As it gears up for the introduction of statutory CET, the profession is faced with selecting from among the wide range of CET opportunities available. This year, the College's annual conference, Optometry Tomorrow 2005, has been designed to optimise the number of credits available, explains Rich Gott
The College has handpicked 21 renowned and respected speakers to address the Optometry Tomorrow 2005 conference at the Palace Hotel, Manchester on March 20-21. A variety of topical issues affecting optometrists will be discussed via one-hour lectures and interactive workshops.
Professor John Lawrenson will present a lecture on the very latest developments within therapeutic prescribing. The lecture will include an outline of the legislative developments in supplementary prescribing, the exemptions to the Medicines Act and other related topics.
Professor John Marshall is Frost Professor of Ophthalmology at St Thomas' Hospital and he will present the Jubilee Lecture. The topic of the lecture will be laser refractive surgery and it will help delegates understand what is currently driving laser refractive surgery.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the College Postgraduate Research Scholarship Fund, Professor Bernard Gilmartin will lead a lecture entitled 'Funding the future' at next year's College Conference. The one-hour lecture will begin with a brief insight into the past 25 years of the fund and what it has helped researchers to achieve.
Three recently funded researchers will give 10-minute presentations followed by a Q&A session:
Other speakers at the conference include Peter Coe, Professor Nathan Efron, Dr Frank Eperjesi, Dr Robert Harper, Dr Jeffrey Kwartz, Frank Munro, Dr Clare O'Donnell and Trevor Warburton.
Flexible interactive learning
We know from feedback that delegates appreciate the opportunity to mix and match lectures with hands-on learning. An interactive workshop programme will, therefore, run alongside the main lecture programme, allowing delegates to pick and choose the subjects and learning styles that suit them best.
Delegate feedback from our 2004 College Conference, Optometry Tomorrow 2004, showed that there was a significant demand for more interactive clinical workshops for the 2005 conference. In response, we have included a slit-lamp biomicroscopy workshop facilitated by Dr Cecilia Fenerty, consultant ophthalmic surgeon, Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, a punctum plugs workshop facilitated by David Austen, an independent optometrist and lecturer and a peripheral retina-themed workshop facilitated by Kevin Lewis, College vice-president to the conference programme.
Other workshop facilitators include Peter Charlesworth (record keeping), Bill Harvey (communication skills), David Ruston (ingredients for contact lens comfort) and Samantha Watson (personal development planning).
Gain a year's worth of CET credit points with Optometry Tomorrow 2005 carrying 13.5 CET credit points at an affordable and easily accessible event.
The College is offering one- or two-day tickets that provide a flexible, affordable way of achieving your CET points. Delegates will be able to go to any of the lectures or workshops on the day(s) they attend the conference, as well as having access to the trade exhibition and poster presentation. One-day tickets are available for £140 (member price). Two-day tickets are available for £260 (member price).
The conference venue is the Palace Hotel, Manchester, situated in the heart of Manchester and easily accessible by road, rail and air links. A Jubilee Dinner will be held at the Imperial War Museum North on Sunday March 20. Tickets are available for £50 each and include a champagne reception, three-course meal and live entertainment provided by The Kommitments. A complimentary shuttle bus to and from the centre of Manchester is also included. This event will be sponsored by Topcon and Silhouette.
How to Register
To request a copy of the full conference programme, simply call the College Events Team on 020 7766 4343 or email your name and preferred mailing address to events@college-optometrists.org. Please remember to insert the words 'Optometry Tomorrow 2005' in the subject bar.
To register by telephone please call the College Events Team on 020 7766 4301. The registration form can also be printed off from www.college-optometrists.org/conference, and sent to College Events Team, College of Optometrists, 42 Craven Street, London, WC2N 5NG.
Registration will be possible up to March 15, 2005.