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ICO Leader Letter

March 2009, Volume 6, Number 3

1. The Importance of Allied Health Personnel

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

2. New Curriculum for Ophthalmic Medical Assistants

I am pleased to introduce a new ICO educational curriculum entitled "International Core Curriculum For Ophthalmic Assistants," archive.icoph.org/pdf/ICOCurriculumOMA.pdf (PDF - 2MB), which was jointly developed by the International Task Force on Para-ophthalmic Vision Specialist Education, ICO and International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology (IJCAHPO). The authors are William F. Astle, MD, FRCS(C), Dipl. ABO (Canada), Chairman of ICO Task Force on Para-ophthalmic Vision Specialist Education, and Lynn D. Anderson, PhD (USA), Executive Director of the International Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology.

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

3. 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:

Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology
www.jcahpo.org

Association of Technical Personnel in Ophthalmology
www.atpo.org

American Academy of Ophthalmology
secure3.aao.org/store/common/index.cfm

Canadian Society of Ophthalmic Medical Personnel
eyesite.ca/english/csomp/

Recommended books:

• Allied Health On-the-Job Training Toolkit
• JCAHPO Learning Systems 1-6
• Ophthalmic Medical Assisting: An Independent Study
• Ophthalmic Assistant; A Text for Allied and Associated Ophthalmic Personnel

(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

4. MEACO Congress Educational Symposia and Meetings

For those of you who will be attending the Middle East African Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) Congress March 26 to 30th in Bahrain, the ICO has organized four symposia on international ophthalmology topics:

Childhood Blindness: The Individual and World-Wide Significance and Management
Friday, March 27, 10:15 -11:45, Palm 1 Hall

Changing Trends in the Management of Retinal Detachment (ICO with Club Jule Gonin)
Saturday, March 28, 2009, 8:30 -10:00, Al-Dana Hall

Neuro-Ophthalmic Emergencies: Acute and Painful...Beware
Saturday, March 28, 2009, 10:30 -12:00, Palm 2 Hall

Reducing Mortality and Blindness from Eye Cancer
Saturday, March 28, 2009, 15:00 -16:30 Al-Dana Hall

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

5. 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

6. 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 archive.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

7. Next ICO Meetings and World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC)

• ICO Board of Trustees: 29 March 2009, Bahrain
• ICO Board of Trustees: 23 October 2009, San Francisco
• ICO General Assembly: 5 June 2010, Berlin
• World Ophthalmology Congress®: 5 - 9, June 2010, Berlin (www.woc2010.de)
• Other future ICO Meetings: archive.icoph.org/lead/icomeet.html

8. Coming in the Next ICO Leader Letter:

Educational programs at the 2009 supranational Congresses, ophthalmic resources, and WOC 2010 plans.

More News

For more news of the ICO and international ophthalmology and resources for ophthalmologic leaders, see the ICO’s Web site at www.icoph.org.

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.

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