Summer 2008 - ICO Worldwide - Illinois College of Optometry

F E A T U R E : G L O B A L I C O
She says, “I was introduced (in Scotland) to
the concept of full economic cost recovery for
research.” Research there operates under the
premise that funding must be obtained before
any research can begin. Research planning
includes an exhaustive forecast of all direct
and indirect costs associated with the proposed
study: all staffing and salaries, physical
space needs, costs for recruiting subjects, data
analysis and report writing, and even travel
expenses to be incurred when the research is
presented later at professional meetings or to
the research sponsor.
In turn, this comprehensive analysis of costs
generates a detailed projection of timeline and
shapes protocol guidelines. “I learned a lot
about research budgeting and ways to obtain
budgeting for research,” she says — lessons
which she and her ICO colleagues can incorporate
into their own research planning.
Jurkus’ experience at Caledonian University
included opportunities to lecture to the thirdyear
contact lens class about keratoconus
detection and treatment, and to present to faculty
and staff about the topic of orthokeratology.
This was not the first time this ICO professor
has taught abroad; in past years, she
has lectured in China, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Israel, Poland and Scotland — primarily
through her affiliation with the
International Association of Contact Lens
Educators (IACLE).
In fact, Jurkus’ role as an executive board
member of IACLE drew her from Scotland to
Sydney, Australia, where IACLE maintains a
secretariat office.
“In Australia I had the opportunity to work
with the education team of IACLE at the
University of New South Wales,” Jurkus says.
Chief among IACLE’s missions is to improve
the quality of contact lens teaching worldwide
through development of new educational
resources. While in Australia, Jurkus partnered
with IACLE’s manager of international
education, Lew Williams, to develop a series
of interactive case reports that utilize computer-
and internet-based tools to facilitate learning
in remote locations.
Despite heavy investment upfront of time and
resources to develop each case report, Jurkus
contends that the interactive format can
become a powerful and cost effective teaching
tool for international reach.
Jurkus’ travels included a site visit in
Melbourne, Australia, to the Victoria College
of Optometry and the University of
Melbourne Department of Optometry and
Vision Science. ICO maintains an externship/student
exchange program with these
schools.
Jurkus brought back to ICO new insights
about optometric education. Among them:
• International education respects and
sometimes envies the U.S. education
system.
• Research takes a team to do well, and
budgeting for research should include all
ancillary expenses.
• Educational challenges are similar in
various parts of the world.
• We have many, many great things at
ICO. It is a good place to be.
DR. PANG:
Sharing Resources Internationally
Yi Pang, OD, PhD, examined global aspects
of optometric education without traveling
abroad. As a member of the recently formed
International Task Force of the Association
of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
(ASCO), Pang is part of a U.S. team exploring
the challenge: What can U.S. schools do
to help international optometry schools?
The first step in addressing this challenge
was to assess the current presence of U.S.
schools within the context of global optometry.
Pang developed and conducted a survey
of the 17 U.S. optometry schools to measure
their involvement in foreign student
exchanges, faculty exchanges/guest lecturers,
and international research. Survey findings
showed that ICO ranks among the top
third of schools in terms of its international
reach. ICO, for example, draws a notable
percentage of students from Canada.
The survey laid important groundwork.
“Because of this survey, ASCO changed its
mission to include a stronger international
focus,” says Pang.
International exchange within education,
research and clinical work is important to all
parties involved. Pang explains, “Education
needs exchange. Communication with other
countries can give us better ideas and a
wider perspective.”
She notes that the field of optometry in the
U.S. is in many ways, “a more mature discipline”
than in other countries. ODs in the
U.S. are licensed to see more complicated
cases and to perform more advanced diagnostic
and therapeutic procedures, compared
to their eyecare counterparts in many countries.
In Australia, for example, optometrists
are not considered independent doctors, she
says. In China, optometry is a relatively new
field compared to ophthalmology, and its
parameters are not yet well defined. In
Germany, optometry students cannot use
eye drops to dilate the eye, “so a student
coming to ICO from Germany has the
opportunity to view the back of the eye after
dilation, which affords more detailed learning,”
says Pang.
In turn, Australia, Japan and many European
countries offer more intensive research
opportunities. U.S. students or faculty who
travel to these countries benefit from broader
research insights.
A native of China, Pang partnered last year
with optometrists in China and locally to
co-author a paper on preventing progression
of adult-onset myopia. The paper was named
the 2006 “best journal article” by Optometry
and Vision Development.
Pang intends to pursue her study of international
optometry practices and hopes to gain
first-hand knowledge of international practices
through future opportunities to lecture
and provide clinical care in other countries.
She says, “Sharing of ideas with other countries
is important. Students who come here
learn a lot, and we learn when we go
abroad.”
— Michelle Rapaport
ICO MATTERS SUMMER 2008 / 8