Dagmara Aulich
The BOPSS held their annual meeting in Sheffield this year, a multi-day event including an oncology themed ‘update day’ and the latter scientific meeting days housed within the over-century-old, neo-classical City Hall. A varied selection of speakers from around the globe, wet-labs for different grades, a nurses-specific programme and a pre-BOPSS Trauma and Aesthetics workshop promised a fulfilling trip.
The Conference
The first scientific meeting day was split into: Free Paper Presentations with two keynote speakers, Personal Perspective and The Orbit. The second day revealed further Free Paper Presentations with five keynote speakers, Annual Prize Giving, Aesthetics and Clash of Titans (a two-person discussion on ptosis management). E-posters were available in the ballroom on both days with some even being presented during lunch.
Of the Paper Presentations from both days, my highlights were ‘The Leaking Brain’, where Dr Lim discussed the benefits of minimally invasive (TONES) approach in lateral skull base CSF leaks, as well as ‘Do lacrimal bypass tubes require long term annual follow up’ which was a retrospective report by Dr Virdee who concluded most tube failures happen within two years and then do not require further formal follow up, and the most significant improvement in survival was good advice on tube care being given to the patient.
A keynote speaker in The Lids session was Dr Rootman, a conversation on system 1 vs system 2, explained over ten types of bias, and how we make clinical decisions. This was an eye-opening talk touching upon changing practice with AI and privatisation.
I found all the talks in the Personal Perspective section to be enlightening and engaging, they touched on how to deal with being sued in the NHS and private practice, dramatic loss of vision, sexual misconduct in the workplace, training trainers, and indemnity insurance. It was a delight to listen to Miss Beaconsfield especially.
A further keynote speaker was Dr Quaranta Leoni, a surgeon and researcher from Rome who walked through the difficulties in socket rehabilitation such as post-enucleation socket syndrome, volume deficits, Cactus Syndrome, phantom eye syndrome, and tear film instability. He concluded with explaining the benefits of secondary implants and dermis fat grafts. This topic was completely new to me and I found it fascinating, certainly the highlight of Friday.
Finally, I found The Aesthetics section quite interesting as it was a renewed take on filler, Botox and scar management, something that isn’t traditionally taught in medical school. Epigenetics, hormonal imbalances, GLP1 receptors, biohacking and peptides were touched upon and how they affect the skin, a fresh perspective on the ever-changing field of aesthetic medicine.
Conclusion
This year BOPSS offered a great selection of fresh insights including; new and exciting research; lessons from working with our ENT and neurology colleagues; highlights on how we are adapting novel technologies to further benefit our patients including custom implants; as well as giving the time, space and opportunity to reflect and learn on past experiences or mistakes for all those present in the audience. A light-hearted but significant conference in the ever-changing world of medicine.
The next BOPSS meeting will be held in Newcastle on the 16-18th June 2027.
What’s in it for you (and me)?
As we all aim to build our evidence folder, there are various items on that list that seem out of reach and intimidating. Going to a conference can be scary, let alone if you’re by yourself, in a different city, of a sub-specialty you have little experience in and be expected to network and engage with the stalls and posters. All that said, my personal experience was pretty great. The organisation was excellent, well informed and polite staff, all the talks were engaging, and I did not feel out of place. It was a chance for everyone, of all levels of experience, to learn from each other in a safe and fun environment. It was a presentation heavy meeting, more so than others I have attended, while these sessions were less popular with the more senior staff I got a lot out of them, as abstracts and oral presentations are something I am not familiar with.
The practicalities – without travel and accommodation, the two-day meeting cost me £250, this can be funded through your foundation school if deemed appropriate, as I had an F2 block in ophthalmology, it was. Based off the updated 2025 Ophthalmology Specialty Training evidence folder, an international/national meeting contributes to one point. Additionally, 14 CPD points could be earned. Of note, I did not present anything at this meeting, as attending and presenting compared to only attending are scored separately in the evidence folder.
References
- BOPSS 2026 (Sheffield) – BOPSS : [Internet]. BOPSS: 2026 [cited 2026 Jun 24]. Available from: https://www.bopss.co.uk/meetings/bopss-2026-sheffield/
- Evidence Folder – Severn PGME [Internet]. Severndeanery.nhs.uk. 2025 [cited 2026 Jun 24]. Available from: https://www.severndeanery.nhs.uk/recruitment/vacancies/show/oph-st1-26/evidence-folder-lib