FOstering Careers for Upcoming Stars (FOCUS)

FOstering Careers for Upcoming Stars (FOCUS) for 2026

The Vit-Buckle Society is committed to supporting access to care in the field of surgical retina. As such, VBS is excited to bring back the highly popular FOstering Careers for Upcoming Stars (FOCUS) Program to increase the pipeline of people focused on patients who are underserved in medicine.

Winners will receive waived registration, a shared hotel room for four nights (4/8-4/12) at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas in Las Vegas, and reimbursement for up to $500 in travel expenses to attend the 2026 VBS Annual Meeting April 9-11, 2026 in Las Vegas, NV. A full day of program content targeted to FOCUS participants will occur on April 9th, and participants are expected to stay for the duration of the meeting.

To be eligible, applicants must be actively enrolled medical students or ophthalmology residents with verification of status and approval to attend the meeting by their medical school dean or ophthalmology residency program director. Interested applicants must submit a brief CV summarizing their educational background and a no longer than 90 second audio statement addressing the following questions:

What do you hope to gain from the FOCUS program? What is your vision for improving access to quality care in the field of retina?
All audio content must be submitted in English no later than November 3, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT.

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Training Year(Required)

Medical School/Residency Program(Required)

Name of Dean/Residency Program Director(Required)

Email of Dean/Residency Program Director(Required)

CV Summarizing Educational Background(Required)

Accepted file types: doc, docx, pdf, Max. file size: 8 MB.

Audio Statement(Required)

Max. file size: 8 MB.

No longer than 90 seconds

Acknowledgements(Required)

I have been approved by my training program to attend the 2026 VBS Annual Meeting

If selected, I plan to attend the entirety of the program

If selected, I understand that VBS membership is required

To be considered for application, you must agree to the above