(For previous ICO Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
This is a critical concept for the future of international ophthalmology, particularly in developing countries: a major "paradigm shift" from ophthalmologists focusing on the needs of individual patients to addressing the eye care and vision needs of the communities in which they live and practice. There's a related shift of orientation from concentrating on eye disease and "prevention of blindness" to helping the public maintain healthy eyes and good vision. Success is measured not by satisfied patients but in the ability of those in a community to see and lead productive lives. The "community" may be local, national, regional or global. In this Leader Letter and the next, we will report on what some institutions and individual ophthalmologists are doing to enhance community eye health (CEH), citing models and resources that we hope will be useful to others. This month, we focus on teaching ophthalmologists and others to think differently about eye care. Please let us know about other examples and resources that would be worth sharing. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. Please Comment on Draft Curriculum on Community Eye Health
In the ICO's "Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Education of the Ophthalmic Specialist" (www.icoph.org/pdf/icocurricres.pdf), we focused on clinical knowledge and skills and did not address what should be taught to residents about community eye health. Several colleagues have drafted a proposed module on community eye health (or "Public Eye Health" as they call it) to be added to the Residency Curriculum, which lists educational objectives, cognitive skills and technical skills. We would appreciate your comments. Please download the draft from www.icoph.org/pdf/CEHResidencyCurriculum.pdf and send your comments to Andrew Lee, MD, chair of the Task Force on Curriculum of Ophthalmology Residency at education@icoph.org. Of course, you don't need to wait for this draft to be incorporated into the ICO Curriculum to use it. We would encourage you to integrate community eye health into your training program and let us know your experience. Thanks to Drs. Van Lansingh, Daksha Patel, Miriam Cano and Rainald Duerksen for putting together this draft for our consideration and your use. - Mark Tso, MD, ICO Director of Education 3. Brazilians Developing CEH Course for Residents
In 2005, the Brazilian Council of Ophthalmology (CBO) formed a Community Eye Health Subcommittee, which organized multi-day workshops on teaching community eye health in Brazil in both 2005 and 2006. They then defined objectives and topics for a five-day course for residents and are now working on the manual for the course. They have graciously agreed to share the results of their efforts: Go to www.icoph.org/pdf/CBOCEH.pdf for a report on the second workshop, CEH course objectives and topics and the outline of the manual (most of it in English!). We are planning to include community eye health in the Brazilian Board exam in the future, which will certainly encourage the residents to take it seriously! Thanks particularly to Drs. Andrea Zin and Celia Nakanami, coordinators of the CBO Subcommittee, which has been supported by Christoffel-Blindenmission (CBM) together with Sightsavers International, ORBIS and others. - Rubens Belfort, Jr., MD, ICO Council Member 4. South African Manual for Teaching CEH
Colin Cook, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Cape Town, and the Institute of Community Eye Health (ICEH) in London have collaborated on a superb manual for a course on community eye health that we offer to all ophthalmology residents (or "registrars" as we call them) in South Africa. The 158-page manual covers:
While some of the manual is specific to southern and South Africa, it could be adapted for other countries and regions. You can download it from www.icoph.org/pdf/SouthAfricaCEHManual.doc. Many thanks to Professor Cook for making this excellent resource available. - Tony Murray, FRCS, Member, Advisory Committee to the ICO 5. Community Eye Health Courses from ICEH
The International Centre for Eye Health (ICEH) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine will again offer a three-month course for a Diploma in Community Eye Health starting in February 2008. Designed for ophthalmologists and other eye care professionals, the course covers control of the major blinding eye diseases and how to plan a VISION 2020 project. Five weeks are spent researching and writing a strategy document to be implemented in the participants' country. The course follows part of the MSc CEH curriculum and will also be attended by MSc students. The ICEH's year-long MSc in Community Eye Health program will be offered again starting in September 2008, with applications for scholarships due in February. Applicants to both the Diploma and MSc programs are eligible to apply for IFOS/ICO Fellowships (www.icoph.org/fellow), which provide partial financial support. ICEH is offering a short course on Tropical Ophthalmology in April 2008 and one on Planning for VISION 2020 in July 2008 and co-ordinates VISION 2020 workshops around the world (www.iceh.org.uk/files/V2020_Workshops_2007.pdf). For more on ICEH educational programs, see www.iceh.org.uk. - Jean-Jacques De Laey, MD, ICO Secretary General 6. 2008 ICO Assessments on April 10
Each year the ICO offers assessment examinations throughout the world to help ophthalmologists evaluate their knowledge in the basic science and clinical sciences related to ophthalmology. In 2008, the ICO International Basic Science Assessment for Ophthalmologists and International Clinical Sciences Assessment will be offered on April 10. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2008. Close to 15,000 candidates have taken ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments since their inception in 1995. In 2007, 1647 candidates enrolled for the Assessments at 92 test centers in 61 countries. Those interested in taking the Assessments in 2008 should contact the Assessments Office. For more information, see www.icoph.org/assess. - Peter Watson, FRCS, FRCOphth, ICO Director for Assessments 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: More Resources for Community Eye Health 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/leader0710.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2007 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved.  International Council of OphthalmologyHome | News | About ICO/IFOS | ICOFoundation | Contact | Find |
