PERSONAL VOYAGE

Frankfurt is one of the great business centres of the world which is one of the reasons why the ESCRS Practice Development Committee has decided to hold its third Practice Management Weekend in this great German city.

Frankfurt is the largest financial centre in continental Europe and ranks among the world's leading financial centres. It is home to the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and several large commercial banks.

It is also a city steeped in culture and history and is home to the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University and Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, many museums (eg, Städel, Naturmuseum Senckenberg, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Goethe House). The city also has two major botanical gardens, the Palmengarten, which is Germany's largest, and the Botanical Garden of the Goethe University.

One of the major goals of the ESCRS Practice Management programme is to teach ophthalmologists that running a successful ophthalmological practice requires both clinical excellence and also business skills.

The Practice Management meeting in Frankfurt will be held from Friday November 1 to Sunday November 3.

The committee has chosen excellent speakers for what promises to be a very interesting programme. As well as learning from some of the key opinion leaders in Europe, the weekend will offer the opportunity to network in an informal and relaxed setting.

Assumptions and truths

The theme of this year’s meeting is “Building your own Practice – Assumptions and Truths” and it is hoped that the programme will allow delegates a unique opportunity to get advice from top ophthalmologists and also marketing and management consultants on how to grow and improve their practices.

So why Assumptions and Truths? As one of our keynote speakers Manfred Tetz will explain, what ophthalmologists assume they know and what they actually know are two different things.

Personal voyage
In his talk "From Small to Big – A Personal Voyage" Prof Tetz will explain that when he opened his private practice in Berlin in May 2003, he saw one patient during the whole day. Today, Eye Centre Spreebogen is staffed by two full-time ophthalmologists in addition to Prof Tetz. There are also three part-time colleagues for specialised work such as retina and strabismus, and a few affiliated surgeons who use the clinic’s facilities for private patients. Despite an uneven economy, practice volume has grown steadily at about 10 per cent annually, says Prof Tetz, who will discuss his personal voyage at the Frankfurt meeting.

ESCRS is also honoured to have as another keynote speaker Prof Thomas Kohnen. There was a time when work as a university-based ophthalmologist ensured a steady stream of private patients who arrived based on the reputation of institution alone and the assurance that the best doctors worked there. But, times have changed, and today university-based ophthalmology practices compete head-to- head with private practices with the newest technology and excellent surgeons.

In his lecture, Prof Kohnen will talk about his work to re-invent his university-based department in order to make it competitive with private clinics, while ensuring the highest standards of care for patients. The workshop will explore all aspects of running a successful practice – from staffing to acquiring the newest technology.

The full programme for the Practice Management Weekend is at: http://pmfrankfurt.escrs.org

* Colin Kerr is executive editor of EuroTimes and project manager for the ESCRS Practice Development Programme.