WHAT IS RETINAWS?
RETINAWS is an educational course that is directed by myself and Kirk H. Packo, MD, both retina specialists at Rush University Medical Center and Illinois Retina Associates in Chicago. The is a video-oriented course in which complex vitreoretinal surgery, rare surgical cases, and unique surgical techniques are shared and discussed.

WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF RETINAWS?
The first RETINAWS Meeting was a 2-day meeting that took place in 2007 in Chicago. The entire meeting was Webcast live and retina specialists from around the world were able to participate either live or via the Internet. Our international speakers participated from their home country through tele/video conferencing and the meeting was simultaneously translated and Webcast in English, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Unfortunately, organizing this kind of a meeting on annual basis is very expensive and therefore, not sustainable. The technology is currently available; however, it is not cost effective. Therefore, we decided to organize RETINAWS courses in conjunction with major annual meetings. We organized a RETINAWS course during the 2008 American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS) Meeting in Maui, HI. The content was recorded live and a DVD was sent to all the ASRS members. We also organized a RETINAWS ancillary event during the 2009 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology meeting. Retina specialists from more than 20 countries representing five continents registered for the course.

WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT RETINAWS?
Surgeons are generally curious to see how other surgeons perform procedures. Although we all operate in a similar manner, there are pearls and techniques that each of us develop or modify through our careers to make our surgeries more efficient and successful. Due to our busy schedules, however, few of us have the opportunity to visit other surgeons around the country and world and see how they perform their surgeries and how they tackle their cases. RETINAWS provides a forum for surgeons from around the world to share their experiences and their techniques. The unique format of the course allows for lengthy discussions between surgeons on the panel and the audience.

The content of RETINAWS focuses on surgical techniques. Surgeons share videos of their surgical cases and discuss how they got into a particular situation, how they got themselves out of it, and how one can avoid it in the future. Further, rare surgical cases are discussed, so the learning opportunities are great. The full RETINAWS program from ASRS 2009 can be viewed here.

FUTURE RETINAWS COURSES
9th EVRS Meeting in Marrakesh: September 5-8, 2009 (Date to be announced)
2009 American Academy of Ophthalmology Meeting in San Francisco, CA: Monday, October 26, 2009, 3:15pm-5:30pm, Room West 3006.

Kourous A. Rezaei, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at Rush University Medical Center and practices at Illinois Retina Associates, S.C., in Harvey, IL. He can be reached at +1 708 596 8710; Fax: +1 708 596 9820; via email at karezaei@yahoo.com.