ESASO'S GLOBAL NETWORK

This year ESASO will celebrate its fifth anniversary. What started out as a project in 2008 to address the need for better postgraduate education and also the need for training, has become an independent global institutional network for young ophthalmologists to develop their scientific knowledge and practical skills. Some of the most esteemed experts in the different fields of ophthalmology lecture at ESASO and provide participants with fresh insights and the benefits of face-to-face interaction and their invaluable experience. ESASO has trained 520 participants at its Lugano Campus in Switzerland in the last four years. It has also started lecturing ESASO modules abroad in Valetta and Ankara in 2012. Both projects have been very successful.

Because the world population of over 65-year-olds will increase by 36 per cent from 532 million in 2010 to 726 million in 2020, according to the US consensus bureau, the workload on young ophthalmologists will increase. The challenge facing ophthalmology is that there will be an estimated shortage of 9,500 ophthalmologists in Europe by 2020 which is why the training of new ophthalmologists has become so important. “Even though we are in difficult economic times, education and training is becoming increasingly important. Young ophthalmologists invest in their future careers and want to excel in their daily practice for the patients’ benefits,†said Giuseppe Guarnaccia, global executive director at ESASO. “We offer them experience and technical excellence and innovation in our state-of-the-art campus in Lugano, Switzerland,†he said.

Improving daily practice

Last year, 13 participants graduated from their studies with the Diplome Specialist Superior in Ophthalmology (DiSSO) totalling 40 graduates and six Fellows to date. A satisfaction survey among the graduates last summer revealed that 88 per cent of the graduates reported having improved their daily practice significantly. In addition, 45 per cent of respondents said that they conducted up to 50 per cent more surgeries after their training with ESASO. More than half of the graduates (56 per cent) said that their careers had improved and 44 per cent of the respondents changed jobs after taking the DiSSO, within 12 months.

New initiatives

Building on this success, ESASO has now taken steps to respond to the increasing demand for training and has extended its modules from six to nine this year. Five modules will be presented at the University of Lugano, and four will be presented in other venues in Europe and the Middle East. ESASO has also widened its reach by publishing the lectures delivered from the modules. ESASO’s publications series was launched last June and two volumes on Medical and Surgical Retina were published in 2012. Later this year, there will be a new volume in Cataract Surgery and Cornea and Refractive Surgery. Another major initiative has been the move to a new head office in Lugano.

Up to now, ESASO has been quite limited for space at the University of Lugano. However, the honourable and visionary Giorgio Giudici, Mayor of the City of Lugano, recently offered ESASO the unique opportunity of moving to a bigger space and ESASO’s Head Office moved to the picturesque historical Villa Saroli in January. “We’re excited to move in to our new home to centralise our activities and work on the professionalisation of our organisation to the benefit of all stakeholders,†said Gabriella Skala, general manager, ESASO.