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New Retinal Physician

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FROM THE EDITOR

Introducing the ARF

New Retinal Physician November 1, 2020 Vol Retinal Physician 17, Issue November/December 2020 Page(s): 6

It was February 21, 2015, another windy Saturday in Oklahoma City. As the only retina fellow at the Dean McGee Eye Institute, I found myself swamped with a variety of emergent patients—five back-to-back retinal detachments and two endophthalmitis cases. After the tornado of cases settled (yes, a Tornado Alley pun), I found myself calling my "retina big brothers" across the country to get their opinions on my management of these cases. That night, I created the Young Retina Forum (YRF)—a judgement-free WhatsApp group where I could discuss cases with trusted peers in a concise and safe platform.

Founded with only six members, YRF was created to support the needs of early-career (fewer than 10 years of practice) retina specialists. We have since grown to more than 350 members, exceeding the WhatsApp allowance (which is limited to 256 members), thus transitioning to Telegram, another social media application, to continue our discussion.

In order to expand our boundaries further, we created the American Retina Forum (ARF)—a forum not limited to those in early career, but rather all retina specialists who have an interest in sharing cases and learning together. With the support of our vice president, Mitul Mehta, MD, we have been able to grow from “just a group text” to a society of like-minded retina specialists constantly learning from each other in real time so we can better take care of our patients. We do this by providing a way for doctors to discuss difficult or interesting cases, surgical techniques, and the practice of retina free from outside influence.

The scenarios presented in this publication come directly from ARF members. These are real-life cases and concepts representing our daily discussions. We hope you enjoy this edition and look forward to your feedback. On behalf of myself, Mitul, and all members of the ARF, I welcome you to the future of retina...let's keep growing together! NRP

— Hemang K. Pandya, MD, FACS

In August 2019, we hosted the inaugural ARF conference in Anaheim, CA—no suits, no podiums, and no egos! ARF 2019 highlights included a trip to Huntington Beach, continuing medical education credit, family fun at Disneyland, and a welcome reception with multiple food trucks (see images). Given the popularity of our inaugural meeting, but within the shadow of COVID-19, we hosted ARF 2020 in Irvine, CA, with both in-person and online participation. Social distancing came easy to us, as we’ve been using social media to interact with retina colleagues for a few years now.
In August 2019, we hosted the inaugural ARF conference in Anaheim, CA—no suits, no podiums, and no egos! ARF 2019 highlights included a trip to Huntington Beach, continuing medical education credit, family fun at Disneyland, and a welcome reception with multiple food trucks (see images). Given the popularity of our inaugural meeting, but within the shadow of COVID-19, we hosted ARF 2020 in Irvine, CA, with both in-person and online participation. Social distancing came easy to us, as we’ve been using social media to interact with retina colleagues for a few years now.
DR. PANDYA is president and vitreoretinal surgeon at Dallas Retina Center in Plano, TX. He can be reached at DrPandya@DallasRetina.com.

DR. PANDYA is president and vitreoretinal surgeon at Dallas Retina Center in Plano, TX. He can be reached at DrPandya@DallasRetina.com.

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