AOA 2023: Learn a bit about Global Ophthalmic Women (GLOW)

Louise Sclafani, OD, FAAO, FSLS, caught up with Optometry Times at the 2023 AOA Optometry's Meeting in Washington, DC, to tell us about the exciting new events coming down the pike for Global Ophthalmic Women (GLOW).

Video transcript

Editor's note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Hello, I'm Dr. Louise Sclafani, and I am proud to talk to you a little bit about Global Ophthalmic Women. GLOW is an organization that began late 2019 with a group of us women optometrists sitting around just chatting away saying, "You know, we need some type of event where we can just kind of get away from all of the organized meetings and create an event where we can actually just talk about things that affect women in optometry."

So our organizing group got together and for two years we kind of put this meeting together that got put on delay because of COVID, because of the monkey pox virus, because of some volcanoes and a whole other little hazards got in the way of us having to put our meeting on, but we eventually did put our meeting on last year in Tenerife, Spain. In June, our organizing committee consisted of Daddi Fadel, who was actually the founder of Global Ophthalmic Women; and then Melissa Barnett, Christine Sindt, Patricia Flores [Rodríguez], Karen DeLoss, and Karen Carrasquillo, and myself.

And so the meeting was such a success, despite all of these obstacles, but we came together and we wanted to have a meeting that encompassed leadership, wellness, and of course, science. And so we were so fortunate that we were able to get 60 women in the field of optometry and ophthalmology and ophthalmics—because we did include also those who are just a part of industry, and they came together from 11 countries and we spent several glorious days in Tenerife, Spain.
And the meeting was such a success. And people were like, "When are we going to get some more of this meeting?" And so this past March, we gathered together in Oregon, and we had a meeting that was basically a retreat, and we had more of it on wellness and self awareness. And that was wonderful.

And the meeting was such a success. And people were like, "When are we going to get some more of this meeting?" And so this past March, we gathered together in Oregon, and we had a meeting that was basically a retreat, and we had more of it on wellness and self awareness. And that was wonderful.
But I'm really excited because I'd like to announce that we will be having our next Global Ophthalmic Women's Summit in Puerto Rico in June of 2024. It'll be June 6 to June 10, at La Concha. And we've been out there, we've done some site visits, and we're really, really excited.

But I'm really excited because I'd like to announce that we will be having our next Global Ophthalmic Women's Summit in Puerto Rico in June of 2024. It'll be June 6 to June 10, at La Concha. And we've been out there, we've done some site visits, and we're really, really excited.

We're putting together, again, a program that encompasses science, wellness, and leadership, and really, again, give an opportunity to socialize to discuss topics that are really important to women in the ophthalmic field.