(For previous issues of the ICO Leader Letter, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
From a new handbook for medical students, to leadership development in Sub-Saharan Africa and the next round of ICO Fellowships, the ICO is doing more than ever before. And there is a lot more to come, with some exciting announcements on the way prior to and during the WOC. If you haven't already made your reservations to join us Hong Kong, I urge you to do so soon. I look forward to seeing you there. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. Please Comment on ICO Handbook for Medical Students
We would appreciate your feedback on a new ICO booklet for medical students developed by Professors Sue Lightman and Peter McCluskey for our International Task Force on Ophthalmic Education of Medical Students. Based on the curriculum for medical student education prepared by the Task Force led by previous Chair Richard Parrish, MD, (www.icoph.org/med), the "Handbook for Medical Students Learning Ophthalmology" is illustrated with color pictures of common ophthalmic conditions. "It is designed for medical students to carry with them during their exposure to ophthalmology and tick off what they have seen and done," reports Task Force Chair Professor Sue Lightman. You can download the draft at: www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOMedicalStudentHandbook.pdf. It is also available in Spanish and Chinese: www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOMedicalStudentHandbookSpanish.pdf www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOMedicalStudentHandbookChinese.pdf. Professor Lightman requests that you show the booklet to medical students and ask if they feel it would be helpful to them and how it might be improved. Please send their feedback and your suggestions to education@icoph.org. "We will make useful changes and aim to find a sponsor to help us print up many copies so that these can be freely distributed to medical students all over the world," said Professor Lightman. "We hope it will help them learn, enjoy and feel comfortable sorting out patients with ophthalmic problems they will come across in their professional life, whatever branch of medicine they enter." Many thanks to Professors Lightman and McCluskey for developing this handbook and to you for your comments. - Mark Tso, MD, ICO Director of Education 3. Countdown to the World Ophthalmology Congress  There are less than 100 days left before the 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress ®, June 28 - July 2 in Hong Kong.
Under the able leadership of Prof. Steve Ryan, we have developed a first-class scientific program with 1500 speakers in 250 scientific sessions covering 28 subspecialty areas in ophthalmology. Some expected highlights of the WOC include:
For details, please visit our Web site at www.woc2008hongkong.org. I look forward to welcoming you in Hong Kong this June! - Dennis Lam, MD, President, 2008 World Ophthalmology Congress and ICO Council Member 4. Sub-Saharan Leadership Group Focuses on Realities "The Realities of Leadership in Africa" was the theme of the third meeting of the ICO/MEACO Advisory Leadership Group for Sub-Saharan Africa in mid-March. The Group met in Drakensberg, South Africa during the Annual Congress of the Ophthalmological Society of South Africa (OSSA), with generous support from OSSA, the Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO), the ICO and the ICOFoundation.
For the first time, we organized substantial training for the Group, including a day-and-a-half workshop on "Effective Leadership in Africa" and half-day workshops on "National Advocacy" and "Educating Educators." The six working groups of the Advisory Leadership Group defined specific outcomes to be achieved by the next meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for Lagos, Nigeria in October. I continue to be inspired by the enthusiasm and commitment of the Group and believe the future is bright for ophthalmology and eye care in the region. - Daniel Etya'ale, MD, ICO Council Member and WHO VISION 2020 Coordinator for Africa 5. April 30 Deadline To Apply for ICO Fellowship
I would appreciate it if you would let promising young ophthalmologists from developing countries know that the deadline to apply for the next round of ICO Fellowships is April 30. A revised introduction to the Fellowships, instructions and application forms can be downloaded from: www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOFellowship.doc. The three-month ICO Fellowships were organized to help promising young ophthalmologists from developing nations improve their practical skills and broaden their perspectives of ophthalmology. Fellows are expected to bring their acquired knowledge and skills back to their native country and participate in programs to preserve vision and prevent blindness. Since 2000, we have been able to support more than 300 Fellows. We will add new hosts for Fellowships in the future. For further information, contact the Fellowships Office at mailto:fellowship@icoph.org. - Veit-Peter Gabel, MD, ICO Director for Fellowships 6. New Teaching Web Site on Gonioscopy 
On the heels of the first World Glaucoma Day on March 6 (www.wgday.org), I would encourage you to visit a great teaching Web site designed for ophthalmology residents, fellows and our non-glaucoma colleagues who want to polish their gonioscopy skills. Developed by Wallace Alward, MD, at the University of Iowa in the United States, www.gonioscopy.org offers more than 120 videos covering both basic examination and more advanced techniques such as indentation and the corneal wedge. "This site is designed to teach how to perform gonioscopy and also to show the iridocorneal angle in health and in disease," says Dr. Alward. "My hope is that others will want to add their great videos to the site so that it can be a growing repository of slit lamp and gonioscopy videos relevant to glaucoma." - Robert Ritch, MD, Member, Advisory Committee to the ICO 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 Next ICO Leader Letter: The ICO World Ophthalmology Residency Development (WORD) Resource Center and Forums 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 ophthalmologic 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/leader0804.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2008 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved. |
