American Academy of Ophthalmology – Global Ophthalmology Resources

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is the US counterpart to the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, and is the world’s largest association of eye physicians and surgeons. As one of the leading global eye health organizations, they have published a number of excellent resources related to global ophthalmology, including:

Global Ophthalmology Guide – The AAO’s Global Ophthalmology Guide is an interactive database of articles, training opportunities, and other interesting resources that span a large range of global ophthalmic topics.

Epidemiology and Biostatistics for the Global Ophthalmologist – Epidemiology and Biostatistics for the Global Ophthalmologist is an easy-to-browse adaptation from the book of the same name by Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS. The resource is targeted towards ophthalmologists in practice or training who desire a fundamental understanding of epidemiology, statistics, and interpretation of ophthalmic research literature.

Readers can expect to:

• Review key concepts in epidemiology along with their applications to international ophthalmology.
• Describe common types of statistics found in ophthalmic literature.
• Review examples of outstanding clinical research.

Ethics in Global Ophthalmology – In global clinical care and research, ophthalmologists must always act in the best interests of patients and the local community by maintaining high ethical standards. This collection of content reviews the ethical role of trainees and risk management in a global setting, and the numerable ethical challenges in global practice: appropriate supervision, competence, informed consent, perioperative care, patient vulnerability and privacy, and potential conflicts of interest. Please note that you must be logged in to the AAO website to access this content.

Volunteer Work in Global Ophthalmology – Volunteering abroad is undergoing a sea change. Gone are the days of simply flying overseas to an under-resourced community, performing hundreds of cataract surgeries, and returning home to your practice. Most communities now have their own health systems in place with local physicians who can perform procedures at a lower cost than in the past. This resource is designed to help ophthalmologists increase their knowledgebase and efficacy as volunteers in eye health on the global stage.