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ICO Leader Letter

February 2009, Volume 6, Number 2

1. What is Missing in Residency Education?

Dear Colleagues:

Last fall, I invited you to participate in an International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO) initiative to enhance education of ophthalmology residents around the world: the ICO World Ophthalmology Residency Development (WORD) online resource center.

We now have a new forum on the resource center to address an important topic: What is missing from residency education? WORD Chair Eduardo Mayorga, MD, set up this forum to get a better sense of what's not being taught adequately to residents around the world.

We would appreciate your individual contributions to the forum and invite you to join the discussion. Please go to www.icoword.org and click on the link in the middle of the home page that says "New forum: What is missing in resident training?" to get started. If you haven't done so already, you will need to establish a user name and password, but the process is relatively easy, even if you are as technologically challenged as I am.

When a significant number of people have commented, we will add other questions to the forum. From there, we hope many helpful discussions and exchanges of ideas will flow!

Thank you in advance for your contributions.

- Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President

2. New ICO Education Task Forces

The ICO has created three new Task Forces to address ophthalmic educational needs around the world, the ICO Task Force on Continuing Medical Education, the ICO Task Force on Emerging Technologies for Learning and Teaching and the ICO Task Force on Ophthalmic Subspecialty Education.

The ICO Task Force on Continuing Medical Education will chart the ICO's first major steps in CME beyond the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC). Dr. Juan Verdaguer of Chile will chair the new task force. The group will work with societies to establish formal CME programs and will organize a Visiting Professor Program. Dr. Verdaguer will report on the progress of this task force in next month's Leader Letter.

Dr. Eduardo Mayorga of Argentina will chair the new ICO Task Force on Emerging Technologies for Teaching and Learning, with the goal of exploring new emerging technologies for ophthalmic education and providing technical guidance for online CME courses and other learning experiences. The task force will also encourage the development of interactive Internet-based learning programs and promote new surgical simulation technologies.

The ICO Task Force on Ophthalmic Subspecialty Education is forming now. I look forward to reporting more news on the accomplishments of these task forces as they develop.

- Mark O. M. Tso, MD, ICO Education Director

3. Wanted: Fellows at ICO/Alcon Training Center, Slovenia

We are inviting applications for a new subspecialty training program at the ICO/Alcon Training Center at University Eye Hospital in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The program will offer training for two candidates at the post-specialist level in cataract, oculoplastic or vitreoretinal surgery for one year, to begin in or before September 2009. A travel and expense stipend of EUR 9,000 will be granted to the institution sending the applicant, to be used in full by the applicant.

We would like to host young specialists from teaching hospitals in Eastern Europe, not older than 40, who have had initial experience in surgery and who plan to practice in a public teaching hospital. They should be fluent in English. We are looking for ophthalmologists who will be in a position to teach and transmit information to residents and colleagues upon returning to their home countries.

Institutions interested in recommending a candidate for fellowship are asked to send a personal letter to Professor Hawlina, signed by the director, that includes a description of the candidate's experience, notes which domain of the surgery (cataract, oculoplastic or vitreoretinal) the candidate is applying for, and states how the institution would benefit from and share the knowledge of the candidate after the fellowship.

A personal letter by the candidate, including his or her curriculum vitae, must be included in the application and submitted by April 1st, 2009 to Prof. Hawlina by e-mail: marko.hawlina@mf.uni-lj.si. The applications will be reviewed by a committee, with selection expected by May 1st. The successful fellows will be expected to join University Eye Hospital Ljubljana at their earliest convenience, but no later than in September 2009.

- Marko Hawlina, MD, ICO/Alcon Training Center Program Coordinator in Slovenia

4. Hilel Lewis New President of ICOFoundation

I am pleased to announce that Hilel Lewis, MD, has assumed the leadership of the ICO Foundation as president of the Board of Directors. Dr. Lewis recently retired as chairman of the Divisionof Ophthalmology and director of the Cole Eye Institute at The Cleveland Clinic. He has served as Vice President of the Board for the past year. Dr. Alfred Sommer is now Vice President.

We will miss the visionary leadership of Dr. Bradley Straatsma, who founded the ICOFoundation in 2002. Since then, it has raised more than $2.5 million to support ICO programs.

To facilitate the transition and to continue to share his knowledge, Dr. Straatsma will maintain leadership of the programs involving the Peking University Eli Lilly Diabetic Eye Disease Center in China, the ICO/Alcon Regional Training Centers, and the Alice McPherson Retinal Research Foundation.

Please join me in celebrating the vision, dedication, and exceptional service of Dr. Straatsma, and in welcoming Drs. Lewis and Sommer to their new positions. We look forward to continued success! For more on the ICOFoundation, see www.icofoundation.org.

- Jean-Jacques De Laey, MD, ICO Secretary General

5. Memorial Service for Yasuo Tano

By now, most of you have probably learned about the death of our friend and colleague, ICO Treasurer Professor Yasuo Tano. He passed away suddenly in Osaka on Saturday, January 31. This was an unbelievable shock to us all, a tremendous loss to his family, and to Japanese and international ophthalmology.

A public Memorial Farewell Assembly for Professor Tano will be held at 4:00 p.m. on March 8 at the Rihga Royal Hotel in Osaka. The Department of Ophthalmology at Osaka University and its Alumni Association invite all of those interested in remembering Professor Tano to attend. You may contact Dr. Motohiro Kamei, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Osaka University at mkamei@ophthal.med.osaka-u.ac.jp for more information.

As I mentioned in our February ICO Notes newsletter, Professor Tano's passing is a huge personal and professional loss. Let us remember him through his legacy of major contributions to his retina subspecialty, to international ophthalmology and to the countless friends he made around the world.

- Bruce Spivey, MD, ICO President

6. Participate in World Glaucoma Day, March 12

March 12, 2009 will be the second World Glaucoma Day (WGD), a joint global initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) and the World Glaucoma Patient Association (WGPA).

More than 1000 events in over 60 countries were organized for the first World Glaucoma Day in 2008. Over 400 individuals volunteered their time and energy to organize events to raise awareness about glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in virtually every country. It is estimated that over 70 million persons worldwide suffer from the disease and that about 8 million are blind. Although timely diagnosis and treatment could have prevented blindness in 90% of these cases, about 50% of affected people in the developed countries and as many as 90% in developing countries are unaware they have the disease.

The WGA and WGPA ask you to get involved in increasing awareness of glaucoma. They are mobilizing participants to help exceed last year's achievements. Visit the WGD website at www.wgday.net for more information and to register your glaucoma awareness event.

- Robert Ritch, MD, Member, Advisory Committee to the ICO

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:

ICO Curriculum on Allied Health, CME Task Force news, ICO meetings at the MEACO Congress, and New ICO members.

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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