To ensure that the audience is receptive to your presentation and no one is offended by prejudicial remarks, speakers at Academy educational programs and functions may not make denigrating statements about race, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, sexual preference, physical abilities or other personal attributes.
Responsibilities and Penalties
A program participant will be notified of disciplinary action for any of the following:
You will be prohibited from participating in the program for up to two years after the first offense and for up to five years after the second offense.
Optometrist Participation
Subspecialty Day
The Academy does not permit attendance by optometrists or participation by optometrists as a presenting/senior author at Subspecialty Day. Any outline/presentation submitted with an optometrist listed as senior author/instructor will not be accepted for presentation. An optometrist may be listed as a co-author on a paper/poster abstract.
Annual Meeting
Members of the American Academy of Optometry may submit instruction course and paper/poster abstracts as an instructor/author to the Academy's annual meeting. The submission must include at least one Academy Fellow or Member or Candidate for Membership as an instructor/author.
Policy for Payment of Honorarium
The Academy does not pay honoraria or travel/housing expenses in exchange for work provided by member or nonmember volunteers in educational programs or educational product development.
Scientific Integrity and Disclosure of Financial Interest
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is committed to ensuring that all continuing medical education (CME) information is based on the application of research findings and the implementation of evidence-based medicine. It seeks to promote balance, objectivity and absence of commercial bias in its content. All persons in a position to control the content of this activity must disclose any and all financial interests. The Academy has mechanisms in place to resolve all conflicts of interest prior to an educational activity being delivered to the learners. Find more information about Your Role in CME.
The Academy requires all presenters to disclose on their first slide whether they have any financial interests from the past 24 months. Presenters are required to verbally disclose any financial interests that specifically pertain to their presentation. Find more information about Financial Disclosure and First Slide Policy.