This year’s theme is “Addressing eye health care inequalities through leadership and collaboration”.  There are significant inequalities in access to vision and eye health care worldwide.  In the US or several countries where VOSH is present, patients face challenges accessing the care they need on a timely and affordable basis.  Leadership and strategic vision for optometry’s role in addressing these inequalities is something we can nurture among our school (SVOSH) chapters.

The meeting in Indianapolis will focus on the experiences that enhance leadership and collaboration among US SVOSH and VOSH chapters for better patient outcomes at home and during humanitarian work.  The program will offer clinical pearls for successful humanitarian work, the role of mentorship in nurturing leadership, collaboration with other optometry students’ networks, and the importance of establishing sustainable eye care.   Insights from emerging global and African networks of optometry students will be shared during the meeting.

The program will also include the presentation of the two VOSH/International Awards and the inauguration of five new Board members, two from Africa and Asia respectively.

The meeting in Indianapolis completes the series of two annual meetings this year.  The meeting for the Latin American VOSH and SVOSH chapters will take place on October 26^th in Quito, Ecuador.

We are grateful for the support of VSP Vision as the US SVOSH Travel Grants  Sponsor and ALCON Partner Sponsor of the US version of our Annual Meeting

Spanish version below- Version en español espanol abajo

This year’s theme is “Addressing eye health care inequalitiesin Latin America”.  There are significant inequalities in vision and eye health care.  Several barriers contribute to this and in Latin America, this is exacerbated by the insufficient optometric workforce, diverse scopes of practice, and specific socio-determinants such as gender and being indigenous.

Most of our US VOSH and SVOSH chapters carry out humanitarian work in Latin American countries.  VOSH and SVOSH chapters in Latin America are growing.   Leadership and vision for the role of optometry addressing these inequalities is something we can nurture among our school (SVOSH) and VOSH chapters from the region and working in the region.

In 2024, we will address this theme in two different geographical settings and follow up on the outcomes of the discussions in a series of webinars and activities in 2025.

The Latin American version of the Annual Meeting will be in a hybrid format, in Spanish with translation in English for Zoom attendees.

Our meeting is held alongside the congress of the Latin American Association of Optometry and Optics (ALDOO) in Quito.  VOSH/International is collaborating with ALDOO with speakers for its Deans of Schools meeting and the public health component of ALDOO’s congress.

We look forward to meeting you in Quito

You are warmly invited to join us in person or online

Este año, nuestra Reunión Anual se organizará en dos versiones.  El tema de la versión latinoamericana se centrará en “Abordar las desigualdades en la atención de la salud ocular en América Latina”.  Existen desigualdades significativas en la atención de la visión y la salud ocular.  Varias barreras contribuyen a esto y en América Latina, esto se ve exacerbado por el insuficiente número de optometristas, los diversos alcances de la práctica permitida y los determinantes sociales específicos como el género y el hecho de ser indígena.

La mayoría de nuestros capítulos de VOSH y SVOSH de EE. UU. realizan trabajo humanitario en países de América Latina.  Al mismo tiempo, los capítulos de VOSH y SVOSH en América Latina están creciendo.   El liderazgo y la visión sobre el rol de la optometría para abordar estas desigualdades es algo que podemos fomentar entre nuestros capítulos VOSH y SVOSH de la región y entre aquellos que la visitan de manera regular.

En 2024, abordaremos este tema en dos entornos geográficos diferentes y haremos un seguimiento de los resultados de los debates en una serie de seminarios web y actividades en 2025.

La versión latinoamericana de la Reunión Anual será en formato híbrido, en español con traducción al inglés para los asistentes a Zoom.

Nuestra reunión se realiza en paralelo al congreso de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Optometría y Óptica (ALDOO) en Quito.  VOSH/International está colaborando con ALDOO con oradores para su reunión de Decanos de Escuelas y el componente de salud pública del congreso de ALDOO.

Esperamos verlos en Quito

Lo invitamos a participar en persona o en línea

We are grateful for the support of National Vision, Inc. as the Visionary Sponsor of our Annual Meeting

Agradecemos a National Vision Inc, patrocinador Visionario de nuestro evento