In September, the second annual Global Ophthalmology Summit (GOS) was held in Atlanta. As a medical student with a strong interest in global health and ophthalmology, I was excited to hear about a conference covering both topics. I had no idea that global ophthalmology was a field of its own, and I was certainly not aware that there is an entire fellowship devoted to its study. My GOS experience was invaluable for several reasons, as detailed below.
FORMING CONNECTIONS
Peer to Peer
On the first night of the conference, a reception was held to welcome all attendees. Almost immediately, the medical students in attendance found each other. Ranging from MS2s to MS4s and hailing from California to Maryland, we all exchanged stories and advice about research, conferences, and medical school. By the end of the reception, we were adding each other’s phone numbers, and we started a medical student group chat. Each day, we would coordinate to meet at breakfast and for various talks, and we even arranged to meet at the YoungMD Connect event.
A group of our USC-Keck team members with new friends from the conference before we went to explore Atlanta together. Aishwarya Sriram, MD, and I even discovered we have some mutual friends from our mutual involvement in Indian classical dance.
Mentor and Mentee
There were ample opportunities to interact with mentors at the GOS. I attended a mentorship event that involved rotating through different roundtable discussions with various global ophthalmology leaders. In small groups, we were able to ask questions about their careers and receive their contact information to maintain connections. I even connected with someone who works in both neuro-ophthalmology and global ophthalmology—two fields that interest me greatly.
New friends: Zahra Markatia, MD, and I were introduced by a mutual friend and now have been meeting up at conferences since finally meeting for the first time at GOS. She has been a great mentor and friend!
During the conference, I also formed a strong connection with a resident from the University of Michigan. I ended up running into her at Atlanta’s famous Ponce City Market, and she went out of her way to share great advice about away rotations and residency applications and gave me her phone number so we could stay connected. She even made an effort to introduce me to faculty members from her institution while I was standing by my poster!
Our hackathon team of medical students and residents and our pitch on how to prevent brain drain in developing countries. Our project idea was titled "Project Train and Retain."
Unique Opportunities
My favorite part of the GOS was, hands down, the hackathon. All attendees could sign up for this event, and participants were randomly assigned to groups that included a mix of medical students, residents, and faculty members. Each team was tasked with solving a particular problem related to global ophthalmology. Our prompt centered on solving the so-called health care brain drain seen in developing countries. We had the chance to brainstorm over breakfast on Saturday, and on Sunday, we made an official pitch on a poster. Our group ended up being one of the finalists, and I got to deliver an elevator pitch on behalf of my team in front of all meeting attendees, including a panel of judges. This experience helped me to learn more about the complexities of health care challenges. The opportunity to present to leaders in the field was unforgettable.
Finally had the opportunity to meet the amazing Sila Bal, MD, MPH, at the GOS conference. Her work in the global ophthalmology is so inspiring, and it has been awesome to see her journey documented on Instagram.
CONCLUSION
The GOS was incredibly informative and helped me to discover many new opportunities. I found the event to be especially beneficial for medical students. As a smaller conference, the GOS was a comfortable venue for approaching others; everyone was excited to be there and open to conversing. I look forward to attending again next year!
