Between 20–23 May we will be getting ourselves a short plane and jetting off to the RCOphth Annual Congress 2024, taking place this year in wonderful Belfast. Being one of the biggest ophthalmic events in the UK, you know we’re going to be there, and as always, we’ve put together a comprehensive preview for you to mull over while deciding how to navigate the extensive annual programme. But first, here are some general features of the event to look out for:
- 2024 sees the introduction of an ‘early bird’ rate, cutting prices across all delegates but with a 50% discount on fees for members.
- This year’s congress also ushers in a new workshop strand, featuring longer half-day sessions for a more in-depth experience.
- As per previous years, most sessions will be available on demand for three months after the meeting.
The 2024 Congress will feature the usual excellent parallel programme, covering all subspecialties, and we’ll be on the ground uploading coverage, interviews, photos and videos of the event on our website, into our daily eShots distributed during the congress, and across social media.
So, what are we excited for at this year’s Congress?
- 09:00 – 10:30: President’s session with Ben Burton
- 11:00 – 12:30: ‘Wild west medical retina’ by Gwyn Williams
- 12:30 – 13:30: ‘Breaking the glass ceiling’ lunchtime session featuring Dame Carrie MacEwen
- 16:00 – 17:30: ‘Glaucoma’ featuring Colm O’Brien
- 16:00 – 17:30: ‘3D slit lamp grand round’ by Sunil Mamtora
- 16:00 – 17:30: Rapid Fire
- 16:14 – 16:20: ‘Does the human uvea contain a previously uncharacterised population of T resident memory cells?’ by Ian Reekie
- 17:17 – 17:23: ‘Large language models approach expert-level clinical knowledge and reasoning in ophthalmology: A head-to-head cross-sectional study’ by Arun Thirunavukarasu
We are giving away two copies of MCQs FOR FRCOphth PART I (2023), the one-stop study companion for students sitting the Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Part 1 examination, published by Oxford University Press. Containing 450 multiple-choice questions, each loaded with solutions, explanations and recommended reading, this high-yield resource is invaluable for any doctor wishing to specialise in the field of ophthalmology. For more details, visit our post.
- 08:00 – 09:00: ‘LINKS & Networks’ chaired by Marcia Zondervan and Nick Astbury
- 09:00 – 12:30: ‘Workshop – Training the trainers’ introduced by Cordelia McKechnie
- 09:10 – 10:40: ‘DMEK made easy’ by Christopher Liu
- 13:30 – 14:20: Ashton lecture: ‘Can glaucoma be ‘cured’ by surgical and regenerative therapies’ by Profssor Peng Khaw
- 16:00 – 17:30: ‘Global ophthalmology’ chaired by Matthrew Burton and Mike Burdon
- 16:00 – 17:30: ‘The balancing arms in ophthalmic plastic surgery’ by G Seethapathy
The full programme can be found here.
- 08:00 – 09:00: ‘Established Ophthalmologists group: maintaining the status quo and preparing for the future’ featuring Andrena McElvanney, David Lockington, and Paul Nderitu
- 09:10 – 10:30: ‘Horizon scanning - Oculomics: re-linking the eye and the body’ featuring Jugnoo Rahi, Pearse Keane, Alastair Denniston, Seigfried Wagner, Lola Solebo, Naama Hammel, Xiaoxuan Liu
- 10:40 – 10:50: ‘Nurse-led IVT Service + Introduction about Precivia’ by Sunil Mamtora
- 14:30 – 15:30: ‘Handheld OCT: The state of the art’ chaired by Sohaib Rufai and Mervyn Thomas
Are you one of the Eye News family? If not, head on over to our website to subscribe to both our print and digital editions for free! Registration can be completed here.
- 08:30 – 17:05: Retina Subspecialty Day introduced by chairs Ian Pearce and James Talks
- 14:50 – 15:05: ‘OCTA far and wide’ by Tariq Aslam
- 08:45 – 16:45: Artificial Intelligence Subspecialty Day chaired by Andrena McElvanney and co-chaired by Sarah Maling
- 11:15 – 11:20: ‘Training trends for the future’ by Andrena McElvanney
- 11:50 – 12:05: ‘The impact of the modern world on training’ by Sarah Maling
- 09:00 – 16:45: Glaucoma Subspecialty Day: Co-chaired and organised by Andrew Tatham and Wait Siene Ng
- 14:40 – 15:00: ‘The treatment of advanced glaucoma study: 5-year outcomes’ by Professor Anthony King
- 09:00 – 17:00: Cataract Subspecialty Day
- 15:35 – 15:55: Simulation provides a safer surgical experience for all’ by David Lockington
Not caught up on our recent issue? Click here to access our latest page-turner.
This year, the College’s stand will be hosting ‘meet the team’ sessions during some of the coffee and lunch breaks, giving attendants new and old the chance to put faces to names and ask all the questions that have been floating around for some time now. Their break activity line up is…
Monday 20 May
- 12:30 – 1:30 (lunch break): Curriculum Q&A with Lucie, Alexandra, Kim, Vikas, Adonis
Tuesday 21 May
- 11:00 – 11:30 (coffee break): Meet the review team with Lucie, Bev, Alexandra, Mohit, Beth
- 12:30 – 13:30 (lunch break): Becoming an examiner Q&A with Lucie, Bev, Sophie, Rob
- 15:30 – 16:00 (coffee break): Manifesto Q&A with Lucie, Bev, Jordan,
Wednesday 22 May
- 10:30 – 11:00 (coffee break): AMD audit / meet the team with Lucie, Alexandra, Martin, Paul
- 12:30 – 13:30 (lunch break): Net Zero / meet the team with Lucie, Bev, Neil
Thursday 23 May
- 12:30 – 14:00 (lunch): NOD audit / meet the team with Lucie, Bev, John, Paul
You look like you might want to join the growing community of researchers following our LinkedIn newsletter, eyereviews, which delivers a short and sweet dose of journal reviews and date for your dairy straight to your LinkedIn inbox once a month. And if we’ve got you wrong, keep doing what you’re doing, smart looking!
You’re free now to go and continue with whatever it was you were doing before stopping absolutely EVERYTHING to read this newsletter. Keep an eye on the Eye News social media channels and website regularly for more updates from each day of the Annual Congress and don’t be shy near Stand 12 – remember, we’ll be bringing teacakes!
All the best,
Linda & Samuel
The Eye News Team
