Members of the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) have been invited to enter the 2018 IACLE Travel and Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards.
IACLE Travel Awards
The IACLE Travel Awards, offered for the first time in 2013, are bursaries of approximately AU$3,700 enabling IACLE Educator Members to attend international meetings. The IACLE Travel Awards are supported by all the sponsors of IACLE (Alcon, CooperVision, Johnson & Johnson Vision, Bausch + Lomb and Euclid).
This year there will be three IACLE Travel Awards and recipients will attend either the annual meeting of the American Academy of Optometry, Academy 2018 (one award) in November 2018 in San Antonio, or the Association of Optometric Contact Lens Educators’ AOCLE Annual Workshop (two awards) which is also taking place in San Antonio, in Spring 2018. The latter awards are additionally supported by the AOCLE.
Academy 2018 will be held at the Henry B Gonzalez Convention Center from 7–10 November. The AOCLE meeting – sharing new teaching modalities in the field of cornea and contact lenses – runs at the University of the Incarnate Word, Rosenberg School of Optometry from 31 May –3 June 2018.
This year we’ll be offering a total of six IACLE Awards and the opportunity for members to attend two major meetings in North America
IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards
IACLE is also offering educators the chance to become IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year and travel to Academy 2018. IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year will be awarded to three individuals, one from each of IACLE’s three global regions:
• Asia Pacific
• Europe / Africa – Middle East
• Americas
These awards recognise and reward achievements in contact lens education worldwide, and are sponsored by CooperVision. The winners will each receive a bursary of approximately AU$3,700 towards the cost of attending Academy 2018 and permission to use the title 2018 IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year for their region.
The IACLE Contact Lens Educator of the Year Awards are open to all IACLE members from any country, with preference given to members who are active FIACLEs (Fellows of IACLE) or have attempted the IACLE Fellowship Exam.
Commenting on his experience of winning 2017 IACLE Americas Contact Lens Educator of the Year, Professor Jan Bergmanson of the University of Houston, Texas said, “This is a great honour and means a lot to me. To be recognised with this award, among such a large pool of potential candidates, is significant to me”.
IACLE President Dr. Shehzad Naroo encouraged all IACLE members to consider entering the 2018 awards. “This year we’ll be offering a total of six IACLE Awards and the opportunity for members to attend two major meetings in North America. We are grateful to all our sponsors for their support, to CooperVision for continuing to sponsor the Educator Awards, and to AOCLE for supporting two Travel Awards.”
The deadline for entries for the 2018 awards is midnight (EST) on Wednesday 31 January 2018. Entries should be submitted using the application forms at www.iacle.org (Awards).