academic leadership of Weill Cornell Medicine, this year’s OMInar in Ophthalmology took place from February 2-4, 2021 as an interactive multi-day webinar.
Highly dedicated course director Dr. Gary J. Lelli, Jr. from Weill Cornell Medicine was present during the whole three-day online course. Dr. Lelli Jr. served as an OMI faculty member in Ophthalmology Seminars and OMInars ten times since 2010 and as course director eight times.
Faculty members Dr. Susanne Binder (Sigmund Freud University) and Dr. Christiane I. Falkner-Radler (The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Retinology and Biomicroscopic Laser Surgery) are both long-time “OMI veterans” and associate professors at Weill Cornell Medicine.
The OMI faculty was completed by Dr. Marc Dinkin (Weill Cornell Medicine), who has received numerous awards for teaching and gave an outstanding talk with a comprehensive review of COVID manifestations in neuro-op, and Dr. Sarah H. Van Tassel (Weill Cornell Medicine), who joined us again after having been part of our faculty team in 2019. We were also able to welcome two new faculty members – Dr. Ana G. Alzaga Fernandez (Weill Cornell Medicine) and Dr. Herbert A. Reitsamer, prospective co-course director.
These leading experts and dedicated teachers shared their up-to-date knowledge on the following topics:
Talks & Speakers on Tuesday, February 2
- Ophthalmic Update: What’s New Around the Eye and in the Eye (Susanne Binder, MD)
- What’s New in Retinal Degenerations (Susanne Binder, MD)
- Neuro-Ophthalmic Complications of COVID-19 (Marc Dinkin, MD)
- The Swollen Disc (Marc Dinkin, MD)
Talks & Speakers on Wednesday, February 3
- Surgical Options for Dropped Nuclei (Christiane I. Falkner-Radler, MD)
- Surgical Options for Retinal Detachment (Christiane I. Falkner-Radler, MD)
- Thyroid Eye Disease: Past, Present, Future (Gary J. Lelli, Jr., MD)
Talks & Speakers on Thursday, February 4
- Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery (Herbert A. Reitsamer, MD)
- Laser and Surgical Management of Glaucomatous Eyes (Sarah H. Van Tassel, MD)
- Current Concepts in the Management of Corneal Blindness: From Transplantation to Keratoprosthesis (Ana G. Alzaga Fernandez, MD)
39 physicians from 26 countries were selected to participate in the OMInar. Fellows from Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Ukraine have already attended at least one OMI Seminar or OMInar in the past. Out of an impressive number of 36 submitted clinical cases, 11 were selected by the course director and the chosen participants had the chance to present them during the OMInar and discuss with the faculty and other fellows.
Ieva Teresiene, MD (Lithuania)
“I would love to attend another seminar, virtually or in person. At the moment (meaning having lockdown in many countries) it is the only and best way to learn. This OMInar was well organized with professional lecturers and that means a lot. I think that such concentrated material was beneficial for me and it encouraged me to study further.”
Flaka Shoshi, MD (Kosovo)
“This OMInar was very valuable to me because it helped me to deepen my knowledge in many areas of ophthalmology and ophthalmic surgery. I will be able to share this knowledge with my colleagues and this will help us to perfect our skills. The clinical pearl of this OMInar was “Surgical Options for Retinal Detachment”. I have gained a lot of valuable information for performing retinal detachment surgery. I am now informed about the main concept of the surgery, when to use the scleral buckle and when to use silicon oil or gas bubble.”
Alina Brinza, MD (Moldova)
“All the information received during this wonderful OMInar will help me in my future activity, especially the knowledge about neuro-ophthalmic complications of COVID- 19, which is a current issue. I have already had some patients with such complications, and before this OMInar, I did not really know how to act.”