PAAO Leadership Course

Curso de Liderazgo celebrates its 20th anniversary //

Celebrate

Creating Leaders

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Pan-American’s Curso de Liderazgo (leadership course) brought together 17 young ophthalmologists from the Americas, Spain and Portugal, in a training course that took place January 13-15, 2023, in San Francisco, California. PAAO partners with the American Academy of Ophthalmology and its Leadership Development Program (LDP).

Speaker Marsheila Devan: Presentation skills and techniques

work sessions

Learning New Skills

In the January work sessions, Curso participants spent three days with interactive work sessions, including ethics and professionalism, advocacy, team building, media relations, effective meetings, and presentations. PAAO Curso participants and AAO LDP participants took advantage of the time outside sessions to network informally and see a little bit of San Francisco.

One of the focal points of Curso de Liderazgo is that each participant must create and execute a project that will benefit their society and their community. The best project of each class receives a prize that was created by PAAO Past President, Dr. Richard L. Abbott. The Rich & Chita Abbott Endowment Fund funds the prize.

Dr. Zelia Correa was the international participant of the AAO’s LDP program 20 years ago, and she created the PAAO Curso de Liderazgo as her project. Serving as the program director over this timespan, the Pan-American’s Curso de Liderazgo has graduated more than 250 students from 31 countries worldwide. Dr. Peter Quiros will become the new program director in 2023.

See this year's class

PAAO Curso and AAO LDP visit the AAO offices.

Speaker Jim Trunick:
Effective personal and meeting planning

Speaker Zelia Correa MD PhD: Ethics

Work sessions

Networking

Together All Weekend

When the sessions are over Curso and LDP participants spend time doing activities together. From the Truhlsen-Marmor Museum of the Eye and a walking tour of San Francisco to dinners with faculty, time together allows for networking and builds lifelong friendships.