How embracing opposition sends clinicians home from COPHy with more useful takeaways

The Congress on Controversies in Ophthalmology (COPHy) is underway in Seville, Spain. This year, the 16th annual congress will run from 4-5 April, and ahead of the meeting, the Ophthalmology Times Europe team spoke with the COPHy co-chairs for the March/April cover story. Here, we see a clip from one of those interviews. Anat Loewenstein, MD, head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Tel Aviv Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, serves as a co-chair for the meeting and was happy to explain what makes COPHy different from other ophthalmology conferences. Watch the full video, or continue reading for a brief summary of the conversation.

One unique aspect of the COPHy meetings is its focus on controversial clinical topics. Each session includes three debates, in which two clinicians go head-to-head with affirmative and negative positions. Following each debate, there are ample 10-minute discussion periods, allowing for in-depth analysis. This structure also utilises skilled moderators, who facilitate a comprehensive summary of the debate and aim to synthesize together a conclusion of the debated points. According to Prof Loewenstein, this unique structure has the potential to influence clinical management practices significantly.