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LEADING OFF: New Partnerships, Award Winners and Council President Announced at SECO 2022

By: OM staff
Optometric Management April 1, 2022 Vol 57, Issue April 2022 Page(s): 18, 55

In addition to presenting high-quality CE and Optometry’s Marketplace Exhibit Hall, SECO 2022, which occurred March 9 to March 13 in New Orleans and virtually, announced new partnerships, award winners, and a new president.

Capping off a successful meeting, the final special session of SECO International was the return of “The Great Dry Eye Raft Debate,” featuring the all-star panel shown above (from left): Drs. Selena McGee, Milton Hom (moderator), April Jasper, Len Brown, and Bobby Saenz. In the session, panelists were marooned on an island debating what dry eye treatments work best. Using interactive polling, the audience voted on each panelist’s presentation.Photo courtesy of Dr. Paul Ajamian.

  • Partnerships. The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) and Johnson & Johnson Vision announced they were joining forces to address the need for more diversity in the profession through the “Eye on Diversity” initiative. This initiative will address three main goals:
    1. Build awareness of the optometric profession as a valued and rewarding career choice.
    2. Provide encouragement, resources and support to faculty and administrators in creating an inclusive organizational culture.
    3. Support culturally competent training that allows students to provide quality care to a more diverse population of patients.
    Another partnership that was announced at the annual meeting “developed for the profession by the profession” was an expansion of SECO’s relationship with the National Academy of Opticianry (NAO) to offer a dedicated educational track for opticians at SECO 2023, which will occur at the Georgia World Congress Center, in Atlanta. Specifically, the NAO track will include pertinent topics, such as spectacle education, and networking and social events.
  • Contact lens. Alcon officially launched DAILIES TOTAL1 for Astigmatism. See “What’s New” p.54, for more information.
  • Award winners. SECO recognized the following optometric leaders for their “significant” contributions to the profession: Dr. Sidney Stern, 2022 Optometrist of the South Award; Dr. Tiffany Li McElroy, 2022 Young Optometrist of the South Award; Samantha Denton, 2022 Paraoptometric of the South Award; Dr. Stan Dickerson, 2022 President’s Award; and Dr. Tammy Than, 2022 President’s Award. For additional information on the awardees, visit bit.ly/3tZc7S7 .
  • Games. “The Great Dry Eye Raft Debate” returned with an all-star panel marooned on an island debating dry eye treatments.
  • Council president. SECO International elected Dr. Christine Cook as its president. Dr. Cook earned her Doctor of Optometry/Cum Laude at Southern College of Optometry and currently owns and practices at The Eye Specialists in Virginia Beach, Va. She is a Diplomate of the American Board of Optometry and a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry. She is also a member of the Ameri-can Optometric Association and committee member of Optometry Cares – The AOA Foundation. OM

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