(For previous Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
The ICO is a co-sponsor of the 2009 MEACO Congress. We have organized several symposia covering different specialties in ophthalmology to be presented by speakers who are well known in their respective fields. In addition, there will be a two-day meeting of experts on "VISION 2020 Evaluation of Progress and Setting up Progress Indicators," a meeting of the ICO Board and Advisory Committee, and an International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) Board of Trustees meeting. Please join us this March in Bahrain. Online registration, housing and visa application information will be available soon on MEACO's website: www.meaco.org. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 2. ICO Board and Advisory Committee Meeting Report On Saturday, November 8 before the AAO meeting in Atlanta, the ICO Board and Advisory Committee gathered for an update on ICO programs, to share strategic planning committee meeting information and to choose a new program to undertake in 2009. Dr. Spivey highlighted progress on the latest ICO activities. News of the ophthalmic education and research initiatives included: ICO Basic and Clinical Assessments (2000+/yr), ICO International Fellowship (300 to date), curricula for residents, medical students, allied health & CME, courses for residency program directors, ICO International Clinical Guidelines, and, of course, the World Ophthalmology Congress. You can download a 2008 ICO Update from www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOUpdate2008.pdf. There were three proposals for a new ICO program to undertake in 2009. Bradley Straatsma, MD, JD, presented a plan to expand the Peking University Eli Lilly Diabetic Eye Care center further into China and Mongolia, Dr. Babar Quereshi offered a plan to focus on uncorrected refractive error, Dr. Yasuo Tano explained the need to train the trainers in the Asia-Pacific region, and there was a general discussion on the importance of subspecialty training. In addition, two new ICO Education Committee task forces were announced. Dr. Juan Verdaguer of Chile will lead the new Task Force on Continuing Medical Education and Dr. Eduardo Mayorga of Argentina will coordinate the Task Force on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning. More information on these new task forces will be in the January 2009 Leader Letter. - Jean-Jacques De Laey, MD, ICO Secretary General 3. 2009 Assessments Deadline
11-43 Bath Street
A total of 15,433 candidates have taken the Basic and Clinical Assessments, including more than 2000 who sat for the exams at 92 test centers in 61 countries in 2008. We look forward to the participation increasing this year. Please feel free to pass this information on to your contacts. - David Taylor, FRCOphth, ICO Director of Assessments 4. AAO Prevention of Blindness and Humanitarian Awards
The Prevention of Blindness Award was given this year to Susan Lewallen, MD and Paul Courtright, DrPH, both of Tanzania, for their efforts in developing training programs and educational activities to improve eye care services throughout Africa. They founded and currently co-direct the Kilimanjaro Center for Community Ophthalmology (KCCO), www.kcco.net, which focuses on training, research and similar programs. - Yasuo Tano, MD, ICO Treasurer 5. Farewell to Ophthalmology Leaders
At our meeting in Atlanta, the ICO Board and Advisory Committee had the opportunity to recognize and thank David Noonan for his 37 years of service to ophthalmology, including more than 20 when he was directly involved with the ICO. David served as Secretary for the Advisory Committee to the ICO and took the minutes of the Board meetings for many years and provided other valuable support before the ICO had its own staff. We are deeply grateful for his contributions. David is retiring in January 2009 after serving as deputy vice president of the AAO since 1972. After 16 years of service to the American Academy of Ophthalmology as its CEO, Dr. Dunbar Hoskins will retire in early spring 2009. When asked about his accomplishments at the Academy, Dr. Hoskins said, "I am pleased that we can all [AAO leaders and staff] take pride in having united and reduced divisiveness within the profession, cultivated ophthalmology as a force in medical advocacy...and enhanced the Academy Foundation's ability to support future needs of the Academy and the profession." - Jean-Jacques De Laey, MD, ICO Secretary General 6. New ICO Communications Manager
Monica Slater has joined the ICO as communications manager in November 2008. Monica will be working to coordinate and distribute information about ICO programs and raise the visibility of the ICO and the work of its Members. One of her first projects will be to explore and implement the use of new technology for the ICO, including a new website and web-based tools to increase interaction and communications for ICO Members and programs. Before joining us, Monica worked in communications and public relations for the University of California Berkeley. She is located near the ICO office in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be reached at mslater@icoph.org. - William Felch, ICO Executive Director 7. Next ICO Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)
Other future ICO Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 8. Coming in the Next ICO Leader Letter: ICO Task Forces, ICOFoundation Leadership, WORD forum on residency training, and more. 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/leader0813.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2008 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved. |
