(For previous Leader Letters, go to: www.icoph.org/news/letters.html.)
Training of allied ophthalmic personnel can make a major contribution to improving eye care, particularly in developing countries where there is a shortage of ophthalmologists. Allied health personnel are a critical component of eye care in these regions and quality education is an important first step to improving care. We are very excited to announce a new allied health curriculum, the International Core Curriculum For Ophthalmic Assistants. We hope this curriculum will be a useful tool in the pursuit of quality eye care education in all regions of the world. If you know of any other resources for allied health training, particularly online and at no cost, please let us know. We can compile them to share with a wider audience. - Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President 1. New Curriculum for Ophthalmic Medical Assistants
This curriculum outlines five core competencies required for training ophthalmic assistants: patient care, medical knowledge, professionalism, international communication skills, technical and scientific skills, and community and health services. The core curriculum consists of three levels, namely: Introduction to Ophthalmology; Basic Skills; and Advanced Skills. This curriculum is a new addition to the previously published Principles and Guidelines of a Curriculum for Para-ophthalmic Vision Specialist Education in Klinische Monatsblatter fur Augenheilkunde November 2006, which is currently available in downloadable format, icoph.org/pdf/icocurricpara.pdf (PDF - 2.2 MB), free of charge on the ICO website. The formerly published curriculum consists of four educational programs for community based para-ophthalmic eye care personnel, hospital based para-ophthalmic personnel, orthoptists, and ophthalmic technicians. The new "International Core Curriculum For Ophthalmic Assistants" curriculum will now be posted on the ICO website for your comments before final adoption by the International Council of Ophthalmology to be followed by implementation worldwide. The leadership of William Astle and Lynn Anderson has made this curriculum possible. On behalf of the international community of ophthalmic education I would like to extend a special salute to Bill and Lynn for their outstanding work in developing this educational resource. - Mark O. M. Tso, MD, ICO Education Director 2. Allied Health Resources In addition to the new International Core Curriculum For Ophthalmic Assistants, there are many more helpful allied health resources available. I am pleased to list a few of them here as a reference. Please share this list with anyone who may find them to be helpful. Web resources:
Recommended books:
(All available in the JCAHPO online bookstore: www.jcahpo.org/store/bookstore.aspx) - William Astle, MD, Chair, ICO Task Force on Para-ophthalmic Vision Specialist Education 3. MEACO Congress Educational Symposia and Meetings
Childhood Blindness: The Individual and World-Wide Significance and Management Changing Trends in the Management of Retinal Detachment (ICO with Club Jule Gonin) Neuro-Ophthalmic Emergencies: Acute and Painful...Beware Reducing Mortality and Blindness from Eye Cancer The entire list of instructional courses can be downloaded (PDF) from the MEACO Congress web page: meaco.org/details.php?did=9. Several ICO Committees will also meet at the MEACO Congress in Bahrain, and the Board and Advisory Committee will be meeting informally to talk about issues such as ophthalmic continuing education and ICO technology. We'll report news from these meetings in the April Leader Letter. Don't miss the ICO booth, A62, in the exhibition hall. - Akef El-Maghraby, MD, ICO Vice President 4. Continuing Medical Education Task Force As the new Chair, I am pleased to announce two projects of the ICO Continuing Medical Education (CME) Task Force: support of ophthalmologic societies' CME programs and a new Visiting Professor Program. Bruce Spivey described these task force activities in the March 2009 issue of ICO Notes. Last month, I sent a letter to societies asking them to complete a CME survey and to nominate a representative to work with our CME Task Force. For more details, you can find a copy of the CME mailing on the ICO website. We hope that every ICO member society will complete our survey and join us. I look forward to reporting more on the progress of the CME task force in the future. In the meantime, you may contact me at juan.verdaguer.t@gmail.com with any questions or comments. - Juan Verdaguer, MD, Chair, ICO Continuing Education Task Force 5. Updated ICO Fellowships Directory
I am very pleased to announce a newly updated ICO Fellowships Directory is now available. The directory contains up-to-date information on 71 training centers (hosts) and brief instructions on how to choose a host. You may download the latest version on the ICO website at www.icoph.org/pdf/ICOFellowshipDirectory.pdf (PDF - 388 Kb). The three-month ICO Fellowships are designed to help young ophthalmologists from developing nations improve their practical skills and broaden their perspectives of ophthalmology. The Fellowship Program adheres to the global initiative "Vision 2020" in spreading education and professionalism to all parts of the world and in promoting international collaboration between institutions dedicated to eye care. There are two closing dates to apply for a fellowship each year: April 30 and October 31. For more information and instructions on how to apply, see icoph.org/fellow/index.html#newfellow. - Veit-Peter Gabel, MD, ICO Director of Fellowships 6. Next ICO Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)
Other future ICO Meetings: www.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html. 7. Coming in the Next ICO Leader Letter: Educational programs at the 2009 supranational Congresses, ophthalmic resources, and WOC 2010 plans. 8. 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. 9. 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. 10. 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/leader0903.html. For previous issues, go to www.icoph.org/news/letters.html. Copyright © 2009 International Council of Ophthalmology. All rights reserved.
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