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ICO Notes
Please Join Us in Refocusing Ophthalmic Education

April 2009

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

I recently returned from a very successful 10th Congress of the Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) in Bahrain. We will report on the Congress in the ICO Leader Letter later this month, but I want to ask you now to join the ICO in a new initiative to enhance ophthalmic education around the world.

"Refocusing Ophthalmic Education"

At an informal meeting in Bahrain, members of the ICO Board and Advisory discussed and strongly supported a proposal for "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education." The proposal suggests that we learn more about modern educational theory and effective methods of teaching adults and share these methods with ophthalmologic society leaders and educators. This can be the basis for collectively redefining how we train ophthalmology residents, subspecialists, medical students and allied eye care personnel, and how we provide continuing education to them.

The long-term goal is to develop the most effective teaching programs and materials possible, resulting in enhanced ophthalmic education and ultimately, improved eye care throughout the world.

An important secondary goal is the development of better teachers and leaders of ophthalmologic societies and educational institutions, leading to stronger organizations working together to enhance teaching and access to quality eye care.

You can download the "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education" proposal here: archive.icoph.org/pdf/icorefocusing.pdf (PDF - 230 KB)

I am very interested in your comments on this proposed initiative:

• Would you be interested in working with the ICO on this?
• Do you have any suggestions on additional approaches to ophthalmic education that could also be effective?

We have planned three opportunities this year for you to learn more and share your ideas:

WORLD Roundtable on Sunday, May 17 in Bali

If you will be attending the upcoming 24th Congress of the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO) in Bali, please join us for the first presentation of the "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education" initiative, starting with breakfast at 07:00 on Friday, May 17.

With the support of the APAO, we have organized an ICO "World Ophthalmology Roundtable on Leadership Development" that will feature presentations on adult learning and modern teaching methods and the implications and some options for ophthalmic education. Half of the program will be devoted to a discussion. I encourage you to come to talk about what you are doing to enhance ophthalmic education and your ideas for the future.

You can download the draft program for the Bali WORLD Roundtable here: archive.icoph.org/pdf/ICOWORLDBali.pdf (PDF - 140 KB)

SOE in Amsterdam in June

The European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) will co-sponsor a second ICO WORLD Roundtable on "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education" from 14:30 to 16:00 on Tuesday, June 16 at its congress in Amsterdam. That session will also feature presentations on modern teaching theory and methods with an emphasis on ophthalmic education in Europe. Again at this session, we will devote a significant portion of the time to discussion.

You can download the draft program for the SOE WORLD Roundtable here: archive.icoph.org/pdf/ICOWORLDSOE.pdf (PDF - 140 KB)

AAO in San Francisco in October

Another WORLD Roundtable and meeting of ICO Members on "Refocusing Ophthalmic Education" will be held at the American Academy of Ophthalmology/Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology Congress in October in San Francisco to report on progress and new educational models and programs. This is currently scheduled for Saturday, October 24. Details on the exact time and location are forthcoming.

Please visit the "Refocus" page of the ICO website: archive.icoph.org/refocus to comment and share your ideas.

I look forward to hearing your reaction to this exciting initiative and to working with you to refocus ophthalmic education.

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