Abstract
Purpose: To explore the contribution of the International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE) towards the status of CL education in Asia. Method: In the early nineties contact lens (CL) education was not standardized in Asia. IACLE’s projects include providing a comprehensive IACLE CL Curriculum (ICLC), the biannual IACLE Accreditation Exam, educational meetings and “train-the-trainer” programmes, as well as student trial exams. Results from these initiatives were analysed for a ten year period with results of an IACLE membership survey. Results: IACLE has established 118 Resource Centers in Asia, all of which make use of the IACLE curriculum (ICLC). IACLE reaches 8728 students and the student trial exam has a steadily increasing pass rate of students in China by 12%, in India by 32% and in Korea by 20%. The pass rate of educators participating in the accreditation exam has increased by 8%. The number of CL patients seen before graduation by a student have increased to: India 70 (SCL: 41, RGP: 29), China 16 (SCL: 10, RGP: 6) and Korea 39 (SCL: 21, RGP: 18). Students at the schools surveyed can detect most of the CL complications presented: India (68%), China (60%) and Korea (53%). Conclusions: IACLE has played an important role in standardizing and improving CL education across not well regulated Asian countries. Establishing a very strong educational base is essential in ensuring that future practitioners confidently fit and manage their contact lens patients.
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