NANOS Spotlight - May 2019 Issue

     

WELCOME TO NANOS SPOTLIGHT - SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

NANOS Spotlight is a Society newsletter that keeps NANOS members informed of what's going on in the Society, highlights member achievements, celebrates member successes and Society accomplishments, welcomes new members, summarizes member benefits, and much more. Enjoy our May issue below and click here to view past issues.


VOLUNTEER CORNER - NANOS HEROES

*NEW* NANOS Heroes Corner is the section of the NANOS Spotlight dedicated to NANOS volunteers. Here we will interview members who have made extraordinary contributions of time, energy, and resources to NANOS and have contributed to the overall success and growth of our organization. Meet our May hero, Dr. Christian Lueck! 

DR. CHRISTIAN LUECK, NANOS AMBASSADOR AND 2019 MERIT AWARD WINNER

Christian Lueck, PhD, FRACP, FRCP (UK), FAAN

Ophthalmology or Neurology? Neurology

What was the best clinical pearl you learned in fellowship?
That a detailed understanding of how to examine and interpret eye movement abnormalities is crucial. This is often a particularly difficult area for other clinicians.

What are the top 3 things you’ve learned over the last 5 years?

  • Important as they are, there is so much more to being a doctor than just developing clinical skills and clinical expertise. Learning how to interact with patients, colleagues, management, and other interested parties as well as developing negotiating skills has been crucial – something I was not taught in medical school.
  • Medical knowledge is advancing at an exponentially-increasing rate, but then so are the demands on clinicians’ time. It is crucial to find ways to keep up-to-date to make sure I treat patients as well as possible consistent with the evolving evidence base. One of the hardest things has been to dispel teachings and clinical algorithms that I have confidently used to guide day-to-day practice in the past but which have subsequently been shown to be obsolete.
  • Nothing takes the place of clinical experience, both personal experience and other people’s experience. Learning from others who have different clinical practices or who work in different countries is critical to managing my patients well.

Tell us about your involvement with NANOS! I started attending NANOS after I moved from the UK to Australia in 2003. I found the meeting to be excellent, in terms of both academic and clinical education and I very much value the ability to network with colleagues from other parts of the world. I have been to every NANOS meeting since 2004 and will aim to continue to attend in the future

What would you say to members who want to be more involved in NANOS? I think NANOS is a very important organization at a global level. It is dependent on Members and Fellows volunteering their time but the final product is outstanding. In my experience everyone’s input is highly valued at an individual level which makes contributing very worthwhile. I would urge everyone to contribute in whatever way they can.

What do you know at this stage in your career that you wish you knew when you first joined NANOS? How much I would have benefited from attending NANOS during the first decade of my consultant career.


ADVOCACY COMMITTEE REMINDER

**ACTION REQUESTED: CFTE SURVEY - HELP STILL NEEDED

We have received a good response rate from NANOS members in response to our request to complete the CFTE survey, however, there are still more than 100 members who haven't filled it out. We absolutely need everybody's answer to be able to advocate for you and our specialty!  Please take 3-5 minutes to complete this survey ASAP if you haven't done so already. Your response will ensure that we can influence future CMS compensation strategies so that they are fair to neuro-ophthalmologists and will allow us to attract new people into the field.
Act Now: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CFTE2019


ADVOCACY UPDATE

NANOS has been supporting the AAO Advocacy Ambassador Program and sponsoring the attendance of a resident or a fellow at the Mid-Year Forum for the last several years. Dr. Yao Wang, Dr. Mike Lee's fellow at the University of Minnesota, was chosen to represent NANOS at the 2019 Mid-Year Forum. Here's her report: 

1. Which activities were most relevant and why? I felt that mid-year Forum and AAO did a great job preparing us for congressional day. Most activities were relevant to our profession. Congressional advocacy day was obviously the highlight of the trip. This was an important time as we broke up into “state groups”, represented our profession and all advocated for the same issues. Regional meetings were also very beneficial. You learn about state battles and how you can help out every day (not just at annual meetings).

2. What additional guidance or sessions were provided to you as an Advocacy Ambassador? L.E.A.P. Forward sessions were dedicated to Advocacy Ambassadors. L.E.A.P. stood for leadership, engagement, advocacy, and practice management sessions. Leaders within our field gave brief talks regarding the importance of advocacy, tips on how to become leaders within our field, and practical information on finding jobs. This was a very helpful session, as there were useful lectures and also the opportunity for small group discussions.

3. How were the interests of neuro-ophthalmology represented in the sessions? All of the issues we discussed impact our patients and affect us as physicians and ophthalmologists. As a neuro-ophthalmologist, we are frequently treating vision-threatening conditions. This year, our focus was on onerous prior authorization requirements, which can severely delay medically necessary patient care and impose unnecessary burdens on physicians. In fellowship, I have already encountered this problem numerous times. Most of these prior authorizations are always approved, so why go through this unnecessary step to only delay care?

4. What changes in your practice or advocacy efforts will you make based on what you learned throughout the program? Though politics can get complicated, advocacy for our patients and our profession is super important. I plan to make advocacy an important part of my career. Not only will I make Mid-year Forum one of my “priority meetings”, I will also be participating at the State Society level to fight battles.

5. What advance reading or preparation would you recommend for future Ambassadors to make the meeting more fruitful? I would recommend researching and learning about the positions of your representatives. This will guide you in terms of having a more efficient meeting. For example, if they were already a sponsor for a bill that you support, you can focus on other issues.

Photo 1: Minnesota contingent meets with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) during Congressional Advocacy Day

Photo 2: Minnesota representatives - group photo


PRACTICE SUPPORT COMMITTEE UPDATE

PRACTICE SUPPORT TOOLS

Looking for practice support tools to assist in your practice? Make sure to visit the NANOS Practice Support Tools section (login required) to view the resources developed by the Practice Support & Carrier Relations Committee.
A new resource, a letter justifying the frequency of OCT testing in N-O disorders has been added recently.


PATIENT INFORMATION COMMITTEE UPDATE 

PATIENT BROCHURES

The NANOS Patient Information Committee has been hard at work updating the existing Patient Brochures. We are happy to report that a new Pituitary Tumor brochure has been posted and is now available for download on the NANOS website. Stay tuned as more is coming!
Thank you to the entire committee for developing these important resources!


MEMBER RECOGNITION PROGRAM

MEMBERS IN THE NEWS 

We are pleased to see that NANOS members are being highlighted in various media sources. Check out the articles below if you haven't done so already and make sure to follow us on Facebook or Twitter to stay in the know of what's going on in the Neuro-Ophthalmology world.

MEMBER RECOGNITION PROGRAM DETAILS

At NANOS we are always proud to share our member successes. We believe that every member's accomplishments should be recognized, valued, and highlighted as our own. NANOS recognizes our members for their major awards, honors, and/or achievements in the field of Neuro-Ophthalmology through the 'NANOS Member Recognition' program. All members are encouraged to make submissions for the NANOS Member Recognition program! CLICK HERE to access the online submission form and acknowledge yourself or another NANOS member today (member login required)!

NANOS VOLUNTEER APPRECIATION

NANOS is proud to have an affluent pool of volunteers that work hard on behalf of our Society and help advance the field of Neuro-Ophthalmology. NANOS has more than 30 committees run by more than 400 volunteers who help us achieve our mission and goals. Thank you for all you do! Click here to view the list of NANOS Committees and volunteers.


MERIT AWARD - SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATIONS

2020 MERIT AWARD NOMINATIONS 

NANOS invites you to submit your nominations for the NANOS 2020 Merit Award. Click here to read more and submit your nominations 
*NEW* All Merit Award Winners are now given a complimentary meeting registration for our upcoming meeting!


FELLOW MEMBERSHIP 

NANOS continues to recognize Fellow and International Fellow members at our Annual Meetings, where these members are presented with a certificate.
Eligible for Fellow Status? Please click here to find out more, download the application form, and apply now!


DONATE TO NANOS

DONATE NOW

Enjoyed the 2019 Annual Meeting or made use of the NOVEL resources developed by NANOS volunteers? Consider making a donation to support our future meetings, research, and educational initiatives. Click here to view the list of current donors and make a donation. Thank you!


NANOS RESOURCES AND PRODUCTS

NOVEL PRODUCTS ON STAT!REF

  • *NEW* NANOS Examination Techniques for Neuro-Ophthalmology (NExT) is now available through Stat!Ref. Read more here.
  • Don't forget that NANOS members have access to the Stat!Ref version of the NOVEL Illustrated Curriculum (IC) through the NANOS members’ only section of the NANOS website (login/password required). 

SUBSCRIBE TO STAT!REF

Non-members and institutions must have a subscription to the IC and NExT products through Stat!Ref. If your institution does not yet have a subscription, please contact your health sciences or academic librarian and request the purchase! Every subscription helps support the NOVEL project. Read more about the Stat!Ref subscription here

NOVEL COLLECTIONS

The NANOS 2018 Annual Meeting is available on NOVEL. Click here to view all NOVEL collections. NANOS members will be notified when the NANOS 2019 Annual Meeting is available.

YONO PORTAL

The NANOS Young Neuro-ophthalmologist Committee (we call ourselves YONOs for short!) wants to remind you about the YONO portal that has been specifically designed to help young members of NANOS or those interested in Neuro-ophthalmology navigate their way into a career in Neuro-ophthalmology. 
Click here to explore our resources and job/career tools.


STAY CONNECTED

NANOS SOCIAL MEDIA

Like NANOS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter (@NANOSTweets) to share your membership and Annual Meeting experience.

JNO SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATE

The Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology (JNO) recently enhanced its presence on social media. We would like to invite you to join JNO on the different social media platforms. *Please note that a new Facebook page had to be created; You can use the link below to guide you to the updated page:

1- Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Journal-of-Neuro-Ophthalmology-296572064377909/
2- Twitter: https://twitter.com/journalneurooph
3- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/journal-of-neuro-ophthalmology-53ab85178/
4- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/journalneurooph/

SAVE THE DATE

     
 

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NANOS IN THE NEWS

Attention future neuro-ophthalmologists! Applications for 2024-25 neuro-ophthalmology fellowship positions will be coordinated through the SF-Match Ophthalmology Fellowship match.