Education
Each year the American Academy of Optometry is pleased to present four days of enrichment, education, events and camaraderie in one of the country’s best cities.
In addition to workshops and lectures, programming includes the popular Academy Classroom Exchange (ACE) courses, Section and SIG Symposia, and scientific program papers and posters.
Choose from nearly 300 sessions and more than 1,000 speakers – there truly is something for everyone. As a reminder, workshops and ACE courses require an additional fee and must be purchased at the time of registration.
For those in need of continuing education (CE) credits, the Academy offers hundreds of hours of COPE-approved CE.
Lectures & Workshops Program
Annually, the Lectures and Workshops Committee invites the submission of course proposals for consideration. In particular, the committee welcomes the submission of courses featuring recent innovations; those with interprofessional collaboration with other healthcare disciplines; and novel course topics. Our goal is to provide attendees with the most current and original programming.
Up to four (4) of the following course proposals may be submitted provided that at least one (1) proposal is for a workshop or Academy Classroom Exchange (ACE) course.
- Traditional lecture
- Rapid Fire lecture
- ACE course
- Workshop
- Grand Rounds
Please note, the limit of four proposals includes those in which you are a co-author. Additional submissions after the first four will NOT be considered. Non-credit course submissions are exempt from the four course submission maximum.
Courses should present information to enhance optometric patient care management. They should not actively promote or advertise products or corporate interests. With competitive topics, course submissions by Academy Fellows will receive selection preference.
Presenters are expected to register and fully participate in the annual meeting’s events and activities. This enables education and camaraderie to extend beyond the lecture hall and permeate the meeting. Your participation and commitment honor the “spirit of the Academy.”
Types of Submissions
Lectures
- Lectures may be scheduled for one or two hours (one-hour submissions are preferred).
- The total number of speakers in a lecture should not exceed four.
- Speakers will receive an honorarium, which will be split evenly between all co-authors.
- All speakers are required to provide a CV and financial disclosure.
- An outline of 1½ pages per lecture hour is required.
- Two-hour lectures may be designated as Continuing Education with Examination as long as permission is indicated on the lecture submission, and the presenter is willing to submit test questions to accompany this lecture.
Please reference the Topics, Compensation, COPE, and Conditions of Participation sections below for more information.
Rapid Fire
The goal of a Rapid Fire course is to provide a fast-paced presentation that holds the attendees’ attention and provides excellent educational content. A successful presentation is well coordinated, continuous, and concludes within the allotted time. As time will not allow for switching to a new, separate presentation every 12-16 minutes, the lead author should create a single, complete presentation.
- Rapid Fire courses involve 3 or 4 presenters for a one-hour submission, with each speaker covering a specific portion of the same overall topic.
- For a one-hour Rapid Fire course with 3 speakers, each speaker will present one time for 16 minutes on a specific portion of the topic.
- For a one-hour Rapid Fire course with 4 speakers, each speaker will present once for 12 minutes on a specific portion of the topic.
- The entire one-hour proposal should be submitted by the primary author and include the presentations and CVs of all presenters.
- Rapid Fire courses may be submitted in any of the topic sections. Be sure to check the “Rapid Fire” box on the lecture submission form if you want the submission to be considered as a Rapid Fire course.
Academy Classroom Exchange (ACE)
The ACE course is the Academy’s newest format and offers attendees a small group learning experience with emphasis on maximizing discussion and interaction with the presenter(s). This format is ideal for continuing education not suited for delivery in a large ballroom.
- ACE courses are limited to one hour.
- The total number of speakers may not exceed two.
- Attendance is limited to 36 attendees in order to facilitate discussion and interaction.
- Attendees must pre-register for these courses and pay $25 per course to reserve their spot.
- Speakers are expected to prepare case presentations featuring interactive discussion, question and answer sessions, or other engaging activities that enhance the exchange of information with attendees.
Note: ACE courses are intended to be educational only. Therefore, industry vendors are prohibited from being present during the course. Further, marketing or sale of goods or materials are prohibited during ACE courses.
Workshops
- Workshop proposals must clearly indicate how each attendee will have hands-on experience with new techniques and procedures.
- Workshops may be scheduled for two or three hours.
- Lecture time must not exceed 10 minutes.
- All instructors must remain for the entire duration.
- The total number of instructors should not exceed 6.
- Workshop size is limited to a maximum of 24 attendees.
- Instructors must indicate whether workshop participants will have to sit as subjects for other attendees or whether paid subjects will be provided.
- Instructors are personally responsible for providing the necessary subjects, specimens, instrumentation, supplies, and other equipment to conduct their workshop. The exception is slit lamps, which will be obtained by the Lectures and Workshops Committee. Slit lamp-based workshops must use the slit lamps provided by the Lectures and Workshops Committee and instructors are prohibited from arranging use of other slit lamps.
- The Academy must be notified of any additional equipment requiring power that will be utilized during your workshop.
- Audio-visual equipment MUST be requested. The Academy will provide audio-visual equipment upon request by the workshop presenter.
- The instructor is responsible for setting up equipment and materials 25 minutes before the workshop, unless it is back-to-back with another workshop.
- The Academy will assign a Committee member to assist workshop presenters with preparations for the program.
The Academy will provide compensation to be equally shared between instructors.
Note: Workshops are intended to be educational only. Therefore, industry vendors are prohibited from being present during the course. Further, marketing or sale of goods or materials are prohibited during workshops.
Grand Rounds (GR)
A Grand Rounds clinical case report is a wonderful opportunity for first-time Academy presenters to gain speaking experience. Up to 3 cases may be submitted per person and these do not count against the 4 course proposal limit for the Lectures & Workshops program.
When preparing your submission, select Grand Rounds as the topic area with a specified time of 17 minutes. Do NOT select the COPE category as the topic area.
- Due to strict time limitations, there may only be one author listed for each submission. Co-authors are not permitted.
- PowerPoint is required for presentations.
- Presenters must adhere to HIPAA rules regarding patient privacy and disclosure of patient identifiers.
- Speakers will receive an honorarium.
Note: The Academy has recently expanded the Ground Rounds program to include virtual presentations throughout the year. It is possible your submission may be selected for virtual presentation for a time other than the annual meeting.
Program Guidelines
Topics
Course selection is based on topical interest, outline content, and course originality within mainline optometric education and practice. Topics are arranged based on COPE categories. Please submit courses in the most appropriate COPE category; courses will be moved into a more appropriate category area if necessary.
- Functional Vision / Pediatrics (FV)*
- Contact Lenses (CL)
- General Optometry (GO)
- Glaucoma (GL)
- Grand Rounds (GR)
- Injection Skills (IS)*
- Ethics/Jurisprudence (JP)*
- Laser Procedures (LP)*
- Low Vision (LV)*
- Neuro-Optometry (NO)*
- Peri-Operative Management of Ophthalmic Surgery (PO)*
- Pharmacology (PH)*
- Practice Management (PM)*
- Public Health (PB)*
- Systemic/Ocular Disease (SD)*
- Surgery Procedures (Optometric) (SP)
- Treatment and Management of Ocular Disease (TD)*
- Workshop (WK)
*COPE Category Revisions apply. Please refer to COPE’s Revised COPE Categories List as of January 1, 2022, for additional information on new categories, new definitions, and category combinations.
Compensation
- Lectures (one or two hours): $400/hour
- Lectures designated Continuing Education with Examination (CEE) (one or two hours): +$100/hour
- Workshops (one, two or three hours): $400/hour
- Grand Rounds: $130 per 17 minutes
*Speakers have the option of donating their honorarium to the American Academy of Optometry Foundation (AAOF). This tax-deductible contribution will support the Foundation’s ability to fund optometric research and education.
Cope
- The American Academy of Optometry is a COPE (Council on Optometric Practitioner Education) Qualified Administrator, and all courses submitted for consideration will, upon acceptance, be submitted for COPE accreditation.
Conditions of Participation
- The open enrollment period for course submissions and the submission deadline are announced at the beginning of each year via member communication outlets, including email, website, and social media. Early submission is encouraged. Due to the large number of submissions, late submissions will NOT be considered.
- Courses must be submitted following the instructions on the Academy website. Submissions will not be accepted in any other manner.
- A complete course submission consists of:
- Course outline, which must be a MINIMUM of 1½ pages per course hour
- Up-to-date CV for each instructor (not to exceed 5 pages)
- Complete proposal form
- Valid email address for each instructor
- Consent, disclosures and all other information on the proposal form must be completed for a course to be considered for inclusion at the Academy meeting. Course outlines must provide enough detail to enable the Lectures and Workshops Committee to determine if the course is suitable for presentation at the Academy meeting. Many topics are highly competitive and courses with updated, detailed outlines will be given selection preference.
- In the interest of clarity for the attendees, please ensure your course title is succinct and accurately reflects the course content. Course titles may be shortened or edited as deemed appropriate by the Lectures and Workshops Committee.
- Standard audio visual equipment for lectures includes the following: laptop computer; LCD projector; one Lavalier microphone; one podium microphone; and one laser pointer. No Macintosh (Mac) laptop computer adaptors will be provided – please be sure to bring your own.
- List any possible conflicts of interest.
- Indicate whether or not your lecture or workshop qualifies for Therapeutic CE credit as defined by AAO. A “therapeutic course” is one in which the diagnosis and management of patients with eye disease, trauma or ocular manifestations of systemic disease is clearly indicated as the PRIMARY course objective by the speaker.
- You must agree to present the accepted lecture or workshop at the time(s) scheduled by the Lectures and Workshops Committee. If you have scheduling conflict(s) that you are aware of, please indicate these in the comments box at the time of submission. Once scheduled, course times cannot be changed.
- Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE) Accreditation: As a COPE provider, the AAO will submit all accepted courses for COPE accreditation. As necessary, instructors must make every effort to respond to requests in order to achieve COPE qualification.
- You must register for the meeting prior to the event (no on-site registration). You will receive a reduced registration fee, which will automatically populate when you register. This does not include the cost of workshops, leadership courses or banquet tickets. If you wish to attend any workshops or ACE course, you must pre-register and pay the appropriate fee.
- You must stay at an Academy-contracted hotel in order to receive the stipend.
- You MUST indicate whether or not permission is granted to offer your course for Continuing Education with Examination (CEE) credit. Only two-hour courses will be considered. If you agree to this and your course is selected, you are required to provide the Academy with twenty (20) multiple-choice questions and answers. These questions are for inclusion in a CEE examination to be administered by the Academy or its designated representative. An additional stipend of $100 per course hour is paid to presenters of CEE courses.
- The primary instructor will be notified if the proposal has been accepted or rejected. Please inform your co-authors of acceptance. All authors must accept the terms of presentation by logging into the Academy website.
Submission Deadline
The 2023 Lectures & Workshops submission window will open on January 2nd and will close on January 31, 2023, 5:00 PM ET.
The open enrollment period for course submissions and the submission deadline are announced at the beginning of each year via member communication outlets, including email, website, and social media. Early submission is encouraged. Due to the large number of submissions, late submissions will NOT be considered.
If you have any questions or difficulty with the online course submission process, please contact Christina Velasquez at 321-319-4865 or ChristinaV@aaoptom.org.
Scientific Program
The Scientific Program offers scientists, educators, and clinicians the opportunity to exchange the latest information in optometry and vision science in two formats – research paper presentations and scientific posters. The program is open to everyone and Academy membership is not required.
Abstracts must be work that has not been submitted for formal publication or to a preprint server before the original abstract submission deadline. After this date, an author is at liberty to submit their abstract to a journal for formal publication or to a preprint server.”
Major Abstract Evaluation Criteria
Research Abstracts
- Level of scientific or clinical novelty
- Methodological soundness
- Quantitative description of results
- Statistical analysis for significance of results
- Conclusions supported by results
- Adherence to submission instructions and ethical standards
- Language and grammar
Case Reports
- Level of clinical novelty
- Completeness of case work-up to support the proposed diagnosis
- Sufficient author involvement in the examination, diagnosis and/or management of the case
- Adherence to submission instructions and ethical standards
- Language and grammar
Note: Submissions of previously published copyrighted material (e.g. ARVO abstracts or journal articles) will not be accepted. Submissions may be rejected if the author(s) have failed to appear at scheduled presentations at previous meetings.
Residents Day
Current residents are invited to submit Grand Rounds cases for presentation as both papers and posters.
The resident must have been directly involved in the patient care of the case being presented. The resident does not have to initiate care but must have examined the patient.
Note: Those in an accredited Fellowship program are eligible to submit to the Residents Day program in their first year of Fellowship. Those in their second year should submit to the Scientific Program.
Submission Window: August 5 – August 22, 5:00 PM ET
