In 2011, the New Orleans Academy of Ophthalmology recognized the need for a quality, recurring ophthalmic education meeting for technicians and office staff. In 2012, the first annual Technicians Conference debuted to a standing room only audience. We are proud to continue this vital meeting with updates each year!

Join us for the 12th Annual NOAO Technicians’ Conference (In-Person Only), Friday, February 10, 2023, at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel!

Register Here

Hotel Information Click here to make your reservation at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel  (500 Canal Street,  New Orleans, LA). Rooms are $239 per night, and it is recommended that reservations should be made well in advance, as there may be limited room availability after December 1, 2022.

For our 12th Anniversary, our Technicians’ Conference faculty are expert-level teachers and deeply committed to making this meeting worth your time.  We want every attendee to leave this meeting feeling more confident about providing better patient care. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer this course in a virtual format. Here are a few of our faculty for this meeting:

Program Coming Soon!

Confirmed Faculty

Jeffery Daigrepont, senior vice president at Coker Group, specializes in healthcare automation, system integration, cybersecurity, operations, and deployment of enterprise information systems for large integrated delivery networks and medical practices. His specific interests deal with data migration, vendor contracting, strategic IT planning and optimization, security, and compliance.

A popular national speaker, Jeffery is frequently engaged by highly respected organizations across the nation, including many non-profit trade associations and state medical societies. He has co-authored a top-selling book, Complete Guide and Toolkit to Successful EHR Adoption (2011 HIMSS), and is a contributor to The Healthcare Executive’s Guide to ACO Strategy (2015 HCPro). He is regularly praised by our attendees as a fantastic and engaging speaker.

Meghan Berkenstock, MD is an associate professor of ophthalmology at the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute. She specializes in ocular inflammatory and infectious diseases, cataract surgery, and comprehensive ophthalmology.

Dr. Berkenstock received her BA from Lehigh University in behavioral neuroscience and history in 2006. In 2011, she received her medical degree from Drexel University. After completing an internship at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, she returned to Drexel University for her ophthalmology residency from 2012 to 2015, where she served as chief resident. Thereafter, she completed a uveitis fellowship at UCLA Stein Eye Institute before joining the Wilmer faculty in 2016.

Naveen K. Rao, MD, is a practicing ophthalmologist at Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Massachusetts. He is also an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Tufts University School of Medicine and Medical Director of Lions VisionGift East in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Rao grew up in Plano, Texas, and attended college at Duke. He majored in chemistry and worked in a research lab investigating ways to inhibit angiogenesis. Outside of class, he volunteered with the campus American Red Cross chapter and had the opportunity to design and run a national college blood drive competition. He attended medical school at Baylor College of Medicine and completed his ophthalmology residency at Casey Eye Institute/Oregon Health & Science University, followed by cornea fellowship training at Tufts and Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.

Dr. Rao is a member American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) as a member of the Young Eye Surgeons (YES) clinical committee. He co-edits the YES Connect column in EyeWorld magazine, an ASCRS publication.

Christina Weng, MD, MBA, is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and the Vitreoretinal Diseases & Surgery Fellowship Program Director at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She has a faculty appointment at the Level 1 trauma center, Ben Taub General Hospital. Dr. Weng was the recipient of the Dan B. Jones Teaching Award in 2016. Dr. Weng graduated cum laude from Northwestern University and then went on to medical school at the University of Michigan where she was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Medical Society. While in Ann Arbor, she pursued an MBA degree from the University of Michigan-Ross School of Business and graduated with high distinction. Dr. Weng completed her ophthalmology residency at the Wilmer Eye Institute-Johns Hopkins University and surgical retina fellowship at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute-University of Miami. Dr. Weng is involved with multiple clinical trials; these include the DRCR.net diabetic retinopathy trials and the AGTC Phase 1/2 intravitreal gene therapy study for X-linked retinoschisis. She also leads numerous research studies in her areas of interest: clinical/surgical outcomes, medical economics, healthcare quality metrics, and telemedicine.

Attendees Say:

“Excellent; look forward to coming back next year”

“Program improves every year.  Thanks for your hard work and dedication”

“The program was very informative; Learned something from every lecture”