Welcome New Members
Congratulations on passing boards and earning a DACVO designation! ACVO welcomes and invites new Diplomates to become involved in the ACVO. The College provides many opportunities to assist with professional development, growth and the support from colleagues. ACVO is pleased to provide new Diplomates with complimentary membership until the end of this calendar year. Please contact the office with any questions or for additional assistance.
A list of full membership benefits is available to reference below. Dues renews every January for the following year. A reminder email and renewal letter are sent annually.
Professional Support Summary
ACVO provides its members a complimentary listing in the most-searched veterinary ophthalmology database in the world (make sure your information is correct!). It provides funding for credentialing programs to help grow the profession, educational programming and support, professional development opportunities, complimentary access to the Veterinary Ophthalmology journal for members and their residents, outreach to related ophthalmology organizations and rDVM institutions, industry education for research institutions, collaborative opportunities, and public relations resources for referring DVMs and the general public. The ACVO offers assistance to members seeking information, resources, and license appeals. To learn more about Maintenance of Certification be sure to review the ABVO's information.
Consider volunteering for a committee and becoming more involved.
Member Benefits
Learn more information about how your membership is working for you at the Member Benefits portion of the DACVO website.
Resources
COMPLIMENTARY EYE CHART
As a gift to all new members, The ACVO provides a complimentary eye chart poster mailed to the address listed in the membership portal. Additional copies are available for purchase.
Note pads with the same graphic are also available to members. Participants receive a complimentary copy at the annual conference or note pads may be purchased on the website.
MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY
The ACVO Membership Directory only exists in a digital format, accessible through the search functions on the website. Additional 'members-only' information will be shown under identifiable red text, only for members who are signed in. There is an option to print a formatted directory when signed into the portal (instructions here), the ACVO updates these PDF's on the website quarterly. Directory information is for members only, please do not distribute to non-members or vendors.
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE VIDEOS
ACVO has produced a couple videos that members may link to from their website or purchase (for higher resolution). These include the cataract informational video, the 'About ACVO' video, and some promotional Service Animal Event recordings.
Additionally surgical education videos are available for members and their residents only, use the ACVO group password to sign into these.
VIDEO LIBRARY - conference recordings on demand
Members may watch, search and share conference presentation recordings with residents or DVMs at their facility, on-demand. Each year ACVO adds current-year recorded presentations for members to access, regardless of attendance at the conference. Content is searchable across all years recorded, 2011 to current. The general sessions, Residents' Workshop, Keynote presenters, In-Depth presentations, Vitreous Society, Ocular Surface Disease and General Practitioners' courses are all available for free. The Sunday labs and/or masters-level courses are available for 2/3 the original rate. New members will receive an email with the log in information. Contact us for more information.
VENDOR MARKETPLACE
New to the member benefits area is a resource that will allow you to search for vendors, products, by key words, or sales persons. This is a valuable resource when trying to reach a conference vendor or if you're looking to make a purchase. Sign into your membership portal to access this search.
'MAGRANE'S HISTORY OF VETERINARY OPHTHALMOLOGY' BOOK
New Members should receive an email with a link to download this book, it is a comprehensive history of the development of the profession. Members can access the book digitally as well with the group password. Contact the office with any questions.
Communications
Member communications involve 4-5 e-newsletters annually and program announcements (conference and service animal). You may also receive ‘ACVO’ or ‘ABVO’ alert messages via email several times a year. For this reason, it is important to remember to update your membership portal when you have new contact information or email addresses. Annually one mailing is physicially mailed, it includes a slate of officers or information regarding bylaws votes.
Emails are delivered through an HTML editor, MailChimp. We encourage you to not ‘opt out’ of the MailChimp emails as this email list links to all the above notices; opting out of one will opt you out of all messages. We will not ‘spam’ you nor provide your email address to anyone or company.
Collaboration
LIST SERVES (ACVO & VOPH)
Currently ACVO manages two optional list serves, to be added you must contact the ACVO office for approval. The 'ACVO List Serve' is a members-only discussion group. Primarily discussion revolves around medicine, cases, treatments, recommendations for products, etc. Occasionally posts are made regarding ACVO-related announcements or issues. Please see this page for guidelines about posting policies.
ACVO also provides the optional ‘VOPH list serve'. This discussion group allows participation of ACVO/ECVO Diplomates and Residents, ophthalmologists in other countries with training similar to these organizations, and residents of these ophthalmologists. Participants must be pre-approved by emailing the ACVO office and providing credentials. ACVO members are automatically approved.
PHOTO SHARE BLOG
The ACVO also provides a blog where you can post a photo for discussion, then send notification to the list serve. Only approved ACVO or VOPH list serve participants are allowed to post, view or comment on content. This has a separate sign-in, contact the ACVO if you would like to view or post something.
ACVO App
NEW! AS A NEW MEMBER BENEFIT TO ACVO MEMBERS AND ABVO APPROVED RESIDENTS, YOU HAVE ACCESS TO ACVO’S NEW APP!
The ACVO Office has developed and launched its Membership App, providing members one button access to key areas of our websites and quick access to ACVO resources. Discover chat groups that will allow you to post photos and chat in separate groups, real time with members, residents and 1,200 VOPH list serve members from around the world.
Links include quick access to:
Chat groups for members only, residents, VOPH photo share, and closed committee groups
member searches for referrals at your fingertips
the vendor marketplace to help you quickly search for a product
member news blogs
social media assets
conference resources (more during the conference)
choose to allow push notices for important ACVO and ABVO announcements
This member benefit will provide private-access to chat groups for permitted individuals. You can easily see who has been given permission to access each chat group, and also personalize your profile with a photo and contact information if you so choose.
As part of an outreach effort, we have also provided selected access to all ABVO residents, and the pre-approved veterinary ophthalmology members of the VOPH who represent 1,200 of our esteemed colleagues around the world. Residents and the VOPH list serve community members will have more limited access but they have been provided their own chat groups that allow for real-time discussion and self-posting photos for discussion. Those photos remain private within the group and ownership of the photos remain with the owner, not ACVO nor any social media services. As a member of the ACVO you will have access to the member chat group, the VOPH group (if you're already a member of that list serve), and the closed-groups for committee and board members only.
Each user category has different access permissions. Residents will have limited access; members will have access to all resources.
Service Animal Eye Exams
This is a philanthropic event whereby screening eye exams are gifted to over 7,000 Service Animals annually. Over 300 Members of the ACVO choose to donate their time, staff and services to provide these free screenings.
We invite all members to participate in this award-winning program that reaches over 220Million annually. The event would not be successful without the generosity of our members and the financial support of our valuable sponsors. If you would like to sign-up to participate in the next event, please visit the program's website for annual deadlines and clinic tools.
New Member Events
We also welcome you to join us in the New Member activities planned at the ACVO conference that follows your boards. Please visit ACVOconference.org for specific details. Please be sure to send us your “thank you’s” and biographical information, so we may include them in the membership packet, which is provided to all members at the business meeting. Prior to the Business meeting you will receive your ABVO certificate. Guests are allowed to see you receive the certificate but must exit soon after they are handed out.
MATERIALS & FAQ's
The information below is provided as a quick reference for new Members of the ACVO.
Member Benefits
Learn more how your membership works for you!
When should dues be renewed to remain an active member?
Annually every December-January.
How do I update my information in the member portal?
Use this quick reference guide for using the portal to update information, add a profile photo, biography and more.
How do I sign up for an online subscription to the Veterinary Ophthalmology journal?
Beginning in 2017, the member dues form will provide each member with the option to purchase a printed subscription to the journal or receive the complimentary digital subscription. If you elect to receive the VO digitally online, you will be contacted by Wiley with instructions for creating an account.
Where can I find resources about starting my own practice?
As a new member interested in practice management, you may consider attending the 'Practice Management' course for specialty-specific information, held at the ACVO conference semi-annually.
Although the ACVO does not endorse any particular entity or organization for creating your own practice, materials have been passed along by past speakers on the subject. Please see this PDF for information & tips provided to the ACVO from past Practice Management course speaker, Dr. Charlotte Lacroix.