Continuing Medical Education
The Department of Ophthalmology, along with the Office of Continuing Medical Education at SUNY Downstate, is committed to providing timely educational courses for practicing physicians. Courses are directed toward the practical aspects of ophthalmic practice, but are, in addition, designed to convey an understanding of the basic scientific concepts underlying sound clinical practice. CME events include two annual Ophthalmic Symposia to update the ophthalmic community on new developments. Recent symposia topics have included: "The Human Genome in Ophthalmic Disease"; "The Glaucomas: Controversy and Considerations"; "Advanced Phacoemulsification"; and "PRK and LASIK."
In addition, the department holds joint meetings annually with two other Brooklyn organizations, the Brooklyn Ophthalmology Society and the Kings County Ophthalmology Alumni Association. The most recent combined meeting was on Retina and Glaucoma held in January 2004. This was the most attended meeting thus far with participants coming from all over the tri-state area. In mid-1999, the department hosted a highly successful international session in Rome and Sorrento, Italy entitled "Current Concepts in Ophthalmology for the Clinical Ophthalmologist," including distinguished guest faculty from the School of Medicine of Udine, Italy, the University of Rome Medical School, and the Bietti Foundation of Rome. The conference’s 40 attendees earned 17-1/2 hours of Continuing Medical Education Credit. Included among faculty was Richard C. Troutman, SUNY Downstate’s Ophthalmology chairman from 1971 to 1983. Commenting on the session, Dr. Troutman noted that he was extremely impressed by the quality, dynamism and dedication of the department’s current faculty, who brought to mind the spirit of the division in the early years, when its physicians were achieving important breakthroughs in ophthalmology.
In 2001, the international meeting was held in Paris and Monte Carlo in association with the ophthalmatic faculty from Paris. In 2003, the meeting was held in South Africa with tremendous attendance from distinguished faculty from all over the world in conjunction with South African faculty.
The 2005 meeting will be in Spain with collaboration from the Barraquer Institute in Barcelona. After Dr. Joaquin Barraquer attended our January 2003 meeting as special guest, our departments have been jointly working on the upcoming meeting.
