SECO International 2005 registration begins November 1st. Registration brochures were mailed in late October and should be arriving to your practice soon! Take advantage of early registration discounts and a large selection of available education by registering before December 31, 2004. Save even more money by registering online; online registrants will receive a $25 coupon for purchases made in the Exhibit Hall (coupon is not available to mail or fax registrants). Visit the website to learn more about SECO 2005 before you register. Download the registration brochure, request a hardcopy of the brochure, view course information, approvals, and some of the latest highlights and exhibitor information.

SoCO and AFOS members - Your association mailed you a membership coupon valid for $50 off your registration fees! Your association would like to thank your for your support by giving you a coupon worth $50 off your SECO 2005 registration fees.

So you have just been hired or your employer wants you to cross-train with others in the practice. What do you do? Or Doctor, how do you train that new employee in the most efficient and cost effective manner?

To help the new ophthalmic employee or to refresh the skills of established staff, SECO 2005 will offer for the first time a series of courses designed to cover many of the skills required by the modern eye care office. There will be a total of seven one-hour courses. The topics are ophthalmic terminology, anatomy and physiology, telephone triage, age-specific history taking, acuity and color vision testing, optical dispensing, and chair-side assisting. Office Assisting 101 will be repeated on Saturday to allow attendees to take other courses and still complete this seven-course track. Those who complete all seven of the Office Assisting 101 courses at SECO 2005 will receive a certificate and press release via mail after SECO and will be recognized in the SECO 2006 Official Program.

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Need a vacation? Need continuing education credit for your licensure? Combine your needs and attend ACE 2005 in Birmingham, England, April 15-17, 2005. ACE 2005 will feature top UK and US speakers presenting COPE-approved education. Need more persuasion? Optrafair, one of Europe's largest optometric tradeshows, will run the 16-18 in the NEC next to ACE 2005. Still not convinced? Birmingham is located in the central part of the UK and near some of the most scenic areas in England including restored castles and Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. London is only a 2-hour train-ride away as well.

Don't miss out on this great opportunity to combine work and play!

Starting this fall, SECO will present a Grand Rounds from our Digital Grand Rounds. Test your diagnostic skills and see how quickly you can answer the question.

The purpose of DGR is to create a library of grand rounds that optometrists can research to improve their diagnostic skills. If you are interested in submitting a DGR of your own, you can submit your material online. Who knows, maybe your case will make it into Digital Grand Rounds!

This Month: CASE 161: A woman has a run-in with a horse...and loses.