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ICO Notes
Innovation and Interaction at WOC 2012

February 2011

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

A few reports and updates:

1. Innovative WOC 2012 Scientific Program

We’re now only 12 months away from the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC) 2012 in Abu Dhabi. I believe you and your members will be very interested in the WOC 2012 scientific program, including some innovative and interactive sessions being developed under the leadership of Peter Wiedemann, MD.

For example, Professor Amar Agarwal of India is leading the organization of invited video sessions on:

• Phaco Nightmares and Worst Case Scenarios
  
• Mastering the Unsteady Capsular Bag and the Intraocular Correction of IOLs: Learning Through Videos
  
• Refractive Surgery Complications and Management, Including Corneal and Intraocular Lens Surgeries.

The invited scientific program now has 203 session topics confirmed, with 58 sessions organized by ICO members and other participating societies. It will cover 35 subspecialties and areas with several new topics for 2012.

For more details on the WOC 2012 scientific program so far, see www.icoph.org/downloads/WOC2012ScientificProgramFactSheet.pdf (PDF – 88.5 KB).

2. Shaping the ICO Strategic Plan

Later this month, I will send you a summary of the initial draft of the 2011–2015 ICO Strategic Plan we began with your input at the General Assembly last June. In preparation for our next Strategic Planning session this March, I hope you will look for this mailing and respond with your comments on the draft.

In the meantime, the strategic planning process has generated some information that I thought might be helpful to you as you plan for and lead your societies: the key findings from our surveys of society leaders, educators and individual ophthalmologists and a "situational analysis."

Pre-Planning Survey Results
To aid in our strategic planning, we conducted four surveys last October. We contacted leaders of member subspecialty and national societies, individual ophthalmic educators, and practicing ophthalmologists to gain a better understanding of what is most important to our critical constituents and how the ICO can help meet their needs.

You can download highlights of our findings as well as the full survey results from each of the following links:

Survey Highlights
www.icoph.org/downloads/HighlightsofFindingsICOStrategicPlanningSurveys.pdf (PDF–86 KB)

Society Leader Results
www.icoph.org/downloads/SocietyLeadersSurveyResults.pdf (PDF–1.3 MB)

Subspecialty Society Leader Results
www.icoph.org/downloads/SubspecialtySocietyLeadersSurveyResults.pdf (PDF– 807 KB)

Ophthalmic Educator Results
www.icoph.org/downloads/EducatorsSurveyResults.pdf (PDF–344 KB)

Practicing Ophthalmologist Results
www.icoph.org/downloads/PracticingOphthalmologistsSurveyResults.pdf (PDF–709 KB)

ICO Situational Analysis
Also as part of the strategic planning process, we have developed a “Situational Analysis,” which describes:

• the main problem we want to impact
• the ICO’s internal environment
• the environment for international ophthalmology and eye care
• the macro environment (what’s happening in the World that impacts ophthalmology) and
• a stakeholder analysis (what’s important to our members and the ophthalmologists we represent).

You can download the Situational Analysis from: www.icoph.org/downloads/ICOStrategicPlanSituationalAnalysisDraft.pdf (PDF – 188 KB). I hope you will find it both interesting and a useful tool for your planning for your society’s future.

Please let me know if you find this information to be useful. You can write to me at spivey@icoph.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

3. Save the Date for the Next Conference for Educators, July 5 in Buenos Aires

There has been an enthusiastic response to the first Conference for Ophthalmic Educators this March in Sydney. Unfortunately, there is no more space available.

There is another chance for you and your colleagues to participate in a Conference for Ophthalmic Educators, July 5, 2011 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. To receive a formal invitation to the Buenos Aires Conference next month, write to us at education@icoph.org.

The Buenos Aires Conference for Ophthalmic Educators is free of charge and will be held in conjunction with the 19th Pan-American Congress of Ophthalmology (www.paao2011buenosaires.org.ar), July 7–9, 2011. The Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology and Argentine Council of Ophthalmology are Conference co-sponsors.

For more information, please see www.icoph.org/events/ConferenceBuenosAires.

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