YMDC Live

Program Chairs

Arsham Sheybani, MD

Loreley D. Smith, MD

Jayanth Sridhar, MD

Blake K. Williamson, MD, MPH

Faculty

Ore-ofe O. Adesina, MD

Zubair Ansari, MD

Matthew Brink, MD

Tommy Dang, MD

Vikram Durairaj, MD

Lisa Feulner, MD, PhD

Christine Funke, MD

Sarah Griffin, MD

Arjan Hura, MD

Mitch Jackson, MD

Julie Kwon, MD

Ella Leung, MD

Cathleen McCabe, MD

Lisa McIntire, MD

Robert F. Melendez, MD, MBA

Morgan Micheletti, MD

Brett Mueller, DO, PhD

Taj Nasser, MD

Thomas Oetting, MD

Amenze Osa Oriaifo, MD

Kishan Patel, MD

Roma Patel, MD

Sheri Rowen, MD

Nia Sathiamoorthi, MD

Emily Schehlein, MD

Jesse Sengillo, MD

Brian Shafer, MD

I. Paul Singh, MD

Ryan G. Smith, MD

P. Dee Stephenson, MD, FACS

Kayla Unsell, MD

Caroline Watson, MD

Basil Williams, MD

Gary Wörtz, MD

Agenda

Friday, March 28

2:00–8:30 PM | Registration & Badge Pickup

5:00–6:10 PM | YMDC Live Kickoff

6:10–6:30 PM | Keynote Lecture

Thomas Oetting, MD

6:30–7:00 PM | Industry Collaboration Panel

With AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson Vision, and Tarsus

7:00–8:00 PM | Evening Reception, JW Marriott Austin

With Special Guest DJMJ

Saturday, March 29

7:00 AM– 4:50 PM | Registration & Badge Pickup

7:00–8:10 AM | Breakfast With the Experts

Mastering Medical School & Beyond | Lucie Moore, MD

Getting Real About Residency (Table 1) | Gabby Schmuter, MD, and Michael Moussa, MD

Getting Real About Residency (Table 2) | Bilal Ahmed, MD, and Hyelin You, MD

Finding a Fellowship Fit | Natasha Kesav, MD, and Makayla McCoskey, MD

Starting Out in Practice | Kayla Unsell, MD, and Sarah Griffin, MD

Advocacy in Ophthalmology | Ore-ofe O. Adesina, MD

Global Ophthalmology | Zubair Ansari, MD

Lessons in Leadership | Lisa Feulner, MD, PhD (Supported by Dompé)

What’s in a KOL? | Sheri Rowen, MD (Supported by Alcon)

Talking to Patients About Premium IOLs | Mitch Jackson, MD

Practice Development 101 | Laurie Brown, MBA, COMT, COE, CPC, CPMA, LSSYB

Building a Personal Brand

8:10–9:40 AM | Subspecialty Showcase; Moderated by the YMDC Live Program Chairs

8:10–8:17 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Glaucoma Specialist | Emily Schehlein, MD

8:22–8:29 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Cataract/Refractive Surgeon | Caroline Watson, MD

8:34–8:41 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Neuro-Ophthalmologist | Ore-ofe O. Adesina, MD

8:46–8:53 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Cornea Specialist | Ryan G. Smith, MD

8:58–9:05 AM | Five Signs You Should Be an Oculoplastics Specialist | Loreley Smith, MD

9:10–9:17 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Retina Specialist | Kishan Patel, MD

9:22–9:29 AM | Five Signs You Should Be a Pediatric Ophthalmologist | Nia Sathiamoorthi, MD

9:40–10:00 AM | Clinical Development Session

Sponsored by STAAR Surgical; With Brett Mueller, DO, PhD

10:00–10:20 AM | Break & Exhibits

10:20–11:15 AM | Ophthalmologist 2.0; Moderated by Blake Williamson, MD, MPH

10:20–10:28 AM | Pursuing & Protecting an Idea | Gary Wörtz, MD

10:29–10:37 AM | From Origin to Orbit | Morgan Micheletti, MD

10:38–10:46 AM | Experiences as an Early Adopter | I. Paul Singh, MD

10:47–10:55 AM | Going Global | Cathleen McCabe, MD

10:56–11:04 AM | Business Insights for the Young MD | Robert Melendez, MD, MBA

11:05–11:13 AM | Physician and Patient Influencers | Arjan Hura, MD

11:15–11:50 AM | Treatment Glow-Ups; Moderated by the YMDC Live Program Chairs

11:15–11:22 AM | UBM Technology for ICL Sizing | Brett Mueller, DO, PhD

11:24–11:31 AM | Direct SLT | Brian Shafer, MD

11:33–11:40 AM | Predictions for TED | Vikram Durairaj, MD

11:42–11:49 AM | Evolutions in Retina | Ella Leung, MD

12:00–1:00 PM | Lunch Symposium

Sponsored by Bausch + Lomb; With Sheri Rowen, MD; I. Paul Singh, MD; and P. Dee Stephenson, MD, FACS

1:00–2:20 PM | Common Cataract Complexities: To the Rhexis and Beyond; Moderated by Arsham Sheybani, MD

1:00–1:12 PM | 10 Phaco Pearls | Roma Patel, MD

1:15–1:30 PM | Dense Lens Techniques | Gary Wörtz, MD

1:33–1:45 PM | Managing Weak Zonules | Thomas Oetting, MD

1:48–2:03 PM | Vitrectomy Techniques | Kishan Patel, MD

2:06–2:18 PM | MIGS | Christine Funke, MD

2:20–2:35 PM | Break & Exhibits

2:35–3:10 PM | Ophthalmology off the Grid LIVE; With hosts Blake Williamson, MD, MPH, and Gary Wörtz, MD

3:10–3:30 PM | Clinical Development Session

Sponsored by Sight Sciences; With Caroline Watson, MD

3:30–5:00 PM | Wet Labs, Skills Transfer, & Workshops

(Medical Students & Research Fellows)

3:30–5:00 PM | Fellowship & Job Recruitment Mixer

(Residents, Clinical/Surgical Fellows, & Practitioners)

7:00–9:00 PM | Evening Reception, JW Marriott Austin

Sunday, March 30

7:45–8:15 AM | Breakfast & Scholarship Recipient Poster Presentations

8:15–9:35 AM | YMDC x VBS: Pearls From the Posterior Segment; Moderated by Jay Sridhar, MD

Supported by Alcon and Genentech

8:15–8:23 AM | Breakthroughs in Retina | Jay Sridhar, MD

8:23–8:29 AM | Why I Do Oncology & Retina | Basil Williams, MD

8:29–8:35 AM | Why I Do Medical Retina | Julie Kwon, MD

8:35–8:41 AM | Why I Do IRD & Retina | Jesse Sengillo, MD

8:41–8:47 AM | Pros & Cons of University vs Private Practice Retina | Ella Leung, MD

8:47–8:53 AM | Other Retina Practice Types | Jay Sridhar, MD

8:53–9:00 AM | Group Discussion

9:00–9:25 AM | Case Reviews

9:25–9:35 AM | Audience Q&A

9:35–9:55 AM | Clinician Wellness Workshop with Lisa McIntire, MD, and Tommy Dang, MD

9:50–10:10 AM | Break & Exhibits

10:10–11:40 AM | Navigating the Match; With Arsham Sheybani, MD; Jay Sridhar, MD; and Basil Williams, MD

(Medical Students & Research Fellows)

10:10–11:40 AM | Wet Labs, Skills Transfer, & Workshops

(Residents, Clinical/Surgical Fellows, & Practitioners)

11:45 AM–12:30 PM | Career Guidance Brunch

Small-Group Discussions Led By:

Matthew Brink, MD
Lisa Feulner, MD, PhD
Arjan Hura, MD
Emily Schehlein, MD
Arsham Sheybani, MD
Jay Sridhar, MD
Loreley Smith, MD
P. Dee Stephenson, MD, FACS
Blake Williamson, MD, MPH

12:30 PM | Meeting Adjourns

*Agenda is subject to change

Scholarships

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN YMDC LIVE 2025

YoungMD Connect (YMDC) Live would like to extend an invitation to current medical students, residents, and fellows to attend this unique meeting being held in Austin from March 28–30, 2025. To facilitate this educational opportunity, YMDC Live is offering support to applicants who qualify and submit an original research abstract to the YMDC Live Scholarship Program by Friday, February 14, 2025. A total of 65 spots are available, with a specific number of spots allotted to medical students, residents, research fellows, and surgical fellows.

More Information +

The Details

Limited support opportunities are available for individuals who qualify. Please note, you must be a medical student or an ophthalmology resident or fellow at the time of the YMDC Live meeting (March 2025) to qualify.

What’s Covered

Each applicant who is awarded support will receive 2 nights’ hotel accommodations (March 28 and March 29) and a $200 stipend toward travel expenses. The foregoing support will be awarded to the first 65 medical students, residents, and fellows who successfully complete and accept the terms of the YMDC Live Scholarship Program application below. Please note, hotel accommodations will be made by YMDC Live, and the travel stipend will be distributed after the conclusion of the meeting. Registration will be the responsibility of the applicants who are awarded support.

In order to apply for support, you are required to complete and accept the terms of the YMDC Live Scholarship Program as follows:

Complete the appropriate YMDC Live Scholarship Program submission form below. Please note, you must complete all application fields, including contact, medical school or residency/fellowship program, years in training, and the required research abstract information.
Please read carefully and accept the Terms & Conditions below:

You must be a medical student, resident, or fellow at the time of the meeting (March 2025) to qualify for support.
Abstracts must include original research on one of the following categories: Cataract Surgery, Refractive Surgery, Cornea, Glaucoma, Presbyopia, Ocular Surface Disease, Retina, Oculoplastics, Ophthalmic Practice, or Ophthalmology Training.
Upon successfully completing and accepting the terms of the application, if you are one of the first 65 applicants, you will receive an email confirming our receipt of your application. Upon the YMDC Live team reviewing and confirming your application is in compliance with the application/submission requirements, you will be notified via a follow-up email with details regarding your receipt of one of the support packages. The YMDC Live Scholarship Program and application form will remain active until all available support grants are awarded.
You are required to provide a valid credit card as part of the application process. No charges will be placed on your card; however, a valid credit card is required in the event you cancel your participation and attendance at the meeting as a support recipient outside of the cancellation period, in which case, your card will be charged a cancellation fee of $600. Once notified of receipt of a support package, the deadline to cancel attendance and acceptance without penalty is Friday, February 21, 2025. Please note, an authorization fee will appear; debit card users, be aware these funds may temporarily be deducted from your account.

Additional Scholarship Submission Details

The top 5 applicants, as selected by the YMDC Live Program Chairs, will be notified of their selection and asked to present their research abstracts live during the meeting. There will not be any additional opportunity for onsite presentations, but all applicants will be acknowledged in the YMDC Live meeting app and on Bookmarked.
For research abstract submission, all that is required is the text inputted in the fields below; for the top 5 applicants, this text will be entered into a designed template that will be provided for the on-site presentation.
Medical students, residents, and fellows who receive this scholarship must agree to attend all sessions and events of the meeting, including the wet lab sessions. Your attendance will be recorded through various check-in requirements while on site at the meeting, and failure to attend all sessions will result in the forfeiture of your travel stipend support in the amount of $200, along with the cost of your 2-night hotel stay, which will be charged to your credit card. The $200 travel stipend will be distributed after the conclusion of the meeting, so long as all requirements for participation are met.
Meeting feedback via the YMDC Live meeting app is appreciated by applicants in attendance.

Deadline

The YMDC Live Scholarship Program deadline is Friday, February 14, 2025 or until all available support packages are awarded, whichever occurs first.

For questions, please contact the YMDC Live team at ymdc@avenuelive.com.

Thank you for your interest and participation in the 2025 YMDC Live Scholarship Program!

Submit Application