IACLE LATIN AMERICA

¿QUE PASA? IACLE Latin America - Electronic Newsletter - July 2005

IACLE HOLDS EDUCATORS MEETINGS IN COLOMBIA AND MEXICO

During June 2005 IACLE conducted two educators meetings; one in Bogotá, Colombia and a second in Mexico City, Mexico.

Over 50 educators attended the meetings, which were an excellent opportunity for interaction, updating knowledge on contact lens topics and to discuss and plan the future activities of IACLE at their institutions and countries. The meetings took place at La Salle University, (Bogotá), the 2nd and 3rd of June and at the Instituto Politécnico Nacional, (Mexico City), the 23rd and 24th of June.

The academic topics presented were:
- Anatomy and Physiology of the Anterior Segment
- Corneal Oxygenation and Contact Lenses
- Biomicroscopy
- RGP Fitting
-Contact Lens Complications

A Leadership Workshop was conducted with the goal of promoting teamwork. One objective of the high-energy session was to raise the level of knowledge of the student through IACLE programs. Moreover, the main idea was to improve leadership skills in the educators so their future action in their countries created a strong commitment to IACLE future directions as well as increase their active leadership and participation at their schools.

Country Educator Panels for Colombia and Mexico were established to create a strong IACLE leadership network between schools and encourage more active participation of IACLE members at their institutions. An Action Plan was established for the period June 2005 - June 2006 by each Country Panel.

Furthermore, this was an excellent opportunity to distribute resources for the IACLE Resource Centers in these countries. The following resources were delivered to (NUMBER fifteen?) IACLE Resource Centers in schools in both countries:

- DVD Ortoqueratologia, Polymer Technology
- CD ROM Adaptación de Lentes GP, Polymer Technology
- CD ROM The Right Toríc, Cooper Vision
- Slit Lamp filter kit
- Textbook Atlas de Lámpara de Hendidura
- Textbook Uso Prolongado de Lentes de Contacto
- Contact Lens Manufacturer Association Educational Kit

It was agreed that all the institutions would increase the use of the IACLE Contact Lens Course and educational resources IACLE provides. Once this step is accomplished, IACLE will measure the impact of these programs on the student's knowledge through the Student Trial Exams. Additionally, industry showed interest in conducting practitioner education through IACLE members. This initiative will be implemented throughout the FIACLE Leadership Program.

Educators were quite pleased with the organization and quality of the meeting. IACLE thanks Fernando Ballesteros, Ruben Velazquez and Julio Torres for their support and cooperation in the organization of the IACLE meetings.

INSTITUTIONS VISITED IN COLOMBIA AND MEXICO

To maximize the opportunities during the trips to Colombia and Mexico, Percy Lazon, IACLE Regional Coordinator visited the following academic institutions:

- Fundación Universitaria San Martín, Bogotá, Colombia
- Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina, Bogotá, Colombia
- Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias de la Salud, Unidad Milpa Alta (IPN)
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias de la Salud, Unidad Santo Tomas (IPN)

IACLE had the opportunity to meet with the Deans of the schools for the purposes of discussing IACLE programs and activities. Percy explained how their institutions benefit through the membership of their educators and the importance to count on their active support to IACLE. With cooperation, a real partnership could be achieved to continue the IACLE mission of raising the level of contact lens education in their countries.

The Deans recognized and acknowledged the IACLE support that had been fundamental in the development of the contact lens course at their institutions. They encourage the continuation and strengthening of this partnership for raising the level of knowledge of the educators and students.

IACLE CONTACT LENS COURSE SALES

Members, students and practitioners throughout Latin America were interested in acquiring the complete set of the IACLE Contact Lens Course. IACLE received several requests and many questions regarding the add-on shipping costs. The table below clarifies the shipping costs of the sets to different countries in Latin America.

If you are interested in purchasing a set (or several sets), you just need to add the shipping costs listed above. For more information on the costs of the IACLE CL Course in a full CD set please visit:

http://www.iacle.org/education_page/programs/contact_lens_course.asp

IACLE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

The IACLE Regional Office has put together an IACLE lecture with overview information on IACLE programs and activities. This PowerPoint presentation can be downloaded from:

http://iacle.org/country_pages/latin_america.asp

The idea is that IACLE members can give this lecture to their students informing them about IACLE, our programs and how they as students, can benefit from these programs and educational materials. We hope all our members will find this information useful and we encourage all members to give this presentation to their students to promote IACLE.

FIACLE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM IN PERU

Continuing with the series of educational Courses for Practitioners organized by the Fellows of IACLE in Peru, two courses were held during July 2005 in Lima.

The Practitioner Education Series is being organized and sponsored in collaboration with local industry representatives. The first course was sponsored by Master Vision, local representative of Bausch and Lomb with the topic Multifocal Contact Lenses. This course was held July 2nd and was attended by 85 practitioners. The 3-hour practitioner education course covered key aspects for the successful fitting of the presbyopic patient with multifocals contact lenses.

The second course sponsored by Johnson and Johnson was held July 16th and the topic covered was Correction of Astigmatism with Toric Soft Contact Lenses. Eigthy practitioners attended this opportunity for updating their knowledge in this topic.

The program is an initiative between local industry representatives and Fellows of IACLE following the FIACLE Leadership Program Tier 1. This is an excellent opportunity for FIACLE visibility and an excellent link for industry sponsors to connect with local IACLE leaders to offer high quality education to practitioners. Local practitioners are very pleased with the organization of these courses and they agree that is an excellent way to update and increase their knowledge in specific areas of contact lens fitting. We encourage Latin American FIACLEs to participate in this course. For further information please do not hesitate to contact the IACLE Latin America Regional Office.

Local industry representatives are impressed with the high quality of education delivered and they started experiencing that practitioners who attended to the courses are ordering more their products and they are convinced that this is due to the influence of the FIACLE Leadership Program. Our congratulations to Guillermo Carrillo, Robin Rodriguez, Carlos Rangel, Rolando Rojas and Percy Lazon for the high quality educational programs delivered.

IACLE WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE INDUSTRY SPONSORS WHO SUPPORT GLOBAL CONTACT LENS EDUCATION

CIBA Vision
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc.
Bausch & Lomb
AMO
Ocular Sciences, A Cooper Vision Company
Alcon Laboratories
CooperVision Inc
Menicon Europe

Please visit the IACLE Latin America webpage