EyeWorld Asia-Pacific March 2015 Issue

56 EWAP NEWS & OPINION March 2015 to state society meetings and departmental meetings. Among the electronic resources available to physicians are online capabilities to obtain CME credits, webinars, and news sources. Webinars have the ability to be more interactive, Dr. Miller said. But he views these more as a niche market and not as useful in everyday practice for the general ophthalmologist. Physicians using these new tools Younger physicians may be more likely to find information using newer resources on their own, but Dr. Berdahl thinks that the vast majority of ophthalmologists are well versed with how to get the information that they need from the Internet, so new resources are useful across the practice of ophthalmology. “I think ophthalmologists are pretty tech savvy, so I don’t think it’s just the younger ones who use these electronic resources,” Dr. Miller agreed. However, he does not think that electronic resources are being used in the exact patterns originally predicted. He looks at them as supplemental, but not replacing larger meetings. Although there is no specific data on who is using the tools, Dr. Miller thinks that individual societies can track some of this information. For example, larger societies may be able to track who is visiting their particular online resources and courses. In the future Dr. Yeu thinks that meetings offer more than just education because they are a forum for colleagues to meet up and interact. Participants can gain a huge wealth of knowledge in a small amount of time. “Sometimes there’s nothing like being able to sit there and hear it and see it for yourself,” she said. Additionally, Dr. Yeu weighed in on the future of graduate education and surgical medical education, which she thinks will experience a shift because of some of the current gaps being identified, especially in refractive cataract surgery. If this unmet need is not being fulfilled at the academic levels, there should be other forums to provide that type of surgical experience. Dr. Miller thinks that large ophthalmology meetings will continue to be effective for physicians looking for a way to obtain medical education. Large meetings can provide continuing education and facilitate social interaction among colleagues around the world. Although Dr. Miller noted that he could potentially see journals and magazines moving away from print versions, these could still remain effective as digital resources. In the future, there will likely be other avenues besides meetings for doctors to get technical information for their practice, Dr. Berdahl said, but there is still something about wanting to be connected to others in person. EWAP Editors’ note: Drs. Berdahl, Miller, and Yeu have no financial interests related to their comments. Contact information Berdahl: john.berdahl@vancethompsonvision.com Miller: kmiller@ucla.edu Yeu: eyeulin@gmail.com Resources - from page 55