Academic programme

Programme at a glance

Invited international speakers

Complex eye surgery. Glaucoma and surgical complications, cataract & lens implant surgery

AI modelling in keratoconus (and AI modelling more generally) & the clinical areas (corneal transplantation, laser vision correction and refractive implants)

Vitreo-retina & uvea

Retinopathy of prematurity

Neuro-ophthalmology, ocular genetics, ocular inflammation/uveitis, ocular oncology & ocular trauma

Paediatric retina

Pre-congress masterclasses – Wednesday, 22 April 2026

Oculoplastic masterclass 1A
(10:00 – 13:00)

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

Sponsored by TBC

Cost R750 (early bird fee)
Refreshments and lunch included.
Medical Officers and Registrars may register at a discount of 50%

ROP masterclass 2A
(14:00 – 17:00)

Wednesday, 22 April 2026

Sponsored by TBC

Cost R750 (early bird fee)
Refreshments and lunch included.
Medical Officers and Registrars may register at a discount of 50%

Screening, imaging and treatment

Call for abstracts

Abstracts submission for the main Ophthalmology programme at OSSA 2026.

Before starting the submission process, please carefully read the criteria and conditions below.

• Only papers by Ophthalmologists and Registrars will be considered for presentations.
• Inclusion of abstracts into the programme require full payment of registration fees for the congress.
• Abstracts should be submitted before 22 August 2025. There is no possibility for late abstract submissions.
• All posters must be case reports or case series or any other type of scientific study (case control, cohorts, cross sectional etc), not just a topic.
• If you have not received acknowledgment of receipt of your abstract directly after submission, please e-mail the organisers.
• Authors will be informed of the acceptance of their abstracts by 30 September 2025. Confirmation will also be given as to whether it will be an oral or a poster presentation.
• Withdrawal of an abstract: In case you want to withdraw your abstract after submission, please send an e-mail before 30 September 2025 to ossacongress@rkcommunication.co.za
• Please visit the congress website to submit your abstract online or click this link.
• Only abstracts submitted via the online platform will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• When completing the online abstract submission form, please have your abstract in MS Word format ready to be uploaded. Only abstracts that are in line with the structure and guidelines stipulated below will be considered for inclusion in the academic programme.
• If you have any difficulty in submitting your abstract online, it is your responsibility to contact the congress organisers via e-mail.
• All expenses such as registration, travel and accommodation associated with the presentation of an abstract remain the responsibility of the presenter.
• Click here to upload your abstract.

Two options

1. Oral presentation: 10 minutes for presentation (discussion will take place at the end of the session).
2. Poster presentation: There will be a poster session during lunch on Saturday in the exhibition hall.

General guidelines

• Only Ophthalmologists & Registrars in Ophthalmology are invited to submit abstracts for consideration and inclusion in the Ophthalmology programme.
• Authors must state whether they wish their presentations to be considered as oral OR poster presentation or whether they would be prepared to do a poster presentation if their oral presentation cannot be accommodated. Please refer to the online submission link (link to be added in designed file).
• Abstracts should not exceed an A4 page and have a maximum of 400 words, excluding title, in MS Word format.
• The academic committee will make every effort to accommodate all qualified abstracts within the programme. Final determination of the type of presentation to be given and placement within the program will be the responsibility of the programme committee.
• Language: Abstracts must be written and presented in English. Careful typing and proofreading are essential. A programme like Grammarly could be helpful https://www.grammarly.com/.
  If accepted, the abstract will be published as submitted. Errors, misspellings, incorrect hyphenation, and deviations from the use of correct English will be glaringly apparent in the published abstract. Once the abstract is submitted, changes, corrections or rewording will not be possible.
• Images, tables and graphs: Images are not permitted, as they do not reproduce well. Brief and clear tables or graphs are accepted (maximum of 1 page). If the tables / graphs submitted exceed 1 page, those exceeding the limit will be excluded from publication.
• Standard abbreviations may be used without definition. Non-standard abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and placed in parentheses after the first use of the word or phrase.
• Papers will only be accepted on the understanding that the main author or a co-author will personally present the paper.
• Supplemental materials are not required, but you may provide information sheets to fellow attendees.
• Co-authors must agree with the results stated and have consented to be included as authors.
• Acceptance and presentation of oral presentations and posters require full payment of registration fees for the Congress.
• Further acknowledgement will be given where it is demonstrated that the research conducted has relevance to Africa and especially where someone has gone into the field to conduct research using practical clinical tools and methods.
• Case presentations will be considered as posters and not a paper / oral presentation.
• Where the results obtained have relevance for management decision-making in Africa this would further strengthen the presentation.
• All participants must disclose any significant financial interest or other relationships they may have with the manufacturers of commercial products discussed in their presentations, panel or written materials.
• OSSA will take it for granted that good clinical practice is observed in the conducting of all research. This applies especially to clinical studies involving patients and patient care and includes the understanding that the appropriate ethics committee approval had been secured.
• The Congress Organisers & OSSA accept no responsibility for copyright infringements.
• It is your responsibility to ensure that the organisers have received your abstract.

Structure of abstract

TITLE:

• Centre the TITLE in capital letters at the top of the page – use Arial font type (BOLD) and 14 font size.
• Authors should be listed by surname, followed by initials and affiliation (upper & lower case) – underlining the presenting author’s name.
  DO NOT include degrees, titles, institutional appointments or addresses. Do not use abbreviations.

Example:

A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIVAL CLOSURE AND THE ROTATIONAL CONJUNCTIVAL FLAP TECHNIQUES FOR PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Eksteen PJ, Stulting AA & Nel M
University of the Free State

BODY (Arial, 14 font size)

OBJECTIVES: State the main question / objective of the study / hypothesis tested

DESIGN & METHOD: Briefly describe the design of the study and how it was conducted, indicating sampling and inclusion criteria, sample size, treatment, duration of observations, etc.

RESULTS: Present the main results with an indication of variability (e.g. SD) and precision of comparison (e.g. 95% confidential intervals) where appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Limit the conclusion to those findings that are directly supported by the results. Implications and generalisations may be outlined briefly. Do not leave open lines between sections and do not indent headings. Headings should be underlined.

Preparation of posters

• Click here to download a suggested poster template from the website. It is NOT compulsory to use this template.
• Our suggestion would be to make an A0 (9 cm x 84.1cm) poster (Portrait style). As this is a standard size it is also more cost efficient when printing and laminating the poster.
• All posters should be laminated if they need to be used after the congress again. Unlaminated posters might get damaged when being removed from the poster boards.
  (Do not mount posters on heavy boards – these do not hang properly.)
• Please bring your poster to the congress office upon registration. The organisers are responsible for pasting your poster to the poster boards with double sided tape.
• Posters will be displayed from the Thursday morning till the Saturday.
  It is the responsibility of the presenter to remove his / her poster(s) on Saturday, 1525 April 202615 February 2025 by 10:00.
• Indicate the title of the presentation and its authors.
• Use block lettering for other portions of your presentation to add emphasis and easy readability.
• Keep illustrative material simple in using charts, graphs, drawings and pictures. Remember that illustrations must be viewed from 1 to 2 metres.
• Make captions brief, levels few and both clear.
• Make posters as self-explanatory as possible.
• Do not be overly ornate or artsy (this distracts from impact of your information).
• Do not make posters elaborate or costly, although it is necessary for posters to be made professionally.

Poster font sizes

• Text on the poster must be readable from a distance of 1 to 2 metres.
• The following font sizes work well:
• Titles: 72+
• Sub-titles: 54+
• Text 30+
• Sub-text 20+
• The actual font used can affect the appropriate font size: keep to a standard sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Trebuchet.

Structure of abstract

TITLE:

• Centre the TITLE in capital letters at the top of the page – use Arial font type (BOLD) and 14 font size.
• Authors should be listed by surname, followed by initials and affiliation (upper & lower case) – underlining the presenting author’s name.
  DO NOT include degrees, titles, institutional appointments or addresses. Do not use abbreviations.

Example:

A PROSPECTIVE COMPARATIVE STUDY BETWEEN THE
SIMPLE CONJUNCTIVAL CLOSURE AND THE ROTATIONAL CONJUNCTIVAL FLAP TECHNIQUES FOR PTERYGIUM SURGERY

Eksteen PJ, Stulting AA & Nel M
University of the Free State

BODY (Arial, 14 font size)

OBJECTIVES: State the main question / objective of the study / hypothesis tested

DESIGN & METHOD: Briefly describe the design of the study and how it was conducted, indicating sampling and inclusion criteria, sample size, treatment, duration of observations, etc.

RESULTS: Present the main results with an indication of variability (e.g. SD) and precision of comparison (e.g. 95% confidential intervals) where appropriate.

CONCLUSION: Limit the conclusion to those findings that are directly supported by the results. Implications and generalisations may be outlined briefly. Do not leave open lines between sections and do not indent headings. Headings should be underlined.

Preparation of posters

Click here to download a suggested poster template from the website. It is NOT compulsory to use this template.

• Our suggestion would be to make an A0 (9 cm x 84.1cm) poster (Portrait style). As this is a standard size it is also more cost efficient when printing and laminating the poster.
• All posters should be laminated if they need to be used after the congress again. Unlaminated posters might get damaged when being removed from the poster boards. (Do not mount posters on heavy boards – this does not hang properly.)
• Please bring your poster to the congress office upon registration. The organisers are responsible for pasting your poster to the poster boards with double sided tape.
• Posters will be displayed from the Thursday morning till the Saturday afternoon. It is the responsibility of the presenter to remove his / her poster(s) on Saturday, 15 February 2025 during lunchtime.
• Indicate the title of the presentation and its authors.
• Use block lettering for other portions of your presentation to add emphasis and easy readability.
• Keep illustrative material simple in using charts, graphs, drawings and pictures. Remember that illustrations must be viewed from 1 to 2 meters.
• Make captions brief, levels few and both clear.
• Make posters as self-explanatory as possible.
• Do not be overly ornate or artsy (this distracts from impact of your information).
• Do not make posters elaborate or costly, although it is necessary for posters to be made professionally.

Poster font sizes

• Text on the poster must be readable from a distance of 1 to 2 meters.
• The following font sizes work well:
• Titles: 72+
• Sub-titles: 54+
• Text 30+
• Sub-text 20+
• The actual font used can affect the appropriate font size: keep to a standard sans-serif font such as Arial, Helvetica or Trebuchet.

Registrar awards

OSSA Registrar Award for best ORAL PRESENTATION

A session will be held during the congress for the presentation of oral papers by Registrars.

The presenter of the best oral presentation will be awarded the Best Oral Presentation Registrar Award to attend an international Ophthalmology congress to the value of R51 000.

Arrangements:
The winner will be required to book and pay for their air tickets, congress registration, accommodation, and transfers. Upon proof of these bookings being received, the OSSA office will arrange that the applicable funds be paid over to the winner. If the fees exceed the prize value, the winner will be responsible to cover the difference or book other options that fall within this amount.

Feedback:
The winner is encouraged to provide feedback of their experience in the following manner:
A short 500-word summary of their key learnings from the international congress, submitted to the Young Ophthalmologist EXCO or
A short feedback presentation may be given to the YO audience at either the YO symposium at the OSSA Congress or the annual YO meeting.

OSSA Registrar Award for best POSTER PRESENTATION

A poster session will be held during the Friday lunch break in the exhibition hall for the adjudication of posters by Registrars.

The presenter of the best poster presentation will be awarded the Best Poster Presentation Registrar Award to attend a local Ophthalmology congress to the value of R28 500.

Arrangements:
The winner will be required to book and pay their air tickets, congress registration, accommodation, and transfers. Upon proof of these bookings being received, the OSSA office will arrange that the applicable funds be paid over to the winner. If the fees exceed the prize value, the winner will be responsible to cover the difference or book other options that fall within this amount.

Feedback:
The winner is encouraged to provide feedback of their experience in the following manner:
A short 500-word summary of their key learnings from the congress, submitted to the Young Ophthalmologist EXCO or
A short feedback presentation may be given to the YO audience at either the YO symposium at the OSSA Congress or the annual YO meeting.

Guidelines for Registrar presentations:

1. Registrars who want to be considered for the Registrar award, must clearly indicate this on their abstract submission form.
2. The form must be accompanied by a letter from their academic Head of Department, the content of which:
   1. Confirms that the applicant is a Registrar or has qualified within the last two years
   2. The research being presented was commenced during their Registrar time or within 2 years prior to commencing Registrar training in the same academic institution.
   3. The research was done under supervision following the standard ethical and procedural guidelines of the institution.
   4. The data collection was done as part of the research project, and the presenter actively partook in the data-collection process him / herself.
   5. The research is original research primarily conducted by the Registrar him / herself.
      • (i.e. The Registrar must have contributed strongly to the concept and execution of the abstract and presentation)
   6. Research should not have been presented at other local congresses within the previous 24 months to be considered for the prizes.
   7. Factors considered in awarding the prizes:
      1. Presentation style and clarity of verbal communication
      2. Appropriate use of audio-visual equipment
      3. Adequate time utilisation for the presentation.
      4. Originality of the research content
      5. Importance and significance of the research content especially if applicable to South African and African Ophthalmology
      6. Preference will be given to Registrars who are primary authors or lead investigators