|
|
LETTER TO EDITOR |
|
Year : 1991 | Volume
: 39
| Issue : 3 | Page : 147 |
|
Our conferences our society
Bijayananda Patnaik
New Delhi, India
Correspondence Address: Bijayananda Patnaik New Delhi India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
PMID: 1841894 
How to cite this article: Patnaik B. Our conferences our society. Indian J Ophthalmol 1991;39:147 |
It is a pleasure to watch the remarkable progress, the All India Ophthalmological Society has made in its scientific activities during the last decade. The two contributing factors have been: the seriousness and sincerity of our young members and the constitutional independence given to the scientific committee. A succession of hard working brilliant chairmen of the scientific committees, have made excellent use of their academic independence. They have introduced a number of highly innovative and informative programmes. While most of these have done well by the audience, some have flopped. "For and against programmes" and the "ophthalmic parliament" are 2 notable examples. We feel, it was not the idea, but the planning and execution of the programmes which was the cause of failure.
Symposia and most of Current Status Programmes are being organised with considerable care. The Panel Discussions are interesting to listen and of great practical value. We wish the edited version of the same be published in the proceedings, so that all the members could use these clarified information for years to come. The instruction courses have turned out to be one of the most popular programmes. The reasons are not difficult to see. The young members of the society are coming to the conferences to improve their professional knowledge, and to pick up points of practical importance, which they could use with modern equipments within their reach. They are aiming high in quality of work. The patients are getting attracted to ophthalmologists with good equipments. People are buying equipments with their own money. Hence the attraction on practical instruction.
The courses assume even greater importance with unfortunate decline in the standard of post graduate training nationwide. The instructors are by and large competent clinicians and good teachers. However, some of the courses are far from satisfactory, because of the poor quality of instructors. Some of these instructors, the disappointed delegates complain, are chosen year after year. The best and the only way to avoid such a situation is to have a reliable method of assessment of the instructors by the members taking the course. Though opinion cards are distributed at every course, those are not filled up and returned by the course registrants. Our members should know that giving their assessment of the courses and instructors through filling up of a simple card, is one of the most important act in assessment of the quality of instructors topics and methods by the Chairman of the Scientific Committee and is vital for improving these programmes.
The contribution of some brilliant ophthalmologist working abroad in most of these programme, has be: highly significant. Their presentations have been of ve high quality. Their discussions have been lucid a authoritative. In fact in many ways their participatio have lead to the general improvement in the quality, the programmes. They have turned out to be role mod: for many among our national faculty. This is a welco trend and we of the society much encourage it.
It is time that, we should think of producing audio ca settes of the Conference proceedings. Similarly, th idea of the society producing video cassettes for educ. tional, training and public education, should be vigorou ly persued.
It seems destined, that the Society assumes more an more of the burden of continued ophthalmic educatio for our ophthalmologists
|