ESCRS Congress caters for everyone - Congress reflections

Can you name me one other meeting where my entire team is catered for? Difficult or simply downright impossible? One of the great advantages of the ESCRS Congress is that different members of my team are welcomed and have programmes tailored to their needs. As ophthalmologists, we all know the benefits of this meeting and I will address my personal views on this later. As far as my team is concerned, our clinic manager has the ESCRS Practice Management and Development workshop to attend, with an excellent programme that covers marketing, good practice, HR, social media and more. In fact, this workshop is so good that I encourage other members of the team to attend it too. If every team member understands the culture of your organisation, you tend to have a more effective and harmonious team. Our nurses find more than enough to keep them busy, as do our research assistants. Our optometrists are also welcomed and find this meeting to be more suited to their needs than other meetings. Optometrists who work alongside ophthalmologists become very clinically orientated and this meeting meets their needs like no other. I have not seen any other meeting that caters so well for my team and that is one of the reasons that I have not missed an ESCRS Congress since before the new millennium. Team-building also takes place organically as there is a sense of excitement and novelty, and with the meeting normally being in great locations, there is simply a good feeling that further develops the team ethos and spirit. On a personal note, this is a meeting that I really enjoy for so many reasons. Firstly, it is geared towards cataract and refractive surgery and that happens to be my area of specialisation and passion. The presentations are cutting-edge, entirely up-to-date and you hear about many firsts at this meeting. The attendees are like-minded colleagues and that creates a great atmosphere of congeniality and learning. The industry exhibition is the largest that we see at any meetings outside of the US and all members of the team benefit from this, with ideal opportunities to meet with different companies and study collaborators all in one venue. The meeting provides the perfect opportunity to meet with industry partners, collaborators on studies or projects, and expert groups around the meeting. Because so many of the people involved happen to be at the congress, it is a perfect venue for Medical Advisory Board meetings. Lastly, the congress has a fantastic social aspect to it, with so many friends and colleagues from all over the world converging on the one destination. This is one event my wife tends not to miss either for the social reasons. Package that all together and it’s going to be very challenging to find a better large meeting than the ESCRS. Arthur Cummings is the Head Surgeon and Medical Director at the Wellington Eye Clinic, Dublin, Ireland