Rising into Leadership

A main stage session at the 2024 ASCRS spotlighted ‘women leading by example’. Moderating the programme, Malvina Eydelman MD, Director of the US FDA Office of Ophthalmic, Anesthesia, Respiratory, ENT, and Dental Devices, sought insights from the four women who have served as ASCRS president—Marguerite McDonald MD, Priscilla Arnold MD, Bonnie An Henderson MD, and Elizabeth Yeu MD.

The session began with a question about the motivation leading Dr McDonald along her successful career path. She said her interest in serving patients and addressing unmet needs has been her “North Star”.

Asked to comment on the AAO and ESCRS also having female presidents during her 2004–2005 service, Dr Arnold linked this “interesting coincidence” to the large increase in the proportion of women entering medicine approximately 20 years earlier and the length of time needed to build a practice, develop professional relationships, show commitment to professional organisational work, and earn the trust and confidence of colleagues.

Developing leadership skills

Discussion continued with Dr Henderson sharing ways women can develop leadership skills. She noted she had taken a course on leadership in non-profit organisations at Harvard Business School and was struck by hearing that leadership is about looking at innovation, making improvements, and creating change.

Leadership also requires staying mindful of “who is at the table” in leadership positions, Dr Yeu noted. She emphasised the importance of diversity and having the face of leadership reflect the demographic makeup of the membership. In that regard, she noted the face of ASCRS leadership has changed in parallel with the changing face of medicine and ophthalmology. Whereas there was a 6:1 ratio of men to women among the ASCRS Executive Committee members and heads of the Clinical Committees in 2014, the ratio in 2024 was just 2:1.

“Staying mindful means looking into the membership and finding opportunities to create equity for members,” Dr Yeu said.

Seek responsibility

The panellists then shared advice for young women entering ophthalmology today. Dr McDonald emphasised the need to “speak up” so others recognise their interest and ability to handle additional responsibilities. “People are not mind readers,” she said, adding speaking up helps overcome any preconceived notions that young women have no time to take on commitments outside of their practice roles.

Dr Arnold dovetailed her advice with Dr McDonald’s, with a more gender-neutral approach.

“It probably seems self-evident, but I would say that young ophthalmologists need to seek the responsibility they want and, when offered the position, do the work,” she said. “That is critical, and it doesn’t always happen. So, [young ophthalmologists should] keep it in mind if interested in moving into a leadership role.”

The rule of thirds

Dr Henderson shared words of encouragement meant to bolster the fortitude of young ophthalmologists as they pursue their goals in the face of life’s daily challenges. Citing the autobiographical book Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas, Dr Henderson explained the author, Olympic athlete Alexi Pappas, wrote about the value of accepting the ‘rule of thirds’.

“When Alexi was training for the Olympics, her coach told her that when training for a goal, you are supposed to feel pretty good a third of the time, okay a third of the time, and crappy a third of the time, but if you are within that ratio, you are where you should be,” she said.

“I want to share that idea because, as young ophthalmologists try to balance family and career, it is wisdom to know and accept that life can be hard and overwhelming, and you are not supposed to feel great all of the time.”

Dr Yeu’s advice centred on the importance of creating a layered set of time-focused goals and having patience in pursuing them. Her words stemmed from concern about how the newest generation of ophthalmologists is accustomed to living in an instant-access world.

“Patience is a virtue. Know that you have to put in time to develop expertise. It is not going to happen overnight. Set 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year goals, and live intentionally to achieve them, recognising that it does take time.”

Providing final thoughts, Dr Eydelman highlighted the value of collaboration, advising young ophthalmologists not to be afraid of challenges.

“No matter how complicated or out of the box a problem seems, there is always a way to solve it if you stop, think, and collaborate,” she said. “Involve everybody in the room and outside the room because, jointly, we are much stronger than any of us alone.”

This presentation was made at ASCRS 2024 in Boston, US.