Welcome to the Vit Buckle Society!

The Vit-Buckle Society (VBS) was created almost 17 years ago by a group of early career vitreoretinal surgeons with the mission “to provide an open forum for innovative vitreoretinal surgeons to share best practices, foster the development and use of novel surgical technologies and strategies for retinal diseases, and provide mentorship of emerging vitreoretinal surgeons.

We are committed to this mission and as we look to the future we are excited for the many initiatives that have been led by the next generation of VBS leadership.

The Fostering Careers for Underrepresented Stars (FOCUS) program aims to increase the pipeline of people from backgrounds that are underrepresented in medicine. This includes medical students and ophthalmology residents interested in a career in surgical retina who identify as an underrepresented minority in medicine based upon race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status, and/or low parental educational attainment relative to their numbers in the general population. This includes (but is not all encompassing to) those who are Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino, American Indian, Alaskan Native, Southeast Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or LGBTQIA+ community.

Core to our mission is the education of vitreoretinal surgeons. In collaboration with our many industry partners, we have a number of educational offerings, which includes webinars held throughout the year for vitreoretinal fellows and the annual fellows foray at our annual meeting. Vit-Buckle Academy (VBA) has been a highlight for our society and we continue to evolve VBA to provide the latest in surgical training and techniques.

In addition to our educational programs we are proud to share that we are now a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Council, which serves as the advisory body to the Board of Trustees for the AAO. As a member of the Council representing Subspecialty and Specialized Interest Societies, VBS has the opportunity to be a strong advocate for the profession, and we have an important perspective that will ensure the very best care for our patients.

The VBS Annual Meeting concluded March 20 to March 22, 2025 in Austin, TX. Join us in the future as we come together to educate, mentor, and network with the next generation of vitreoretinal surgeons and make the transition to the future leaders of VBS.

Sincerely,

R.V. Paul Chan, MD, MSc, MBA
President, Vit-Buckle Society

Aleksandra Rachitskaya, MD
President-Elect, Vit-Buckle Society

Yoshihiro Yonekawa, MD
VBS Executive Committee

Mrinali Gupta, MD
VBS Executive Committee