Student Fellowship Program
The Academy offers the Student Fellowship program to encourage students to fully experience the annual meeting, stimulate increased participation in the meeting’s events, promote future involvement in the Academy, and persuade students to become Fellows upon graduation.
The program also is a great opportunity for students to acquire new knowledge and exposure to the latest advancements in technology through lectures, workshops, posters, and more. It is designed to serve as a guide for students as they develop their skills as optometric or vision science professionals.
Eligibility for Academy 2022 San Diego
To be eligible to attend this year’s Academy you must:
- Be a current OD student (graduation date 2023 or later)
- Register for Academy 2022 San Diego
- Be a current student member of the Academy
- Residents, PhD students, and graduate students are not eligible to participate
Submission Portal
Your Student Fellowship program progress will be managed entirely through the online Student Fellowship submission portal. Log in with your Academy member credentials and complete all fields as directed.
The Student Fellowship program closes Tuesday, November 29, 2022, at 11:59 pm ET. Please review the list below to ensure you have successfully met all the requirements.
- Log all your requirements and answer all questions within the Student Fellowship Portal. Anything not filled out in the portal completely will not be counted toward your program completion.
- If your CE Certificate was missing any CE sessions, be sure to complete the online CE dispute form by the November 29 deadline. Please note: non-CE sessions (Student and Resident Awards Breakfast, Residency and Graduate Program Fair, and Exhibit Hall) will not show up on the CE Certificate – you do not need to submit a dispute for these.
- We will review all missing credits and adjust the portal manually beginning November 30 as we complete the review process.
- If you did not complete all your requirements at Academy 2022 San Diego and would like to finish in 2023, please be sure to complete the Student Fellowship portal completely for each requirement you did finish this year. When finished, be sure to press “Save” to record your progress. Anything not logged and completed fully in the portal will not be counted toward the 2023 progress.
Requirements
- Attend six hours of any general CE lectures of your choosing. This includes courses in the following topic areas: TD (AS), CL, FV, GL, GO, GR, EJ, IS, LP, LV, NO, PB, PH, PM, PO, TD (PS), RS, SD, SP
- Attend two of any poster (POS) or paper (P) sessions of your choosing for a minimum of one-hour each. Residents Day paper and poster sessions offered on Saturday, October 29 count toward this requirement.
*Please note: Poster session attendance must be completed during live presentations from authors to receive credit. Live poster presentation sessions will be held:
- Thursday, October 27 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM in Exhibit Hall H
- Friday, October 28 from 1 to 3:00 PM in Exhibit Hall H
- Attend one of the following special sessions:
- SE-01 AAO/OGS Symposium – Wednesday, October 26 from 8 to 10 AM – Rm 20A
- SE-02 Plenary Session – Wednesday, October 26 from 10 AM to Noon – Hilton Bayfront
- SE-05 Monroe Hirsch Research Symposium – Thursday, October 27 from 10 AM to Noon – Rm 33ABC
- SE-08 Joint AAO/AAOphth Symposium – Thursday, October 27 from 1:30 to 3:30 PM – Rm 33ABC
- SE-09 Ezell Fellows Present – Friday, October 28 from 10:00 am to Noon – Rm 20 BC
- Attend one Section or SIG Symposium (SS- courses on the Education Grid)**
- Attend the Student and Resident Awards Breakfast on Thursday, October 27 from 8 to 9 AM – Sails Pavilion**
- Attend one hour of the Residency and Graduate Program Fair on Friday, October 28 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM – Sails Pavilion**
- Visit the exhibit hall for one hour. The exhibit hall is open during these hours:
- Wednesday, October 27: 5:00 to 7:00 PM
- Thursday, October 28: 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM and 3:30 to 6:30 PM
- Friday, October 29: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (Final Day)
All items must be completed as specified and logged in the Student Fellowship portal by Friday, November 11. Some requirements will have additional questions to complete within the portal so please read through carefully. Results will be emailed to all participants in early January 2023, with certificates distributed to your school in late January 2023.
** Requirement may be substituted for one of the volunteer substitution opportunities found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How is my attendance tracked?
A. Your attendee badge is scanned with RFID technology when you attend the sessions listed above. 2-3 weeks post-meeting you will receive a digital CE certificate showing all education completed. Academy staff will also have access to event scan data to verify attendance for the non-education requirements.
Q. I missed a required session. Are there any additional substitutes?
A. There are no additional substitutions for the Student Fellowship requirements unless otherwise noted. Certain requirements with a ** may be substituted for volunteering in specific activities. Please see here for available opportunities, available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please note, that you have two consecutive years to complete the Student Fellowship program and may complete the remaining requirements at Academy 2023 New Orleans (provided you will still be an OD student at that time).
Q. The portal asks for the course ID of sessions attended. Where can I find this?
A. The course ID is the three to five digit code associated with a session in the Academy.22 app or on the Education Grid, i.e., AS-01, POS-01, P-02, etc.
Q. Will I receive one hour of CE for attending half of a two-hour lecture for requirement 1?
A. No. CE credit will not be awarded if you do not attend the full session. The only sessions that offer partial credit are paper and poster sessions (requirement 2), which can be earned in 15-minute increments.
Q. I attended the Thursday Poster session for two hours. Does this satisfy Requirement 2?
A. No. You must attend two different scientific paper or poster sessions for one hour each to complete this requirement.
Q. I do not see the Student and Resident Breakfast on my CE Certificate. How do I have this added?
A. The CE certificate will only display CE sessions. The Student and Resident Awards Breakfast, Residency and Graduate Program Fair, and Exhibit Hall activities will not appear on this certificate as they are non-CE sessions. We will review your attendance records during our review process. Be sure to complete the associated questions in the Student Fellowship portal for each of these requirements.
Q. When will my Student Fellow certificate and pin arrive?
A. Your certificate and pin will be mailed to your Faculty Liaison in January 2023 to distribute. Complimentary Student Registration codes for Academy 2023 New Orleans will be emailed in Spring 2023.
Q. I earned my Student Fellowship last year. Can I complete the program again?
A. While you are welcome to attend the sessions noted on this requirement list for your own enrichment, the Student Fellow status may only be achieved once.
Substitution Opportunities
There are two opportunities to substitute one Student Fellowship requirement (choose between Requirements 4, 5, or 6 on the requirement list) in exchange for volunteering with the Academy. Please see below for instructions to sign up for these opportunities. Please note, that these are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
A) Fellows Doing Research (FDR) SIG Booth Project
The FDR SIG, in conjunction with the Public Health and Environmental Vision Section, is conducting an observational clinical research project entitled Comparative Measurements of Axial Length with Three Different Biometers Designed for User in Myopia Management. The aim of this study is to obtain time to compare the value of axial length between three different devices. The study will take place in the Exhibit Hall during Academy 2022 San Diego, October 26-28, 2022. Volunteers will complete video training prior to Academy and will have access to onsite training. To help carry out the experiment, you will be asked to commit to working a 2-hour shift.
In exchange for this 2-hour shift, you will be permitted to substitute one of the Student Fellowship requirements, noted with a ** on the requirement list. Volunteering with this project is also a great way to diversify your CV.
B) Admittance Oral Exam Monitors
The Admittance Committee is looking for volunteers to help monitor the oral examinations being conducted for Candidates for Fellowship pursuing their FAAO at Academy 2022 San Diego. Multiple volunteers are needed to direct Candidates across the Hilton Bayfront hotel before and after their oral exams to help the day run smoothly. Volunteer opportunities will last for 1 hour. Volunteers must be willing to share their cell phone number to communicate with the committee leaders as needed during their shift.
Student Fellowship Text Messaging
The Academy supports and informs our student community via text messaging, which is our primary means of quickly communicating with students. Student Fellows can text any questions they may have and receive a response from a member of the Academy’s staff. Your texts will be seen only by a staff member. Send us your questions – text “Student Fellow” to (407) 307-2634.
Be sure to opt in ASAP, so you don’t miss any updates.
