CRST: The Podcast

The newest season includes a new expert panel featuring Jackie Garlich, OD, FAAO; Justin Schweitzer, OD, FAAO; and William B. Trattler, MD, as they share unique cases of meibomian gland dysfunction, neurotrophic keratitis, and the impact of ocular surface disease on cataract surgery planning.

Amanda Cardwell Carones, MPH, and Francesco Carones, MD, who served as guest medical editors for CRST’s June issue, are joined by contributing authors Arthur B. Cummings, MB ChB, FCS(SA), MMed(Ophth), FRCS(Edin); Blake K. Williamson, MD, MPH, MS; and Charles H. Williamson, MD, FACS, to discuss the many opportunities for positive change created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the issue here: https:/...

John D. Gelles, OD, FIAO, FCLSA, FSLS, FBCLA, talks with guest Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, about how AvaGen, The Genetic Eye Test, for keratoconus and corneal dystrophies can guide one's myopia management decisions and potentially help save vision for patients over their lifetime.

Robert J. Weinstock, MD, leads a discussion with his current fellow, Caroline Watson, MD, and William F. Wiley, MD, and his current and former fellows, Arjan Hura, MD, and M. Amir Moarefi, MD, about the benefits of nontraditional fellowships.

Don’t miss this season in which our new expert panel of Leslie O’Dell, OD, FAAO; Emilie Seitz, OD; and Ivan Mac, MD, MBA, discuss unique and challenging cases involving ocular surface disease and dry eye.

The April issue of CRST dives into the new and innovative treatment approaches available for patients with complex corneas. Joining moderator Dagny Zhu, MD, to discuss their articles featured in the issue are Nandini Venkateswaran, MD, and Caroline Wilson, MD. Topics discussed include managing patients undergoing epithelium-off CXL, pupil-modulating drops for patients with complex corneas, and the...

The March issue of CRST highlights what can happen when a surgeon’s skill and compassion converge. Guest moderator Gary Wörtz, MD, is joined by fellow contributors Lance Kugler, MD, and P. Dee G. Stephenson, MD, FACS, ABES, FSEE, to discuss their articles on accessing the compassionate use pathway for a colleague, providing vision correction to individuals who are unable to use their arms or hands...

Join this season’s new expert panel of Cecelia Koetting, OD; Walt Whitley, OD; and Marjan Farid, MD, as they deliberate on a myriad of interesting cases across the ocular surface spectrum. 

Karolinne Maia Rocha, MD, the guest medical editor for CRST’s February issue on new refractive IOLs, moderates a discussion of challenges in IOL inventory management (and how to address them to increase efficiency) as well as the positive and negative ripple effects of expanded IOL options with guests Mark Lobanoff, MD, and George O. Waring IV, MD, FACS.

Ben LaHood, MD, MBChB(dist), PGDipOphth(dist), FRANZCO, who served as a member of the judges' panel for CRST’s Phaco Saves video contest, joins grand prize winner Ahmed Assaf, MD, PhD, FRCS(Ed), and runner up Steven G. Safran, MD, to discuss the cases featured in their winning videos and how they stay calm during challenging situations in the OR.

Revisit some of the top-recorded CRST articles of the year, including “Robotic Cataract Surgery,” from the July 2021 Disruptive Technologies episode; “Dropped Nucleus,” from the April 2021 Strengthening Your Mental Grit in the OR episode; and “50 Years of Evolution,” from the September 2021 The 20th Anniversary of CRST: Improving Efficiency With Advances in Phaco Technology episode. 

Shareef Madhavi; Cynthia Matossian, MD, FACS; and M. Amir Moarefi, MD, join this episode to share advice and discuss tips for boosting your ROI for refractive surgery, dry eye disease, and aesthetic procedures, respectively. 

The season finale of CRST: The Podcast’s mini series Genetics and Eyecare Today features Nicole Fram, MD, and Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA. Dr. Fram explains what corneal collagen crosslinking is and shares her protocol for administering the therapy. She also describes the typical situation in which she uses genetic testing using AvaGen™, The Genetic Eye Test (Avellino). Dr. Barnett spea...

Rob Noecker, MD, and Ahmad Aref, MD, sit down to discuss the relation between the management of IOP and endothelial cell health. Drs. Noecker and Aref review an ongoing study looking at endothelial cell loss associated with canaloplasty performed in combination with cataract surgery, the efficacy of combined cataract surgery and canaloplasty with the iTrack™ canaloplasty microcatheter, the benefit...

Three surgeons who have helped spark meaningful change in various developing countries around the world share their journeys and describe the impact their services have made not only on the communities they’ve served but also in their own practices. Join Timothy Page, MD, Eric Purdy, MD, and Geoffrey C. Tabin, MD in this episode as they share some touching stories of service and describe just how...

This episode of CRST: The Podcast comes full circle to discuss advances in phacoemulsification—one of the topics featured in the debut issue of our print publication. A lot has changed since September 2001, and in today’s episode James A. Davison, MD, FACS, Himani Goyal, MD, Jason J. Jones, MD, Mitrofanis Pavlidis, MD, and Vittorio Picardo, MD, share how they have improved the efficiency of their...

In this special edition episode of CRST: The Podcast’s mini series Genetics and Eyecare Today, three well-known eye care practitioners discuss patient cases that involve the use of genetic testing with AvaGen™, The Genetic Eye Test (Avellino), and weigh in on how this information factors into decisions about each patient's course of treatment.

Join Ranjeet S. Bajwa, OD, FAAO, Dipl, ABO; Eva Liang, MD; and Neda Nikpoor, MD in this episode to learn more about building the foundations for a thriving refractive cataract surgery practice. Discussions include tertiary dry eye care and exploring practice models such as refractive cataract surgery within a large value-based capitation model and optometric network referral practices. 

In this special-edition episode of CRST: The Podcast, Dr. Blake Williamson leads an expert surgical panel with Dr. Debbie Ristvedt and Dr. Mark Gallardo to discuss the benefits of the iStent inject W device. The panel reviews key features and clinical data, with a focus on how this impacts their treatment algorithm and they reveal why iStent inject W is their go-to MIGS device when treating patien...

Join host Ben LaHood, MD, MBChB(dist), PGDipOphth(dist), FRANZCO; Jorge L. Alió, MD, PhD; Glenn I. Carp, MBBCH, FRCOphth (SA); and Radhika Rampat, MBBS, BSc (Hons), FRCOphth, as they respond to case examples of patients who were unhappy after cataract or refractive surgery and discuss the strategies they would use to manage expectations. Panelists also walk through best practices in counseling unh...

In the latest special edition episode of CRST: The Podcast mini series Genetics and Eyecare Today, the focus is on the patient. Drs. Elizabeth Yeu and Melissa Barnett speak with a genetic counselor at Avellino, who explains what to expect from a genetic counseling session and answers common questions patients may have. Drs. Yeu and Barnett also discuss the role of the eye care practitioner in disc...

Three surgeons discuss what technologies and trends they think have the potential to disrupt modern ophthalmic practice. Matthew J. Gerber, MD, PhD; Balamurali K. Ambati, MD, PhD, MBA; Noraliz García-O’Farrill, MD; and Louis E. Probst, MD, provide overviews on robotic cataract surgery, eye drops for keratoconus, and COVID-19 refractive surgery volume, respectively.

Moderator Beatrice Cochener, MD, PhD, leads a discussion on IOL technologies for presbyopia correction, considerations in postrefractive surgery patients, and matching the presbyopia-correcting procedure to the patient’s needs. Panelists including Erika N. Eskina, MD; Sri Ganesh, MBBS, MS, DNB, DSC(Hon), FRCS(Glasg); Amir Hamid, BMedSci, BMBS, FRCOphth, CertLRS; and Joaquín Fernández Perez, MD, Ph...

In another special edition episode of CRST: The Podcast mini-series Genetics and Eyecare Today, Drs. John Gelles and William Trattler talk about corneal collagen cross-linking and distinguishing between a patient with progressive myopia or developing keratoconus. Drs. Gelles and Trattler also discuss the role of AvaGen™, The Genetic Eye Test Test (Avellino) in helping diagnose keratoconus, and the...

Florian T.A. Kretz, MD, FEBO, leads a discussion on reducing costs, controlling staff turnover and retention, enhancing patient interaction to improve business in the time of COVID-19, telemedicine, and increasing workflow efficiency. Panelists Francesco Carones, MD; Andrei Filip, MD; Magda Rau, MD; and Arthur van den Berg, MD, also share real-world examples of what they've learned, changed, and e...