Support for students is particularly generous this year!

VDCO was able to support VDCO Young in many ways this year. The private supporters as well as sponsors from the industry also show great interest. The student representatives bring the VDCO Young together as a team to shape the future of the optometry profession.  They are made up of particularly committed students from German universities and the Cologne University of Applied Sciences. This year, 4 colloquia have already been held in the VDCO's online symposia by students and alumni. Another online meeting with the Ernst Abbe University is planned for November.

The successful symposia, in which Bachelor's and Master's graduates can present their valuable results of their final thesis, will be continued in 2022.The interest on the part of the students as well as the participants is very high. 
The financial support together with the VDCO to promote young talent in the profession has increased enormously. The support programme was launched by VDCO in 2017 and in 2020/2021, of all years, in times of Corona, the focus is increasingly on the performance and valuable content and scientific achievements of our universities. Through VDCO's funding, the individual commitment of our young academics is shown.

At the colloquium of the Cologne College of Optometry, six students and alumni of the HFAK presented four different specialist topics on the anterior segment of the eye and then answered the questions of the participants. Dr. Stefan Bandlitz, lecturer at the HFAK, moderated the evening with a lot of sympathy and the VDCO Young, represented by Jessica Hein and Leonie Müller, introduced their school and thanked the VDCO edu-Point buyers.

The support programme for students and master students is financed by the purchase of VDCO edu-Points.

The following projects are financed from them: 
(1) Annual discounted participation to SICHT.KONTAKTE. For SICHT.KONTAKTE2021 online, participation was free of charge for VDCO student members. 

(2) Colloquia with German-speaking universities are organised in VDCO symposium. 2-4 alumni or students present the content of their outstanding theses, whereby knowledge of the alma mater is directly transported to the outside and the students can demonstrate their talent.

(3) In the VDCO Student-Forum, the voluntary VDCO Young student delegates organise a workshop for the annual SICHT.KONTAKTE by and for students. They invite international speakers and give their own lectures.

(4) OptoMEETry is a workshop organised by VDCO Young that takes place once a year at a university. In a joint workshop "Optometry of the Future", the students talk about concerns as well as goals around the profession of optometrist.  The results are then presented in the plenary hall of the following SICHT.KONTAKTE.

(5) The VDCO student delegates hold online meetings and also meet once a year for a professional exchange and to get to know the new student delegates.

• Alcon Vision Care, Aschaffenburg
• CooperVision, Eppertshausen
• Essilor, Freiburg
• Oculus, Wetzlar
• Optima, Hallbergmoos
• Topcon Deutschland Medical, Willich
• Wilfried Bruns // Brillenhaus Bruns, Westerstede
• Robert Fetzer // Augenoptik Fetzer, Moosburg an der Isar
• Stefan Baldus //optik baldus GmbH, Langgöns
• Iris Block // Iris Optik & Akustik, Bad Belzig
• Christian Kochniss // KOCHNISS Der Augenoptiker am Dom e.K., Wetzlar
• Serge Milbert // Optique Milbert Sàrl, Remich, Luxemburg
• Monika Nagel // Augen Optik Monika Nagel, Dettenheim
• Dr. Heiko Pult // Horst Riede GmbH, Hemsbach
• Ulrike Rattunde // Berufsförderungswerk Halle, Halle (Saale)
• Georg Scheuerer // Optik Scheuerer, Taufkirchen (Vils)
• Jörg Schirner // Blickpunkt Optik, Berlin
• Andreas Wilhelm // Wilhelm | sie werden sehen…
• Reinhard Fröhlich, Opticon Contactlinsen, Saarbrücken
• Maarten Hobé, Optik Akustik Engelmann & Hobé GmbH, Düsseldorf
• Mandy Marchwart, Augenoptik Marchwat, Eberswalde
• Ernst-Oskar Modrow, Berlin
• Frank Widmer, Freiburg
• Magdalena Sturm, Lenzkirch
• Rolf Engelke, Neukirchen-Vluyn
• Tobias Ecke, Dresden
• Matthias Fleck, Aue-Bad Schlema
• Friedrich Tringler, Wien, Österreich
• Marc Frankhausen, Bern, Schweiz
• Dr. Jan Skerswetat, Boston, USA

The first meeting of the student delegates since the end of 2019 was about getting to know each other between the office, the student representatives and the first chair Stephan Hirschfeld. In addition, upcoming projects, such as their own presentations at SICHT.KONTAKTE2021 and the postponed OptoMEETry 2.0 in Berlin, were discussed in greater detail. "After several online meetings, it was wonderful for us student representatives to finally meet in person and to be able to define the cornerstones of our work.“

At the beginning of the year, the VDCO standardised the awarding of continuing education points together with the partners German Quality Association for Optometric Services (GOL) and Swiss professional association for ophthalmic optics and optometry (SBAO). In future, members of these three associations will receive COE points (COE = Continuing Optometric Education) on the basis of a uniform award system. All full members and honorary members of the VDCO have a continuing education obligation. To receive the annual VDCO continuing education badge, at least 10 COE points must be proven in one year. If more than 10 COE points have been achieved, they can be carried over to the following year. More details on the awarding of COE points for your continuing education can be found at www.vdco.de.