Professional Development and Education Committee

• Review ARVO’s strategic plan and consider its goals when making decisions on developing or approving educational offerings.
• Conduct needs assessment to determine topics for online learning, including webinars and online courses (finalize topics and delivery format 18 months out).
• Develop new criteria and scoring for member content submitted for consideration for face-to-face and/or online delivery (non-Annual Meeting).
• Oversee call for proposals and once per year review members’ course content submissions. Participate in a conference call to finalize selection of full- and half-day Saturday courses, which are held in conjunction with the ARVO Annual Meeting.
• Select course organizers and/or speakers to work with ARVO staff to develop and implement programs through ARVOLearn. Solicit additional organizers and/or speakers to address educational needs not met via the proposal process.
• A PDEC member is assigned as an advisor to each organizer of a Saturday full- or half-day course to provide guidance regarding course development policies and procedures, as well as best practices in course design. This involves one conference call, online interaction with course organizers and communication with the ARVO staff liaison.
• Review member proposals for small meetings and conferences, relaying to the Board of Trustees those recommended for additional consideration.
• The PDEC chair (and/or chair-elect) reviews workshop proposals from ARVO committees to ensure appropriateness for the Annual Meeting and recommends changes when final topics are duplicated across proposals to avoid redundancy of content.
• Review education and training program activity evaluations to measure overall success and apply insights to future course decisions.
• Work with staff liaison to stay abreast of trends in education delivery methods to determine the best mechanisms to educate a global audience.
• Work with staff liaison to provide a written report to the Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled meeting each spring.

In compliance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) guidelines, PDEC committee members may not be owners or employees of ACCME-defined ineligible companies.

The Committee communicates regularly through a private ARVOConnect community and meets face-to-face during the Annual Meeting. In addition, the committee meets by conference call in August. Additional online meetings may be called as deemed necessary by the Committee Chair.

The 2025 application period will open Dec. 2

To be considered for membership on the Committee, please submit an online application consisting of an application statement, plus details of past ARVO service and/or experience. It is recommended that individuals:

• Invest time in their application
• Make sure their member information is updated and accurate in ARVOConnect

The ARVO President-elect will make appointments in February/March for the term beginning in May 2026 (additional details will be announced at a later date).