There are people from all nations and colors here- North America, South America, China, India, Japan, Europe, Singapore. There are people from a wide field of disciplines here- not only doctors but optemetrists, engineers, statisticians, laboratory researchers, phD students… Thousands of research projects and posters line the exhibit halls while lectures on groundbreaking discoveries are presented in the floors above. People mill in and out oth a coffee, a sandwich, a bag of notes, or book in hand. They are all here for the same purpose- to further the field of eyecare and Ophthlmology, to break new frontiers, to exchange ideas, network, and build new connections through a conglomeration of minds from various countries all over the world.
Eye-opener.
In the large hall, a massive excavation from a giant hulk of a building, are rows and rows of poster presentations by individuals all over the world, each one presenting a project which had taken months or years to come to fruition, each one representing sweat, hard work, a sacrifice of personal and family time, pressures, teamwork, and ultimately, some form of closure, each one representing a milestone, and also a launch pad to an unformed future.There were booths selling books, displaying various equipment with the latest technology, showcasing different surgical tools, offering grants for genomic, molecular and genomic research… Medicine took on a whole new meaning for me as i saw the variety of disciplines, intensity of research and depth of knowledge required outside the field of medical knowledge to make the physician-patient relationship worthwhile.
One takes a moment to take in the grand magicality of it all. Research comes to life, leaps into real relevance and reminds one of how it impacts lives and communities at a conference such as this.
I am grateful to be here, Florida, Fort Lauderdale, 30-plane hours from home, to catch a glimpse of this eye-opening international Ophthalmology conference to see how healthcare , truly, in our day and age, has breathed into a living, organic, metamorphosizing pupa ready to be transformed, over and over.
I present my project tomorrow. It is a small, humble one, one amongst many of thousands.
Today, as I listened to yet another research project presentation, I realised just how much we each have the power to impact lives. We can throw away our gifts, put our time in climbing the corporate ladder or carrying out research for personal gain, or invest it in meaningful collaborations to bring about positive change for people’s lives. Money, time, and fame are the driving forces behind much of today’s research, but those projects which truly become renowned, are those which change and touch the lives of people.
I was supposed to start school in public health and research this summer in John Hopkins University. God postponed it because of the possibility of marriage, but He has reconfirmed and strengthened that desire within me to approach medicine and research from a different standpoint. Public health research is least popular because it is often neither lucrative nor glamorous. But it impacts lives on the fringe and those who need help most.
Thanking God for the opportunity to be here. What an eyeopener.
Hi, I’m Neo Wen Jing and i am from Victoria Junior College. I’m starting on a project on anorexia and i’d like to raise awareness on the importance of being healthy. But i’m not quite sure how i can go about doing this project (due to lack of sufficient information on this issue) and i recalled the project that you shared last year, so i was thinking if you could help me by providing me with some avenues where i can gain more insights on this illness. Thank you so much!
Wen jing
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