Contamac has announced that the Contact Lens of the Americas Specialist Symposium (CLASS) 2024 will kick off for the first time in the United States.
Give me a rundown on CLASS first.
Launched in 2018, the CLASS program is a comprehensive initiative based on the most current scientific and clinical studies of specialty contact lens fittings for vision care and specialty contact lens industry professionals in Latin America.
Previous years’ events have taken place in-person (with the 1,000+ attended symposium held in Bogota, Colombia) and virtually (held over 49 days with 200+ presentations and 40,000 users worldwide).
Who sponsors it?
The initiative is sponsored by Contamac, the England-based, largest independent manufacturer of contact lens and intraocular lens (IOL) materials as well as developer of specialist polymers and biocompatible materials for medical applications.
Gotcha. Talk more about the purpose of this program.
CLASS provides a symposium featuring global industry sponsors and international expert speakers, including a series of ophthalmology talks on a range of ocular health and contact lens topics.
So what’s new?
According to Contamac, a CLASS Workshops program will continue to be held throughout 2023, followed by the inaugural launch of the CLASS USA event in Fall 2024.
What other updates to know?
Contamac also announced that, starting in 2024, Maureen Trusky of Mo.Events LLC will take over management of CLASS as part of the initiation to expand the program into North America.
And the educational content?
Visionary Medical Education (VME), an approved administrator of the Council on Optometric Practitioner Education (COPE), has been appointed as the official educational partner of CLASS 2024.
Through VME, COPE-accredited education will be offered to attendees.
Per VME President Michael S. Cooper, OD, “My chief goal will be to elevate and innovate the education experience for attendees from start to finish.”
What happens after 2024?
Contamac and Mo.Events plan to bring CLASS back to Latin America in 2025.
Anything else to know?
Not yet! But stay tuned… more details about CLASS 2024 are expected to be released soon.