The International Orthoptic Association Education Grant

One of the aims of the IOA is to spread and support the science of orthoptics worldwide. The IOA Education Grant was established with this in mind. The grant was first presented at the Xth International Orthoptic, Congress in Melbourne, Australia (2004).

The IOA Education Grant endeavours to provide financial help to an orthoptist from a non IOA member country, so that he/she may gain professional advancement by attending the next international congress. The candidate must be sponsored by an IOA representative and have received some training from an IOA orthoptist. The candidate is required to present a plan of how he/she intends to share knowledge with other colleagues when returning home.

The IOA Council of Management has awarded the IOA Education Grant for 2012 to be shared jointly by Ayesha Sarfraz and Hamza Ali. Ayesha and Hamza are orthoptists who hold academic positions in the orthoptic program at the King Edward Medical University and Mayo Teaching Hospital, in Lahore, Pakistan. Both have enhanced their orthoptic education by engaging in orthoptic fellowships at Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, England and the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Canada. They are well deserving of this award, and we look forward to their research presentation at the Toronto Congress.