PAAO President’s Message

Miguel N. Burnier Jr. MD PhD
PAAO President, 2019-2022

Dear Friends & Colleagues,

“The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.”

– Abraham Lincoln

First and foremost, I would like to wish to everyone and their families, a Happy New Year 2022. I hope this year brings us all health, happiness and a chance to be together.

The PAAO holds its members in the highest regard and continues to grow its membership. We want our society to be available to all those in the field, including those who are working towards a future in Ophthalmology. An important group to include are medical students. In the past, medical students have organized themselves into interest groups, also referred to as clubs. Each individual medical student society, around the world develops their own group or club. After much discussion, the PAAO is working towards building a program that would offer medical students an ideal stage to build their future in Ophthalmology. We are extremely dedicated in involving the medical students in our PAAO family. The best way to achieve this wide inclusion of medical students is to create a link for the medical student groups with our PAAO-YO and create a platform for them to collaborate. We are committed to encouraging the young ophthalmologists, residents and medical students to renew their participation in the PAAO and in belonging to this excellent network community. These groups are at the core of the PAAO and they are the future of Ophthalmology.

On a related note, we continue to plan our PAAO Congress in Buenos Aires. Our excitement and anticipation are building and we look forward to bring together our members from around the world. In addition to the excellent scientific program we have planned, the Organizing Committee is considering an opportunity to amalgamate the Ophthalmic Pathology & Investigation session. A comprehensive 9-hour session, supported by BIOPSY, IPB, IPEPO, McGill University, SPO and UNIFESP, which also presents an exciting opportunity to involve our medical student groups with our PAAO-YO.

There are many exciting events to come and we look forward to working together with all of you in this New Year.

Please be safe.

With affection and admiration,

Miguel N. Burnier Jr., MD, MSc, PhD, FRCSC
PAAO President