January 15-18, 2025
Horseshoe Las Vegas 
 
 
 

CE Breakout and Workshop Guidelines
Submissions Open March 4, 2024


PRINTER FRIENDLY GUIDELINES


The GSLS Program Committee invites you to submit one-hour continuing education (CE) breakout courses and two-hour CE workshops courses for consideration for the GSLS 2025, which will take place January 15-18, 2025, at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. The submission window will close at 5:00pm ET on Thursday, April 4, 2024. No late submissions will be considered.

The GSLS Program Committee seeks the submission of new and innovative courses on all aspects of contact lenses (such as materials, designs, lens care) in addition to related topics such as corneal and ocular surface disease, diagnosis and treatment approaches, myopia management and practice management.

 

CE BREAKOUTS (one-hour, COPE approved CE)

  • All one-hour CE breakout submissions must be submitted with no more than two presenters.
  • Submissions are for one-hour courses only. Two-hour courses are not accepted.
  • CE breakout submissions must be in outline format and COPE compliant including the following:
    • Outline must be 1.5 - 2 pages in length and should include each instructor name, address, phone number, email address and clearly identified course title. Course description and objectives do not count towards the page length.
    • Outlines and lectures must be free of commercial interest in compliance with COPE guidelines (no brand names, or product specific labels). Failure to comply will likely lead to automatic rejection. 
    • Course description of 35 words or less. 
    • List 3-4 learning objectives. 
    • Outlines should have sufficient detail to permit either the participant or an observer the ability to clearly follow along throughout the presentation. An outline can be considered sufficiently detailed if an observer is able to enter the presentation after 5 - 10 minutes and be able to identify where the presenter is in the outline. There should be enough detail in the outline such that course participants may use the document as a reference tool subsequent to the lecture. 

 

  

CE WORKSHOPS (two-hour, COPE approved CE)

  • All two-hour CE workshops submissions must be submitted with no more than five presenters.
  • Workshops may or may not involve patients and live demonstrations but are generally intended to be very clinical in nature.
  • The GSLS will ensure that a video slit-lamp biomicroscope is available, if needed. Other equipment or supplies (e.g., fluorescein, contact lenses, topographers) needs to be sourced and coordinated by the workshop presenters in coordination with the GSLS meeting staff. 
  • Workshop submissions must be in outline format and COPE compliant including the following:
    • Outline must be 3-4 pages in length and should include each instructor name, address, phone number, email address and clearly identified course title. Course description and objectives do not count towards the page length
    • Course description of 35 words or less. 
    • List 3-4 learning objectives. 
    • Outlines should have sufficient detail to permit either the participant or an observer the ability to clearly follow along throughout the presentation. An outline can be considered sufficiently detailed if an observer is able to enter the presentation after 5 - 10 minutes and be able to identify where the presenter is in the outline. There should be enough detail in the outline such that course participants may use the document as a reference tool subsequent to the lecture.
    • Outlines and lectures must be free of commercial interest in compliance with COPE guidelines (no brand names, or product specific labels). Failure to comply will likely lead to automatic rejection.

GENERAL GUIDELINES

  • If accepted, the presenters must attend the GSLS in person to present their lecture/workshop in person. Presenters must bring their own laptop for their presentation (rooms will be supplied with microphones and LCD projectors).
  • The presenters will be provided with a modest honorarium, host hotel accommodations for the night before and night of their presentation and registration to the conference but be otherwise responsible to fund his/her attendance to the conference.
  • All submissions should contain the content of the presenter and not infringe on existing copyrights, intellectual property, materials of other ownership, or other restrictions.
  • COPE guidance on course outlines can be found here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/arbo.org/public/COPE_Course_Qualification_Manual.pdf
  • The lecture or workshop must be conducted per current ARBO COPE CE guidelines including the absence of advertising or promoting products including the absence company and product logos. If this policy is violated, the presenter(s) will not be asked to speak at GSLS for 3 years and will lose their honoraria.
  • Financial disclosure information must be included with the course submission and also presented at the time of presentation if the course is selected so that conflicts of interested can be evaluated and managed appropriately.
  • A speaker who is an employee of an ineligible company must comply with COPE guidelines on presentation topic including: 
    • When the content of the activity is not related to the business lines or products of their employer/company.
    • When the content of the accredited activity is limited to basic science research, such as pre-clinical research and drug discovery, or the methodologies of research, and they do not make care recommendations.
    • When they are participating as technicians to teach the safe and proper use of medical devices, and do not recommend whether or when a device is used.
  • For CE submissions that contain original research:
    • Any original research that is presented and involving human subjects must have been conducted in accordance with the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki and with adherence to any applicable national and local human subjects research requirements. Consistent with the National Institutes of Health guidelines, if the number of human subjects in the study exceeds three, Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval must be obtained. The authors cannot automatically assume that certain studies are exempt from IRB review. Only an IRB can determine if a specific study fulfills the exempt status.
    • Any original research presented involving the use of animals must be conducted in accordance with international standards for animal treatment and care (e.g. the Society of Neurosciences and ARVO statements on the use of animals in research) as well as any applicable regulatory requirements. If the work submitted involves the use of animals, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval must have been obtained.