Sherif
R. El-Defrawy, MD, PhD, FRCSC, President |
|
I am honoured
to serve the COS as President and to be associated with a tremendous
Board of Directors comprised of volunteers who contribute their
valuable time to ophthalmology. I look forward to working with
my colleagues on the Board to accomplish many things over the
next two years.
I would like to introduce more frequent
communications to keep members better informed and to invite
feedback to help the Board with important issues. This will
be accomplished through a quarterly newsletter and a re-evaluation
of the Society’s use of electronic media.
Secondly, I would like to see the COS
have a more visible presence as we attempt to meet our overall
mission and in terms of vision health generally. In this respect,
the Board will work towards the development of a five-year strategic
plan and re-examine the organizational structure to ensure that
COS is more responsive as we try to meet the challenges that
will face our specialty over the next several years.
The emphasis in strategy development will
be on action (i.e. what needs to be done) rather than process.
My view is that the strategic planning process should focus
the attention of the Board on making decisions that direct action
going forward in two important time periods — the next
year and the next three to five years. I hope the process will
culminate in concrete action plans in three key areas: 1) the
image of the profession and the role the COS can play; 2) influence
of the COS on key markets and publics such as government, industry,
other physicians, media; and 3) income, both direct and indirect.
As part of the process, we will examine past and current communications
and programming by COS; competitor/comparator analysis with
particular emphasis on other eye care professions; current perceptions
of the profession among the public, media, the government and
industry; critical review and analysis of COS mission, vision
and mandate as well as budget allocations and business plans;
issue analysis of eye health and contiguous health matters.
Finally, the Board will continue to work
closely with its Council and Committee members to ensure the
quality of the MaintCert program, the CJO and the Annual Meeting
— the Society’s most tangible and successful programs.
I look forward to my term as President,
and I invite all members to share their ideas, suggestions and
concerns with me. |
