Dear Colleagues,
The 53th National Congress of Turkish Ophthalmology Association will take place at Rixos-Sungate Hotel and Convention Center in Kemer, our heavenly Antalya’s beautiful town, between 6-10 November 2019, with the contributions of İzmir, one of our distinguished branches. Rixos-Sungate Hotel and Convention Center in which we organized our several National Congresses with success in previous years and which were renovated to a large extent a short time ago provides an excellent choice for Our Congress in today’s difficult economic conditions with its reasonable prices as well. With the use of approximately 800 rooms it provides, Rixos-Sungate Hotel fulfills the accomodation need on a large extent and creates a significant advantage in terms of the comfort of our members.
Because of both vast limitations implemented by the Ministry of Health on congress sponsorships recently and reductions in the budgets of industrial firms in these challenging economic conditions, Congress organizations requires to develop alternative plans and manage the budget in the most efficient way possible. As you know, lately a number of medical congresses in other branches have been carried out either with getting much smaller or cancelled. As TOD, we managed to carry out our scientific meetings without any reduction or cancellation until now. In order to overcome these aforementioned difficulties and also present to you a scientific and social programme by scheduling it flawlessly, we make preparations in a busy pace and in a way to take measures against all possible scenarios.
Including many features of our other meetings, Our National Congress has the characteristics of a feast in which our colleagues share their know-how, experiences, manners fulfilling their longings with each other within the social programmes while forming a brotherhood by meeting with new colleagues. Our Congress offers an important opportunity about the training of Opthalmologists which is one of the most significant purposes of our Association. Performing information-transfer with our colleagues who are invited from abroad and well-known in their field, we also find the opportunity to show the contemporary level of Opthalmology of our country and our National Congress to our foreign colleagues. We all agree that foreign speakers will give a novel touch to our Congress. Medical industry, one of the fundamental elements of scientific development, comes together with doctors who are the operators of medicine in the elite environment of our congress and new ideas and horizons arise out of the opinion exchange that is created here. We see the role of the close collaboration of the Opthalmology Industry based on transparent, principled, mutual respect with our Association in the success of our congress and meetings with pleasure.
So as for the scientific and social programme of our Congress to be flawless and be a success in every way, all Our Units and the organization company work in harmony and with all their strength under the coordinatorship of National Congress Organization Comittee. I thank them wholeheartedly. I thank in advance to the companies that will contribute for our National Congress which has been the main focus of our industry with its success proven for years, with their various sponsorships this year as well.
Our Congress which will begin on the first day with Unit Advanced Education Programmes (BILEP) will offer a diverse and rich scientific programme with activities some of which are interactive such as Panels, Courses, Industry-Assisted Meetings (Satellite Symposium, Consult its Expert, Industry Research Meeting), Keynote Conferences, Verbal Notice sessions, BAKs, Honour Conferences, SOE Conferences, FFA Club and foreign speaker meetings. Our young Ophtalmologists whom we see as our future will be together with foreign guests on their own time in a meeting room assigned for them and they will be able to find the opportunity of both discussing scientific topics in detail and building important friendships which will provide important benefits in international relations. For you to relieve your tiredness after an intense scientific meeting, to fulfill your longing with your friends and make new friendships, our social committee organizes an appealing social programme diligently.
Dear colleagues, our Congress gains meaning and reaches its aim with your precious participations. You will enliven our Congress with your scientific studies you will send to our Congress, your contribution to the scientific discussions and your being in the social environments.
Special thanks to UKOK which worked with all its power in order to carry out our 53th Congress in a way to be worthy of its glorious history as in our previous Congresses, to Our Units, to the opthalmology industry which supports the Congress, to the Global organization company and convention center authorities who worked with all their efforts in order for our Congress to be flawless, to all of my Colleagues who will honour us with their participation to our Congress, I deliver my gratitude and blessings in the name of Turkish Opthalmology Family.
I am happy and honoured to invite you all to our 53th Congress, the most important and the largest activity of the Turkish Opthalmology Association.
Hoping to meet you at the TOD 53. National Congress.
With love and respect,
Prof. Dr. Osman Şevki Arslan
President of Congress
Turkish Opthalmology Association Chairman
On behalf of TOD MYK
My Dear Colleagues,
I am very honored and happy to invite you to 53rd National Congress organized by our İzmir Branch at the 91st anniversary of Turkish Ophthalmology Association.
The national congress is the largest and most extensive meeting organized by our association, which brings together all the ophthalmologists of our country under the same roof since about the founding of our Republic. As it always has been it was meticulously organized by the National Congress Organizing Committee, aiming at development and high quality thanks to feedback received from our members. Strabismus, Oculoplastic, Neuroophthalmology, Ocular Oncology and Uvea-Behçet departments were decided to be included in as part of the Department Advanced Training Programs (BİLEP), which is held on the first day of the congress. Thus, our program will be richened in addition to traditional honorary conferences, panels, interactive meetings, Skill Transfer Courses (BAK) and “Keynote” meetings that include presentations made by foreign speakers. We will have a chance to renew our knowledge of ophthalmology thanks to these presentations made by expert scientists. In addition to this, the program will include oral report sessions where many of our colleagues share their scientific studies.
This year, last day of the congress coincides with eighty-first anniversary 10th of November on which day the Our Great Leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk has left for eternity and we feel this loss every year. Thus, on November 10, 2019, together with all of our colleagues, we will remember our great leader on this meaningful day.
Aside from being places where we renew our knowledge, congresses have always been places where we get out of intensive routine life and meet our old friends, get to know new people and where we have the opportunity to have fun and rest after scientific sessions. I am sure that we will experience the same feeling with the event program prepared by us for our social committee at Rixos Sungate Hotel and Congress Center, which is a congress center that we all know very well.
I would like to thank all department executive boards that have supported the preparation of scientific program of our National Congress and our esteemed scientists that share their knowledge with us by working at these programs, our dear colleagues who will make presentations, industrial companies that have contributed to our congress and organization company of our congress, Global on the behalf of National Congress Organization Committee (UKOK) and TOD İzmir Branch.
I sincerely believe that we will conclude our congress with highest level of scientific satisfaction and good memories and I greet you all with respect.
Prof. Dr. Aylin Yaman
TOD İzmir Branch President
Congress Vice President
