Vision Care Association (VCA), a WCO country member in Lebanon has been advocating for a change in optometry education offered by Lebanese universities as it was clear that the Lebanese optometry programs had the opportunity to reach the level needed (1) @WorldCouncilOpt
to offer competencies required for practicing optometry as per the World Council of Optometry (WCO) definition of optometry and as per the World Health Organization (WHO) eye care competencies framework. VCA has realized that such an endeavour would not have been achieved (2)
without the support from experienced educators and external funding due to the economic crisis facing Lebanon post-COVID and the political instability that affected all sectors especially health services and education. In order to ensure the curriculum competencies offered (3)
by optometry programs in Lebanon are aligned with WHO eyecare competencies and fulfill the WCO definition of optometry, a proposed 1-week workshop hosted by American University of Science & Technology (AUST) and included other universities (Lebanese University .. (4)
Université Sainte Famille in addition to education policy makers (Ministry of Education & Higher Education) and eye care stakeholders (Eastern Mediterranean Council of Optometry, Lebanese Syndicate of Optometry Centers, World Sight Association, Lebanese Sight Care Society) (5)
One of the mentors were Dr. Yazan Gammoh, Associate professor of Optometry at al- Ahliyya Amman University who introduced the Optometry Curriculum Domains and Competencies from various regional organization of optometry and WHO eye care competencies framework (6)
made the educators aware of the global optometry education resources,and highlighted on the current status of optometry education in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).Also,he introduced a pilot of the WCO Curriculum competencies and domains to allow a better understanding(7)
and implementation of the WCO optometry curricula competencies in emerging programs and developing countries. Prof.Vanessa Moodley (Professor in Optometry Department at Kwazulu-Natal University)tackled the following topics:Accreditation schemes & quality assurance in education(8)