Women’s International Diversity Travel Grant

The Vit-Buckle Society is committed to supporting diversity in representation in the field of surgical retina. As such, VBS is happy to announce a program offering up to three travel grants for early-career female international (non-US) retinal surgeons to attend the 2025 VBS Annual Meeting March 20-22 in Austin, Texas.

Winners will receive waived registration and a shared hotel room for three nights at the JW Marriott in Austin. They will also receive reimbursement for up to $1500 in travel expenses, will be assigned a one-on-one mentor for the meeting from VBS leadership, and have the opportunity to participate as academic faculty for research poster judging.

To be eligible, applicants must be actively practicing female vitreoretinal surgeons outside of the United States within 10 years of graduation from the final year of fellowship training. Interested applicants must submit a brief CV summarizing their educational background and a no-longer-than-90-second audio statement explaining their interest in retinal surgery and specific reasons to want to attend VBS 2025.

Please try and address the following questions:

What has your clinical and academic experience been thus far as a VR surgeon? What do you hope to learn or gain from participating in the meeting? What do you hope to bring back home to your program, community and female colleagues?

All audio content must be submitted in English no later than August 31, 2024. Winners will be notified by mid-September 2024.

If you have any questions or comments, please reach out at vitbuckle.ea@gmail.com.