The MOS presents Presentation Awards and Poster Prizes (at the Cyprus and the AGM Meetings) and the Antler Cup (at the Zermatt Meeting) each year.
Please find attached invitation and submission form for abstracts for the Junior Prize Presentation and Poster Awards to be held on the 4th October 2024 at the MOS AGM Meeting.
The Winter meeting of the MOS is a highlight of the season for many of us. A range of skiers have graced the meeting, from complete beginners to experts. The meeting is a heady mix of academia, skiing and fraternity. The group is friendly to newcomers and all are welcome, including non-skiers.
Professor Steve Vernon from Nottingham organised the first event in 2001 in Lillehammer, Norway. It was a runaway success and we have had an annual meeting ever since. It was held in Lillehammer for a further three years, then moved to France, when Monique Hope-Ross and Paul Chell took over the co-ordination. We visited Val d’Isere for three years and then onto our current town of Zermatt. Now Anthony O'Driscoll is organising the event.
The academic meetings are styled on updates. We have a conference room in the hotel and a chairman for each day. The updates include retina, anterior segment and glaucoma but also more esoteric subjects depending on the delegates’ expertise. All attendees are encouraged to present at the meeting, but some, including newcomers, may choose not to present. The meeting is accredited with up to 16 CPD points. We have the academic meetings in the afternoon, from 15.00 - 19.00, afterwards adjourning for dinner. Each year there is an Antler Cup winner, and also the Spagyrik Award for the greatest goof of the week.
Zermatt is a magnificent venue, with the backdrop of the Matterhorn. The mountain and its history dominate proceedings. The skiing is unrivalled. Zermatt is also very attractive to non-skiers and there are beautiful walks around the village. Travel to the resort is fairly straightforward - plane then train. We can book the conference hotel for you, or alternatively, you may arrange your own accommodation. There are usually around 20-25 attendees.
You may enjoy this poem, by Thomas Hardy. It refers to the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn, by Edward Whymper, an Englishman and his team in 1865. The Matterhorn was the last great Alpine peak to be climbed.
Zermatt to the Matterhorn
Thirty-two years since, up against the sun,
Seven shapes, thin atomies to lower sight,
Labouringly leapt and gained thy gabled height,
And four lives paid for what the seven had won.
They were the first by whom the deed was done,
And when I look at thee, my mind takes flight
To that day's tragic feat of manly might,
As though, till then, of history thou hadst none.
Yet ages ere men topped thee, late and soon
Thou watch'dst each night the planets lift and lower;
Thou gleam'dst to Joshua's pausing sun and moon,
And brav'dst the tokening sky when Caesar's power
Approached its bloody end: yea, saw'st that Noon
When darkness filled the earth till the ninth hour.
For more information please contact Anthony O'Driscoll on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. who will put you on the group mailing list and will put your name down for the accommodation at the Hotel Alex if desired. Most folks stay at the Hotel Alex but this is not imperative.
List of past Secretaries
Lt Col A Jacks
Miss G Thurairajan
Mr S Mirza
Miss S Mollan
Miss J Edwards
Mr T Sharma
Miss R Morjaria
List of past Treasurers
Mr M Burdon
Miss H Palmer
Mr A Murray
Mrs R Robinson
List of past Trainee Reps
Dr N Burgess
Dr J Virdee
Dr H Bhatt
List of past presidents since establishment
Membership of the Midland Ophthalmological Society
Membership of the Midland Ophthalmological Society (MOS) is encouraged for both current and retired ophthalmologists residing / working in the East or West Midlands and surrounding counties. Members who move away from the region may retain their membership if they wish to do so.
Associate Membership is encouraged for non-ophthalmologists, such as medical students with an interest in Ophthalmology, Foundation Doctors and Allied Health Professionals, such as nurses, orthoptists, optometrists and visual scientists/ technicians. Associate members will have all the benefits of full membership but not voting rights.
The council of the MOS consists of a President, a Treasurer, two Secretaries and two Trainee Representatives, who are responsible for the conduct of the educational meetings and other activities relating to the MOS.
Membership fee and benefits
You can become a member/ associate member by completing the membership form. This can be downloaded using the link below. Your completed form needs to be submitted to Juliette Edwards, by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The membership fee is £75 per annum for members and £45 per annum for associate members, to be paid by Go Cardless direct debit subscription only, using the following links:
Members
https://pay.gocardless.com/AL00064HHW915B
Associate Members
https://pay.gocardless.com/AL00064HHYQHV6
The details of your bank/building society are required.
By becoming a member/ associate member you will be kept informed of and will be eligible to attend 3 educational meetings a year, held on a Friday in February/March, June/July and October. These events have Royal College of Ophthalmologists approval, with 6 CPD points typically awarded.
Trainees and non-consultant career grade doctors are invited to submit abstracts for the MOS Junior Awards each year, Academic and Clinical categories. Submissions will be shortlisted for presentation at the AGM held in October in Birmingham, the winners being selected by a judging panel and awarded a bursary. Poster submissions will be shortlisted for exhibition at the October meeting also, where they will be judged by a panel, the winner also receiving a bursary.
Members will also be kept informed regarding the annual Winter meeting in Switzerland and the annual Summer meeting in Cyprus.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATES:
Increase in Membership Subscription Fees from 6th April 2023
Please read letter to membership announcing new trainee representatives in post.
New Trainee Representatives in Post, 23rd October 2022
Please read letter to membership announcing new trainee representatives in post.
Call for Nominations for Role of Trainee Representative, 27th August 2022
Please read call for expressions of interest for roles of trainee representative, deadline 30th September 2022.
Letter to Trainees from President Elect, 28th June 2022
Please read letter advising of change to the Midlands trainees attending MOS meetings taking effect from 7th October 2022.
Letter to Members from President, 16th May 2020
Please click here to read letter from the President of the Midland Ophthalmological Society, in response to COVID-19 crisis.
Associate Membership, 3rd July 2019
Please click here to read letter from the President of the Midland Ophthalmological Society, regarding membership vote results and subsequent opening of the Associate Membership category in July 2019.
Privacy Policy, 24th October 2018
Please click here to read the Midland Ophthalmological Society Privacy Policy, written in response to the General Data Protection Ruling (GDPR) of May 2018.
Standing Orders Update, 15th February 2018
Please read letter advising the need for members to cancel standing orders themselves.
Membership Update, 18th August 2017
Please read letter advising of changes to the MOS Membership taking effect from 1st October 2017.
Click Here to download Membership Application Form