Handing over the AUSCRS’ reins, founders Prof Graham Barrett and Dr Rick Wolfe (centre L and R) to Dr Jacqui Beltz (L) and Prof Gerard Sutton (R)

The Australasian Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (AUSCRS) conference was a very special event this year, celebrating its 25th anniversary. AUSCRS has always been a unique event on the ophthalmology calendar, full of fancy dress, outlandish themes and a family atmosphere where colleagues feel free to have robust discussion. After two years on a virtual platform, it seems people were more than ready to get back to having in-person fun again, with AUSCRS 2022 attended by almost 500 delegates, making it the biggest AUSCRS event ever! The conference took over Pepper’s resort in sunny Noosa from 3-7 August, with a programme catering for everyone from trainee ophthalmologists and support staff to experienced surgeons from around the world.

Endings to beginnings

Each AUSCRS meeting has an overarching theme, which is most evident at the conference gala dinner – an event not to be missed. This year’s theme, ‘The Circle of Life’, from The Lion King, was fitting, with AUSCRS founders Professor Graham Barrett and Dr Rick Wolfe stepping down after 25 years as president and secretary treasurer of AUSCRS, respectively. This duo created the Australasian society for the growing field of cataract and refractive surgery and have been at the helm, running every meeting since its 1995 inception. All of us in the field of cataract and refractive surgery owe a debt of gratitude to them both and their support team for creating a forum to which international speakers want to be invited. When I travel to the American and European AUSCRS equivalents, colleagues always mention they want to attend AUSCRS one day. That said, AUSCRS will remain in good hands with the appointment of Dr Jacqui Beltz and Professor Gerrard Sutton taking over as co-presidents. Both have been major contributors and board members of AUSCRS for many years, so while some change is inevitable, the spirit of the conference we all love is sure to continue.

The Circle of Life theme was also apparent in the AUSCRS committee, where retirements provided space for Dr Andrea Ang, Dr Aanchal Gupta and myself to be elected to the board responsible for the running of AUSCRS.

Mindfulness, memories and mighty meercat debates

Despite all the fun and games, the aim of AUSCRS remains to share the latest knowledge in the field of cataract and refractive surgery. The advanced trainees programme is a wonderful introduction to a field many don’t usually get exposed to enough during training. This year the focus was on the mental side of surgery, with Dr Jo Mitchell, clinical psychologist and high-performance coach, running an introductory course on mindfulness and reminding us of the similarities between preparing for surgery and some of the work she does with sportspeople preparing for major events.

On the first evening, a black-tie event was beautifully orchestrated with a video trip down memory lane showing highlights from the past 25 years and three tenors serenading us as we moved from the auditorium to a banquet dinner beneath the stars, signalling that AUSCRS 2022 was going to be a particularly flamboyant event. The annual Gold Medal Lecture, which kicked off the academic programme, was presented by US surgeon Dr Kerry Solomon on ‘The evolution of smart software for cataract surgery’. Being the 25th anniversary of AUSCRS, every session was themed with costumes. International speakers learned they must not only inform but do so while wearing Lion King-related outfits, upholding the long-tradition that if we all look silly, it puts everyone on a level playing field without ego, so the audience and speakers feel more comfortable to interact.

Germany-based IOL specialist and AUSCRS 2022 invited speaker Prof Gerd Auffarth leading the IOL discussion

Another aspect of AUSCRS differentiating it from other conferences is speakers can expect a healthy amount of debate about their presentations. It is quite different to the polite clap you might receive at a European meeting! Dr Milind Pande, from the UK, created such debate when dressed as a meercat he proposed new terminology around monovision outcomes in a lively session on day one. Having a simple debate about which intraocular lens (IOL) is the best would not be AUSCRS style, so on day two, Dr Florian Kretz from Germany, Dr Audrey Rostov from the US and myself presented on our preferred IOL to persuade the audience why they should also be using it routinely. A tug of war over a paddling pool while wearing bull costumes settled the argument.

Tools, techniques and entertainment

Another highlight for many attendees was the following session where invited speakers showed off their latest tools for cataract surgery. Dr Pavel Stodulka from the Czech Republic presented his work on the Capsulaser which creates a capsulorhexis in a third of a second without needing to dock any equipment to the eye. This is an exciting advancement compared to previous femtosecond laser options and is something I will be trialling after seeing his results.

Also highly anticipated is AUSCRS’ annual film festival where films are judged not just on their academic merits but also their ability to entertain. This year, the film festival was back to its face-to-face best with Dr Graham Lee closing the event with a terrifying video of proptosis following cataract surgery. With so many talented surgeons judging and commenting, there was a lot to learn from every case displayed. This brought day three to a close, with attendees having just enough time to get their costumes and face paint ready for the gala dinner. Animal print was definitely in fashion for ‘The Circle of Life’ with every animal from the movie represented in the audience and later on the dance floor as an amazing Elton John impersonator took to the stage to sing all the hits from the movie. Personally, I was pleased that the entertainment spared me having to explain my own Elton John costume for the rest of the night!

Drs Nick Andrew, Lourens Van Zyl and Ben LaHood in costume for the Circle of Life gala dinner

It was an incredible night and a fitting end to the 25th edition of AUSCRS. The past and future presidents handed over the baton on stage and we are all looking forward to meeting again in Port Douglas next year, after a much-needed rest!

Dr Ben LaHood is an Australasian-trained consultant ophthalmologist based in Adelaide, with subspeciality fellowship training in laser vision correction and refractive cataract surgery and a special interest in astigmatism correction. You can hear more from Ben via his two ophthalmic-focused podcasts, The Second Look and Ophthalmology Against the Rule.