Southern College of Optometry (SCO) has launched its new Online Continuing Education Library featuring 10 video courses with faculty member lecturers. Each video was professionally recorded in high definition in SCO’s state-of-the-art academic classrooms constructed as part of the college’s recent academic facility expansion.
Hosted on the SCO website, the Online Continuing Education Library’s video courses have also been made accessible to optometrists in other countries. At the invitation of the World Council of Optometry (WCO), an SCO Portal was created on the World Continuing Education Alliance (WCEA) website to support the WCO’s goal of creating and disseminating educational materials to optometrists and optometric organizations in developing nations.
“The World Council of Optometry welcomes SCO’s leadership and their support of our goal to expand the reach of freely accessible educational content to other countries,” said Mark A. Bullimore, MCOptom, PhD, FAAO, WCO Executive Director.
“SCO is proud to partner with the WCEA as we share the expertise of our faculty members with optometrists around the world who are in need of excellent continuing education to assist in the care of their patients,” said Jeanie Snider, SCO’s Department of Continuing Education Program Manager.
SCO’s online CE courses are approved by the Council of Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE), the primary method used by optometric regulatory boards to promote the continuing competence of licensed optometrists.
Short video clips of each course offer optometrists a chance to preview SCO’s Online Continuing Education Library. Users who opt to take a course for credit will be directed to SCO’s Portal on the WCEA website and asked to create a login and password. Once registered, users can re-access video courses for up to seven days at their convenience. Requests for Course Completion Certificates can also be completed through this account.
“SCO worked with our faculty members to cover a wide range of course content to appeal to optometrists,” Snider said. “We plan to add more online video courses to expand our library in this format that has become increasingly popular with active professionals who need convenient access to educational content.”
Currently, the following courses are available:
- Amblyopia: Diagnosis and Treatment Made Simple, Marie Bodack, OD, FAAO, FCOVD, DiplBVPPO;
- Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension Update, Chris Borgman, OD, FAAO;
- Neovascular Glaucoma Update, Christopher Borgman, OD, FAAO;
- What’s “New” in Amblyopia Research, Patricia Cisarik, OD, PhD, FAAO;
- Sickle Cell Disease and its Ocular Manifestations, Lindsay Elkins, OD, FAAO,
- Injection Procedures for Primary Eye Care, Scott Ensor, OD, MS, FAAO;
- Rational Prescribing and Drug Diversion, Scott Ensor, OD, MS, FAAO;
- Ocular Surface Disease: Innovations in Clinical Care, Whitney Hauser, OD;
- Baby Steps to Eye Care for Infants and Young Children, Glen Steele, OD, FCOVD, FAAO;
- Hyperhomocysteinemia: Ocular Implications & Systemic Presentation, Daniel Taylor, OD, MS, FAAO.
In addition to the new video library, SCO’s CE program also hosts Spring and Fall educational events on the college’s campus, as well as “destination CE” events as part of the college’s commitment to offering COPE-approved CE courses for alumni and other optometrists.
Founded in Memphis in 1932, SCO is an independent, not-for-profit institution of higher education with more than 525 students and residents from 40 states. The college’s public clinic, The Eye Center at SCO, serves more than 60,000 patients annually as one of the nation’s largest clinics in optometric education. The college also operates University Eyecare, a full service clinic on the campus of the University of Memphis, and the TearWell Advanced Dry Eye Center with locations in Memphis.