(For previous issues of the ICO Leader Letter, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
The upcoming World Ophthalmology Congress/XXX International Congress of Ophthalmology on February 19 - 24, 2006 in São Paulo, Brazil, will be the site for a series of important meetings for international ophthalmology. They include:
This Congress in Brazil will mark the first significant expansion of the membership of IFOS since it was founded in 1933 and a change in the leadership of the ICO after eight years with same officers. (We are grateful for the opportunity to work with you on preservation and restoration of vision for people around the world.) In this ICO Leader Letter, we report on plans for the meetings in São Paulo and remind you of visa and vaccination requirements for Brazil. There's also news of two of the ICO's most significant programs: the IFOS/ICO Fellowships and Basic and Clinical Assessments. In the next Leader Letter, we will highlight some of the events at the World Congress that we expect will be of particular interest to ophthalmology leaders from around the world. We will send that to you the second week in February. Please let me know if you have comments or questions about our upcoming meetings or the Congress. - Fritz Naumann, MD, ICO President 2. Council To Focus on Continuity and New Leadership When the Council meets on February 19, we will focus on assuring the continuity of the ICO and its programs from the current to new leadership.Last May, the Council elected Secretary General Bruce Spivey, MD, to be the next ICO president, taking office at the end of the Congress in Brazil. I believe this continuity will be critical to sustaining the significant programs and initiatives we have developed in the last eight years. In São Paulo, we will elect a new Secretary General, Vice President and Treasurer. We will also nominate other "Ordinary Members" of the Council (who are not officers or ex-officio) for election by IFOS. The Council will also review the applications of more than 20 societies for membership in IFOS. Most of them are international subspecialty societies, which became eligible to apply for membership following a change in the IFOS Statutes approved in 2004. We are gratified at the their interest in joining us. When the Advisory Committee, which is composed of representatives of all subspecialties in ophthalmology, meets the day before the Council, it will consider reports from ad hoc committees on countries with minimal ophthalmic presence and on subspecialty society membership in IFOS. - Fritz Naumann, MD, ICO President 3. IFOS Will Discuss Future Challenges for Ophthalmology
IFOS will also consider proposed revisions in its statutes (which are mostly technical, see www.icoph.org/ic/statifosprop.html), elect ordinary members of the Council and approve dues for 2006 and 2007. The IFOS General Assembly will be 11:00 to 14:00 on Tuesday, February 21 in Room 8 of the Transamérica Expo Center & Hotel in São Paulo. There will be very limited seating available for society leaders who are not official Representatives to IFOS. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO Secretary General 6. Visa Requirements and Vaccinations for Brazil
I am excited to report that there are now more than 10,000 registrants for the World Ophthalmology Congress! All of the original hotels we booked are sold out, but we are still able to find rooms in São Paulo for those without reservations. If you are coming and have not done so, you should check with the Brazilian Consulate or Embassy in your country to find out if you are required to obtain a visa to enter Brazil. Visas are required for visitors from the United States and some other countries, but not all. For more, see: www.ophthalmology2006.com.br/tips3.php. There are links to lists of Brazilian Consulates and Embassies in different countries at: www.mre.gov.br/ingles/endereco/endereco.asp. To find out if you need a vaccination for yellow fever, see: www.icoph.org/news/ifos0512.html#vaccine. We look forward to welcoming you to Brazil! - Rubens Belfort, MD, President of the XXX Congress and ICO Council Member 5. IFOS/ICO Fellowships in Community Eye Health
The Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) is offering six IFOS/ICO Fellowships in Community Eye Health. Fellowships in Community Eye Health are offered at:
The process to apply for these sponsored fellowships is the same as for any other IFOS/ICO Fellowship: see the short instructions at www.icoph.org/fellow/short.html and policies at www.icoph.org/fellow/policies.html. Applicants must reach an agreement with a department first and then follow the required steps: www.icoph.org/fellow/instructions.html. March 31 and September 30 are the deadlines to apply for each round of the IFOS/ICO Fellowships. For more details on the Community Eye Health Fellowships, see: www.icoph.org/fellow/community.html. For more on the IFOS/ICO Fellowships in general, including a listing of the 63 Fellowships available in 24 countries, see: www.icoph.org/fellow. - Balder Gloor, MD, ICO Fellowship Director 6. January 31 Deadline To Apply for 2006 ICO Assessments
A reminder that January 31 is the deadline to submit applications to take the 2006 ICO International Basic and Clinical Assessments for Ophthalmologists on April 6. Those interested in taking the Assessments in 2006 who haven’t applied should contact the Assessments Office immediately, since applications cannot be sent out or returned by e-mail. Each year, from 600 to 900 candidates take the Basic Science Assessment (www.icoph.org/assess/bassess.html) and 300 to 450 take the Clinical Sciences Assessment (www.icoph.org/assess/cassess.html). More than 10,000 candidates from 60 countries have taken the ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments to date, including nearly 1400 ophthalmologists at 83 test centers in 57 countries in 2005. For more information, see www.icoph.org/assess. - Peter Watson, FRCS, FRCOphth, ICO Director of Assessments 7. Next ICO and IFOS Meetings
Other future ICO/IFOS Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 8. Coming in the February ICO Leader Letter: Highlights of the World Ophthalmology Congress 9. More News For more news of the ICO and international ophthalmology and resources for ophthalmologic leaders, see the ICO's Eye Site at www.icoph.org. 10. Request for Other News and Resources Do you have other news of international ophthalmology or know resources (particularly on the Web) that would be valuable to society leaders? Please let us know at leader@icoph.org. 11. Forward the ICO Leader Letter to your Colleagues: If there are other ophthalmologic leaders you think might be interested in seeing this ICO Leader Letter, please forward this issue to them by clicking on this link. 12. Comments, Change of Address, Privacy Policy, Subscribe and Unsubscribe Send comments and suggestions for the Leader Letter to leader@icoph.org. You are subscribed as [contact-Email]. Change your address by sending e-mail to: leader@icoph.org. We do not share e-mail addresses with anyone else. Check our privacy policy at: www.icoph.org/ic/privacy.html. To subscribe to the Leader Letter, visit www.icoph.org/news/subscribe.html. To unsubscribe, reply to this e-mail and type "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) as the subject, click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page, or send an e-mail to leader@icoph.org. You can read this ICO Leader Letter online at www.icoph.org/news/leader0601.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2006 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved.  International Council of OphthalmologyHome | News | About ICO/IFOS | ICOFoundation | Contact | Find |
