The ICO Three-Month Fellowships help promising young ophthalmologists from low-resource countries to improve their practical skills and broaden their perspectives of ophthalmology.  Fellows are expected to bring the acquired knowledge and skills back to their home country and take part in programs to preserve and restore vision.

• Award:  US$ 6000 (maximum) to help cover living expenses and return travel. The exact amount is subject to actual student-style living expenses in the host country.
• Approximately 60-90 three-month fellowships are awarded each year.
• For applications submitted by the 31 March deadline, the fellowship is awarded and notices are sent out in July.  The earliest start date is 1 October of the same year. 
• For applications submitted by the 30 September deadline, the fellowship is awarded and notices sent out in January.  The earliest start date is 1 April of the same year.

Requirements:

• Residency training must be completed before applying for the fellowship.
• Specialist exam in ophthalmology must be successfully passed.
• Applicant must be under 40 years of age at the time of applying.
• Applicants are permanently based and work in a low-resource country.
• Applicant must return to home country after the training, resume previous positions, and apply the knowledge gained during the fellowship.
• Applicant must be reasonably fluent in the language of the fellowship training center.
• The ICO recommends that candidates pass one or more ICO Exams.  We consider this in the assessment of applications.
• Applicants from countries with ophthalmologic societies that are Members of the ICO will receive special consideration.