(For previous issues of the ICO Leader Letter, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
The International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) is asking members of the International Federation of Ophthalmological Societies (IFOS) and others to join with us in an initiative to enhance training to meet the needs of the public for eye care. ICO Director for Advocacy Hugh Taylor, MD, has written to IFOS Members asking them to work with other groups to define how to improve training in their country. Fortunately, there are excellent resources available from the ICO and others to help those willing to accept this challenge. We look forward to working with you to expand and improve training so that we can do more to preserve and restore vision for the people of the world. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. Please Schedule ICO Presentation at Your Next Congress
As a first step in our initiative to enhance training, we have asked IFOS Representatives to arrange to deliver an ICO presentation titled "A Critical Challenge for Ophthalmology: Enhancing Training To Meet the Public Need for Eye Care" during a plenary session at their next society Congress. We have three alternative sets of PowerPoint slides on improving training that can be downloaded:
Each presentation outlines the public need for eye care, issues related to training and resources available to help, as well as providing background information on the ICO/IFOS. The longer presentations suggest principles for training of eye care providers and have more detail on relevant ICO programs and other resources. For more on this initiative, please visit a new section of the ICO Web site at www.icoph.org/training and consider the resources available to support your efforts at www.icoph.org/training/resources.html. If you have questions, you can contact me at advocacy@icoph.org. - Hugh Taylor, MD, ICO Director for Advocacy 3. Ophthalmological Society of Ghana Focuses on Training
The theme of the Conference was "Elimination of Avoidable Blindness - Enhancing Output and Scope," and local ophthalmologists and speakers from ORBIS gave presentations on enhancing the quality, quantity and scope of eye care in Ghana. OSG President Stephen K. Akafo, FRCOphth, FWACS, wrote to the ICO that, "Dr. Faal's presentation on behalf of the ICO has given us a lot to think about and work on." Dr. Akafo reports that the OSG will define a strategic plan for the next three years emphasizing:
"The ICO resource materials will come in very handy," Dr. Akafo said. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 4. Resources for Improving Training
Among the resources available to support enhancement of training are:
For many more resources, see www.icoph.org/training/resources.html. - Mark Tso, MD, ICO Director for Education 5. 2007 ICO International Assessments on April 12
Two valuable tools for evaluating the effectiveness of training are the ICO International Basic Science Assessment in Ophthalmology and the Clinical Sciences Assessment. The ICO offers these examinations throughout the world each year to help ophthalmologists (and ophthalmologists-in-training) evaluate and demonstrate their knowledge in the basic and clinical sciences related to ophthalmology. The ICO Assessments are broadly accepted and used in a variety of ways by national societies and residency programs. Turkey, Belgium and an increasing number of other countries have made them part of their national certifying exams. Since 1995, more than 12,000 candidates have taken the Assessments, including more than 1530 who enrolled for the exams in 2006 at 92 test centers in 61 countries. The next Assessments will be offered on April 12, 2007, and the deadline for applications is January 31. Those interested in applying should contact the Assessments Office at mailto:assess@icoph.org. For more information, see www.icoph.org/assess. Anything that ophthalmologic societies and residency programs can do to publicize the Assessments to their members and residents will be much appreciated. You can download a notice designed for journals and other publications from www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOAssessments07Ad.pdf. - Peter Watson, FRCS, FRCOphth, ICO Director for Assessments 6. World Sight Day on October 12 A reminder that ophthalmologic societies are encouraged to organize or participate in recognition of World Sight Day on October 12, which is focused on raising awareness of low vision and refractive error as major public health issues. For more information on World Sight Day, see www.vision-2020.org/page.asp?section=000100010007. For a new short video, posters and other World Sight Day materials, see www.vision-2020.org/page.asp?section=00010001000700090001. - Hugh Taylor, MD, ICO Director for Advocacy 7. Next ICO and IFOS Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)
Other future ICO/IFOS Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 8. Coming in the October ICO Leader Letter: Resources for Medical Student Education 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. 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/leader0609.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2006 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved. |
