VOSC
The VOSC offers a unique opportunity to interact with medical and veterinary ophthalmic surgeons with extensive experience in the operating room and surgical technique instruction. The course is restricted to maximally 15 attendees at a time. This high ‘student’-mentor ratio creates a unique opportunity for surgeons of a variety of levels of proficiency to review and improve surgical techniques that span from eyelid reconstruction to glaucoma shunts.
The exceptional setting of the VOSC allows the surgeon to reflect on every step of the surgical techniques discussed in a way other courses are not set up to do. Established veterinary surgeons with experience in ophthalmology, those who are developing their ophthalmic surgical skills, as well as residents and mentors of ECVO residency programs have all attended previous editions of the course.
The course started in 2016 in London and ran once yearly until 2019. The Covid pandemic prompted a 3-year hiatus that was followed by the fifth edition of the course in 2023. This edition was the first one to take place at the impressive Minimally Invasive Surgery Center of Jesús Usón (CCMIJU) in Cáceres, Spain.
The Center has several large surgery suites and state-of-the-art, cinema-style lecture halls. The surgery suite dedicated to ophthalmology offers each attendee an operating table, operating microscope, a tv camera with a television screen, as well as a set of surgical instruments. Mentors have a separate teaching station to carry out demonstrations and further instruction. The Center also counts with the support of a team of experienced laboratory staff that assist the tutors and students throughout the duration of the laboratories, on-site accommodation, and a canteen, where breakfast and lunches are provided. Return transport between Madrid airport and the Center in a modern (‘tour’) bus with A/C, Wi-Fi, and USB charging points is also included in the course.
Cáceres city center is a UNESCO Heritage Site in the province of Extremadura, and it is a short taxi drive away from the CCMIJU. Attendees may explore the beautiful, medieval city center on foot in their free time in the evenings for dinner.
