Dear Colleagues,
We are a few weeks away from heading to Toronto, Canada, for our 52nd Annual COVD meeting, once again live and in person. We are in for an exciting lineup of outstanding educational courses including pre-meeting courses, general education, practice management, and vision therapist education. As has become our lecture scheduling format, we are offering a few concurrent courses. Concurrent courses allow us to continue to satisfy the goal of offering a range of lectures that meet a wide array of professional educational needs, thereby addressing professional practice gaps for all attendees at different stages in their careers. We had good and constructive feedback from last year’s meeting about this format and welcome continued comments. This year, we are pleased to offer our attendees a special two-week period of time after the meeting (included with registration) to view a selection of those concurrent courses that may have been missed online! Thanks in advance to DigiVision for their recording and quick turnaround that will allow you to enjoy even more COVD education! Stay tuned for more information from the COVD office about when and how to access that.
There are always questions about course credit. All of our applicable live meeting lectures are submitted for COPE qualification, and most have received that designation. Our website and mobile app will have the most up to date COPE qualifications, and while we continue to get more courses COPE approved, we do not guarantee all will qualify. Please keep in mind that the quality of our courses is not dependent on COPE approval. Having said that, there are important criteria of which we need to be mindful; those of you who have attended other meetings have undoubtedly experienced these requirements. Documenting credits will be done by scanning your badge as you enter AND exit your courses; BOTH must be scanned. In addition, for those courses with a COPE QR code, the code will be displayed on the screens in the lecture room for only 10 minutes after the course is completed, so you can scan from your seat. As at past meetings, there will be course monitors who will assist with COPE requirements regarding attendance time in a lecture, monitoring attendee arrival time to the lecture, and attendee time spent in the lecture. Once again there will be NO sticker sheets this year (that last piece of information tells you how old one of us is!). We have streamlined and automated this process for all attendees.
Please remember, all courses qualify for maintenance of certification (MOC) for the FCOVD and COVT attendees. However, it is also important to be familiar with the requirements for the state board to which you might submit these CE credits. All states require a different breakdown of CE, including categories (i.e., Practice Management) and providers. Some states, for example, recognize COVD as a provider, and do not require the COPE designation for our courses. ARBO has collected the CE requirements for most regulatory boards in the US and Canada. You can search the database by selecting a state, province, or territory here: CE State Requirements (arbo.org). Importantly, it is up to you to make sure that the course you attend also meets your state requirements for licensure if you plan to use these courses for that as well. As in the past, each course will have a survey; be sure to fill that out after you get your credit. Surveys are available in the meeting app.
As we did at our last meeting, regarding wearing a mask, we will follow the guidelines of our meeting site, the CDC, and the Canadian government recommendations. As of today, masks are not required indoors, but keep in mind that we should continue to be respectful of guests and colleagues who are more comfortable wearing masks. Appreciate that some of our colleagues may be immunocompromised, or live with individuals who are, or who were unable to be vaccinated. We ask that each colleague practice empathy and kindness, and respect the decisions of those around them. If there are any changes we will update you as needed.
And finally, we would like to thank all of the many individuals who submitted courses. We would also like to thank the COVD staff for their ongoing contribution to this meeting, especially our Executive Director, Katie Kirschner, our Director of Meetings and Education, Mark Bice, our Member Services Manager, Tara Schmitt, and our Project Coordinator, Lauren Bissetta. If you see them, you might want to express your thanks for all their tireless work which makes this meeting run smoothly.
Now, with housekeeping out of the way, come and enjoy the camaraderie, fellowship, and education that makes this meeting so special. Travel safely, (and for those who will require a passport, don’t forget it!)
Paul and Kristi
Paul B Freeman OD, FCOVD and Kristi Jensen OD, FCOVD
