Experts InSight

Can becoming a mother be compatible with being an ophthalmic surgeon? In part one of this two-part series, Host Dr. Ben Young invites Dr. Jaya Kumar to discuss the challenging fertility and maternal health outcomes for female surgeons, her tips for how she practiced while pregnant and then returned successfully to work, and how physicians can support one another in the operating room.
Referenced during the episode:
MotherToBaby
Dr. MILK (Mothers Interested in Lactation Knowledge)
Pregnancy Discrimination and Pregnancy-Related Disability Discrimination (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
ACGME Common Program Requirements
Tools for Responding to Patient-Initiated Verbal Sexual Harassment (Eyerounds.org)
For all episodes or to claim CME credit for selected episodes, visit www.aao.org/podcasts.

For hundreds of years, ophthalmologists have known what glaucoma is—and yet, we still can't agree on its diagnostic criteria. In today's episode, Drs. Benjamin Xu and Sophia Wang join host Dr. Andrew Pouw to talk about the latest efforts to define glaucoma and the implications for both research and clinical decision-making.
For all episodes or to claim CME credit for selected episodes, visit www.aao.org/podcasts.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced more concerning proposals that will affect access to care and reimbursement. Host Dr. Andrew Pouw reconvenes last year's guests from the Academy's DC office—Dr. John McAllister, Brandy Keys, and Rebecca Hyder—to unpack the proposed 2027 Physician Fee Schedule and explain how the changes will disproportionately burden surgical specialties.
For all episodes or to claim CME credit for selected episodes, visit www.aao.org/podcasts.

In today's episode, host Dr. Ben Young is joined by Dr. Stephen McLeod, Academy CEO, and Rebecca Hyder, Vice President of Governmental Affairs. The panel discusses why we have a National Eye Institute (NEI), how it was successfully preserved as an independent, stand-alone entity within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and what threats to the institute remain on the horizon.
For all episodes or to claim CME credit for selected episodes, visit www.aao.org/podcasts.

In today's episode, host Dr. Amanda Redfern welcomes Dr. Madhura Tamhankar to discuss a new study using IRIS Registry and Komodo Health claims data that upends Rundle's 1940s biphasic model of thyroid eye disease (TED). Drawing on more than 34,000 patients with 5-year median follow-up, Dr. Tamhankar's study found that even among patients with initially mild disease, 1 in 3 progress within 5 years, with rates climbing from 12% at year 1 to 38% by year 8. Dr. Tamhankar reviews the study's methodology and its implications for patient care, including surgical timing, informed consent, and specialist referral.
For all episodes or to claim CME credit for selected episodes, visit www.aao.org/podcasts.