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ICO Notes
ICO to Address Technology, New Programs in San Francisco

October 2009

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

A few brief reports:

ICO Identity and Information Technology Update

As I introduced in last May's ICO Notes, the ICO has been working on a process to communicate faster and easier with ICO members, ophthalmic leaders, educators and individual ophthalmologists.

As a critical part of that process, we have also been reconsidering the "identity" of our organization and how we can best present the ICO. Thanks to those of you who were able to complete the survey we sent last month (www.surveymonkey.com/ico). Your input was very helpful in learning how the ICO can serve you better.

We are now working with a Task Force on ICO Identity with consultants to redefine the ICO identity and evaluate technology and Web site options. Some of the exciting features of the plan will include online collaboration tools, a searchable resource repository and a new look for the Web site.

ICO Executive Director Bill Felch and I will make recommendations to the ICO Board of Trustees during the October 23 meeting. I will share more details with you as we begin to make changes, hopefully late this year.

ICO Meetings in San Francisco

The ICO will meet at this month's American Academy of Ophthalmology/Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (AAO/PAAO) Joint Meeting in San Francisco to discuss a wide variety of issues and possible new projects.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 24 at 12:00 noon, to attend the World Ophthalmology Roundtable on Leadership Development (WORLD) on Developing Ophthalmologic Organizations and Refocusing Ophthalmic Education. This free symposium is open to everyone, and I invite you and your colleagues to join us. I described the details of this WORLD gathering in the August ICO Notes, and the full agenda is available at archive.icoph.org/pdf/ICOWORLDSanFrancisco.pdf.

Also at the AAO/PAAO Joint Meeting, the ICO Officers and Strategic Planning Committee, ICO Advisory Committee and ICO Board of Trustees will each gather to consider a broad range of topics, including the ICO Identity and Information Technology Plan, future World Ophthalmology Congresses, the Task Force on Uncorrected Refractive Error School Eye Health Project, and proposals for a new ICO Examination and ICO Sandwich Fellowships.

The ICO Education, Advocacy, Examinations, Clinical Guidelines and Research Committees and International Classification of Disease-11 and Uncorrected Refractive Error Task Forces will also meet, as will the ICOFoundation Board of Directors.

I look forward to reporting news and outcomes from these meetings.

WOC Registration Fees Support the Prevention of Visual Loss

The World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC), next June 5-9 in Berlin, will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the latest advances in ophthalmology from internationally recognized experts. Your WOC registration is your ticket to great science, networking and social events, it is also a pledge of support in the fight against visual loss.

Did you know some of the income from the WOC supports important education and prevention of visual loss programs? Your WOC registration fee allows the ICO to offer key programs such as International Fellowships, residency program director training, and other programs for ophthalmologists in developing countries.

Attending the WOC is about learning the latest in clinical ophthalmology and professional growth, but also about something bigger - supporting the prevention of visual loss. I hope you and your members will register soon (www.woc2010.org/information-for-participants/online-registration.html) for the World Ophthalmology Congress in June 2010 in Berlin, and I thank you for your support.

How Do You Recognize World Sight Day?

October 8 was World Sight Day, the annual VISION 2020 day of awareness to focus global attention on blindness and vision impairment. (See www.v2020.org/page.asp?section=0001000100070013.)

The Romanian Society of Ophthalmology holds its annual meeting the week of World Sight Day. At their 2009 meeting earlier this week, the board voted to create a national program for Advanced Macular Degeneration (AMD) detection and monitoring, to help the 500,000 people with AMD in Romania.

What did your society or organization do to mark the day? Please share your story or event with us.

With warm regards,

Bruce

Bruce Spivey, MD, MS, MEd
President, International Council of Ophthalmology

945 Green Street
San Francisco, CA, 94133, USA
Fax: (1-415) 409-8403
spivey@icoph.org
www.icoph.org