As you may have seen and heard, Dr. Solomon has been around the world and back this year, serving as president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. We sat down with Dr. Solomon between trips to ask him a few questions about his role and experiences, and find out how he’s settling in to his new role.
1. What has been your favorite destination that you’ve traveled to for your ASCRS presidency so far, and why?
All of the destinations I’ve traveled to have been really fun and great. I’ve been so lucky to see many different countries and meet many wonderful people. What I’ve truly enjoyed most is to meet with members of ASCRS from all of the world to better understand some of the issues going on and work with them to try to come up with solutions that will help members in every corner of the world, not just the United States.
2. What do you enjoy most about your role as president?
The best parts of my role have been the opportunities to both learn and teach. Everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve learned something from the people I meet. For example, in Copenhagen I met with ASCRS leaders from England and Indonesia and discussed a technology called intraoperative aberrometry. I’ve been using it here in the U.S. for a number of years, but it has only recently made its way to their countries. I was able to learn what their challenges and solutions are with the technology, and the benefit it has provided their patients.
3. What’s your most important goal to accomplish during your term as president?
My greatest goal is to re-engage members with their own society. I want the members from around the world engaged and involved in teaching, education, and communication with each other. To do this, we’re working on a few initiatives that vary in their structure and role. They include:
- Council of 100: A group formed to propose and discuss ideas that will help guide the direction of ASCRS and develop peer-to-peer education.
- New membership committee: This committee will focus on new members of ASCRS, as well as the retention of current members, and respond to their needs and concerns. There are currently around 10,000 members worldwide, all ophthalmologists, that we’d like to involve.
- Eye Connect: This is a tool intended to engage new members with the programs. Patients can post questions with in the forums, discuss research, and connect with each other like never before.
- App-based resources: We’re working on developing an app that acts as a starting opportunity for new residents in ophthalmology. It’s a quick and easy tool for research and building that connection with each other.
We shared a few pictures and news from Dr. Solomon’s travels in this blog post, and we encourage you to keep up with him on Facebook and Instagram for more pictures from his travels!
