Upcoming Meeting

Some attend for the delicious bagels and coffee. Some attend for the opportunity to socialize with their colleagues. Some attend for the CME credits. Some attend for the excellent talks given by our speakers. Some attend for the “pearls” they may hear.

I attend for the “crumbs”.

Crumbs are the best part of a bag of cookies,but are only appreciated by those who take the time to collect them and eat them. Many people cherish the crumbs more than the cookie.To me, crumbs are the best part of NEOS.

You may ask what crumbs can be found at a NEOS meeting? Crumbs are the little bits of information unknowingly dropped by a speaker that you carefully put in your back pocket, never knowing when you'll need them again. Crumbs can come in all different flavors: cataract, glaucoma, external disease, neuro-ophthalmology, plastics, pediatrics, uveitis, ocular trauma, risk management, retina.

As in the fairytale Hansel and Gretel, crumbs can help you get out of the deep, dark woods of an unexpected complication. Once a crumb is in your pocket it never truly leaves. No matter how often you use one,it will always break into smaller pieces remaining behind to be used again.

You may ask what is the difference between a pearl and a crumb? Well, compared to a crumb, a pearl is much larger and very shiny. Pearls may get you noticed in a crowd. When you bring home a pearl from NEOS, you can't wait to show it to everyone. In truth, your office staff cannot understand why you're showing it off as it only has true value to ophthalmologists. It is a well-known fact that if you continuously brag about how shiny your pearl is, you will eventually convince yourself that the idea was originally your own.

Crumbs are much more intimate and really only appreciated by the doctor who collected them. When you taste a crumb for the first time you may find yourself suddenlyscreaming out loud, “So that's what they were talking about in residency”. No one wants to admit to having crumbs in his pockets, but it's comforting to know they are there when you are searching for a solution for a difficult problem.

The problem with crumbs is that you can't find them in journals or videos. Most of the time they come from small meetings, panel discussions or personal interactions with faculty. Crumbs are dropped at NEOS all day long by your colleagues and faculty but you have to attend to pick them up and put them in your pocket. Twice in the past year I have picked up crumbs at meetings that have helped me successfully manage two complications I have not seen in twenty-seven years of practice.

Like Hansel, always keep crumbs in your pocket to lead you out of the forest. NEOS gives us all the opportunity to search for crumbs, and maybe even drop a few of our own. It is important to attend NEOS meetings frequently to fill up your pockets, as you never know when new crumbs will be dropped.

Arrive early to beat the birds and enjoy the bagels.

Best wishes,

Gerald P. Spindel, M.D.. President