Ophthalmic Education:

More News of ICO Programs, Initiatives and Resources

More education news headlines:

• Mark your calendars for 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress in Hong Kong
  
  
• 2006 World Congress exceeds expectations
  
  
• 2010 World Congress in Berlin
  
  
• ICO endorses Atlas of Ophthalmology on the Web
  
  
• IFOS/ICO Fellowships added in Austria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Peru, Switzerland and US
  
  
• ICO international Task Force revises Curriculum Guidelines for residency training
  
  
• Curriculum Guidelines for medical student education
  
  
• Ophthalmology should be part of the essential curriculum for medical students
  
  
• ICO works to invigorate ophthalmic education worldwide
  
  
• Council adopts continuing medical education requirements
  
  
• Fellowship preference for applicants who have passed ICO Assessments
  
  
• ICO International Clinical Guidelines updated

Also see the latest ophthalmic education news.

Mark your calendars for 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress in Hong Kong

The dates for the next World Ophthalmology Congress, the XXXI International Congress of Ophthalmology will be June 28 – July 2, 2008 in Hong Kong.

The Congress will be held in conjunction with the XX Hong Kong Ophthalmological Symposium and the XII Chinese Ophthalmological Symposium.

This will be the first time that the Chinese Ophthalmological Society meets in Hong Kong.

For more, see www.woc2008hongkong.org.

World Congress exceeds expectations

The World Ophthalmology Congress on February 19 – 24 in São Paulo, Brazil exceeded all expectations, with more than 12,000 registrants from 120 countries.

The Congress was also the 30th International Congress of Ophthalmology, 26th Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology and 17th Brazilian Congress of Prevention of Blindness.

"This was the best International Congress since 1857," commented ICO President Fritz Naumann, MD. The first International Congress of Ophthalmology was in 1857 in Brussels.

Highlights of the World Congress included:

• the first-ever World Forum of Non-Profit Organizations on Vision and Prevention of Blindness
• four "Subspecialty Days," one-day immersion programs led by top ophthalmologists on glaucoma, retina, cataract and cornea and refractive surgery
• 2,500 speakers from all ophthalmic subspecialties and all regions of the world
• 400 scientific sessions with 4000 presentations
• Opening Ceremonies, a WOCarnival Ball and other social events that introduced registrants to the music and flavors of Brazil.

It was the first International Congress of Ophthalmology held in South America.

2010 World Congress in Berlin

Gerhard Lang, MD, reported to the Council in February on plans for the XXXII International Congress of Ophthalmology, which is scheduled June 6 - 10, 2010 in Berlin.

The German Ophthalmological Society will host.

See the preliminary Congress Web site at www.woc2010.de.

ICO endorses Atlas of Ophthalmology on the Web

The ICO has endorsed the Atlas of Ophthalmology, an online multimedia database edited by Robert Machemer, MD (Durham, USA) and Georg Michelson, MD (Erlangen, Germany).

A helpful learning tool for ophthalmologists and students worldwide, the Atlas makes photographs related to more than 1000 ophthalmic diagnoses available through the Internet free of charge.

IFOS/ICO Fellowships added in Austria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Switzerland and US

Additional IFOS/ICO International Fellowships are now being offered by:

• Dr. Stefan Harrer in Vienna, Austria
  
  
• Klinik und Poliklinik für Augenheilkunde in Bern, Switzerland
  
  
• UniversitätsSpital Zurich in Zurich, Switzerland
  
  
• University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa
  
  
• Miguel N. Burnier, Jr., MD, PhD, FRCSC, in Montreal, Canada
  
  
• University of Regensburg in Germany
  
  
• Jorge Velazco Quiroga, MD in Lima, Peru
  
  
• University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany
  
  
• Project Drishti in Bangalore, India

• Lotus Eye Care Hospital in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
  
  
• Wilmer Eye Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  
  
• Pakistan Institute of Community Ophthalmology in Peshawar, Pakistan
  
  
• Vista Klinik in Binningen, Switzerland
  
  
• Augenzentrum – Klinik Pallas in Olten, Switzerland
  
  
• Al Salama Eye Hospital in Kerala, India
  
  
• University of Udine in Udine, Italy

Fellowships were also added at:

• Jaime Villaseñor-Solares, MD, in Mexico City
  
  
• Medical Research Foundation in Chennai, India
  
  
• W. F. Treffers, MD, in Utrecht, Netherlands
  
  
• West London Neuroscience Centre.

• Instituto Oftalmologico de Alicante in Spain
  
  
• Jules Stein Eye Institute in Los Angeles, California, USA
  
  
• S. Natarajan, MD, in Mumbai, India
  
  
• Univ.-Augenklinik in Tübingen, Germany
  
  
• Prof. Amel Meddeb-Ouertani in Tunis, Tunisia.

There are now Fellowships available at more than 60 institutions in 27 countries.

ICO Task Force revises Curriculum Guidelines for residency training

An international Task Force formed by the ICO has revised "Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Education of the Ophthalmic Specialist" (PDF -312 KB).

Drafted by Morton F. Goldberg, MD, and Andrew G. Lee, MD, for the ICO's International Task Force on Resident and Specialist Education, the Curriculum Guidelines cover basic, standard and advanced levels of ophthalmic training.

For each level, the Curriculum Guidelines define cognitive skills and technical skills for each of 14 ophthalmic conditions and for ophthalmic practice in general.

An extensive appendix suggests general references (books) and journal articles on key studies in each clinical area for recommended and additional reading.

Curriculum Guidelines for medical student education

Also available are Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Ophthalmic Education of Medical Students (PDF - 201 KB) developed by the ICO International Task Force on Ophthalmic Education of Medical Students, which is chaired by Richard K. Parrish, MD.

The Curriculum Guidelines propose a range of standards for medical student education, including ophthalmic cognitive and clinical skills for medical students and the time allotment for ophthalmic education in medical schools.

Ophthalmology should be part of the essential curriculum for medical students

The ICO International Task Force on Ophthalmic Education of Medical Students strongly recommends that "all medical schools include ophthalmology as a part of the essential curriculum and not exclusively as an elective."

This position supports previously adopted ICO policy.

"The increasing age of the world population, high prevalence of common problems such as eye injury and red eye, and importance of vision in the information age support the need for the expansion of ophthalmic education," according to the Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Ophthalmic Education of Medical Students (PDF - 201 KB).

ICO works to invigorate ophthalmic education worldwide

Under the leadership of ICO Director for Education Mark O. M. Tso, MD, the ICO is working to invigorate ophthalmic education around the world.

As part of implementation of Vision for the Future: International Ophthalmology Strategic Plan to Preserve and Restore Vision, Dr. Tso has organized international Task Forces focusing on four aspects of ophthalmic education:

• Ophthalmology Medical Student Education
  
  
• Ophthalmology Resident-Specialist Education
  
  
• Ophthalmology Continuing Education
  
  
• Allied Ophthalmic Personnel Training

Follow the links above to learn more about the ICO's initiatives in each area.

Council adopts continuing medical education requirements

Recommended requirements for continuing medical education (CME), adopted by the International Council of Ophthalmology in January 2003, are now available on the ICO Web site.

The requirements cover defining the objectives of courses, evaluation, relationships with industry and conflicts of interest. They reaffirm and expand on requirements adopted by the ICO in Amsterdam in June 1998.

The Council hopes that the requirements will be useful to ophthalmological societies developing or evaluating continuing education programs for their members.

Fellowship preference for applicants who have passed ICO Assessments

Applicants for IFOS/ICO International Fellowships who have passed the International Basic and Clinical Assessments will be given preference in consideration for Fellowships.

The Policies for the Fellowships have been modified to reflect this preference.

For more information on the Assessments, see that section of the ICO Eye Site or contact Rosemary Bell, Examination Secretary, 2 Wort’s Causeway, Cambridge CB1 8RN UK, assess@icoph.org.

ICO International Clinical Guidelines updated

Three of the International Clinical Guidelines approved by the International Council of Ophthalmology in Buenos Aires in July, 2001 have been updated:

• Cataract (Initial evaluation)
  
  
• Age-related Macular Degeneration (Initial and follow-up evaluation)
  
  
• Age-related Macular Degeneration (Management recommendations).

The guidelines were defined as part of implementation of international ophthalmology's Vision for the Future, partly in response to comments from leaders of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness that such guidelines would be extremely useful in implementation of the VISION 2020: The Right to Sight initiative.

Comments are welcome.

Next: Contacts for ophthalmic education.

Also see: ICO Ophthalmic Education Programs