On May 1, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medicine, held a virtual Retina Festival, with more than 50 faculty members from around the world providing the latest updates on the prevention and management of retinal diseases. Over 370 participants from more than 14 countries attended the event, including comprehensive ophthalmologists, retina specialists — both expert and in training — and vision scientists seeking the latest clinically relevant topics in retina care.

In addition to providing innovative retina content, the festival featured faculty commentary sections moderated by both a guest faculty member and a Wilmer Retina Division faculty member.

Festival host Neil Bressler, M.D., calls the logistics a first for CME at Johns Hopkins Medicine — that is, a live webinar lasting more than 10 hours — with appropriate breaks for participants, including a lunch break. “Each presentation was prerecorded to avoid requiring faculty around the world to share their screens and risk challenging video links,” says Bressler, “but all faculty were connected by audio to allow for questions and answers, as well as the opportunity to participate in a discussion section.”

Bressler says the feedback has been extremely positive, with many calling this the future of CME meetings. “While we miss the social interaction and human communication of body language and hand gestures [the event was entirely audio], it was efficient, avoided travel and allowed people to learn from their homes,” he says. He anticipates that there will be many similar events in the future emanating from both Wilmer and from other institutions around the nation and the world, which is fine, notes Bressler: “Imitation is the best form of flattery.”