Zonal meetings: how the chapter actually works

The Lagos State Chapter is organised into four zones — Ikeja, Alimosho, Festac and Island — and each holds its own meetings through the year. August is when the zonal round takes place; each zone announces its own date and venue.

For members who joined recently, or who have been on the register for years without attending, here is what the structure is for.

Why zones exist

Lagos is large and its traffic is what it is. A chapter of several hundred practitioners spread across the state cannot meet usefully in one room on a weekday, and a body that only ever meets in plenary meets rarely and decides little.

The zones make the chapter local. A meeting twenty minutes from your practice is one you might actually attend, and a group of thirty colleagues who practise in the same part of the city has things to discuss that a state-wide meeting does not.

What happens at a zonal meeting

Continuing education. Usually a presentation — a case series, an update on a condition or a technique, sometimes a supplier demonstrating equipment. This is the part with formal value attached.

Case discussion. Less formal and often more useful. Practitioners bring cases they found difficult and ask what others would have done. In a profession where most people work alone or in twos, this is the closest thing to a departmental meeting.

Chapter business. What the executive is doing, what is coming, dues, and matters going up to the national body.

Local matters. Regulatory problems, unlicensed practice in the area, relationships with nearby hospitals and referral pathways, and the practical business of running a practice in that part of Lagos.

Welfare. The part that does not appear on an agenda but is a real function of a professional body: members who are unwell, bereaved, or in difficulty.

Planning the year's outreach

August also begins preparation for World Sight Day in October, which is the chapter's largest public activity. Screening venues, volunteers, equipment and materials are organised zone by zone, because each zone knows its own area.

Members who want to be involved should say so at the August meeting; that is when the planning happens.

On attendance

Attendance is uneven, which is a familiar pattern in professional bodies everywhere. The reasons are understandable — clinic hours, traffic, and the fact that nothing obviously goes wrong if you skip one.

The argument for going is not obligation. It is that the chapter's usefulness to you is roughly proportional to your involvement in it: the referral relationships, the second opinion on a difficult case, the advance warning about a regulatory change, and the collective weight the profession can bring to bear all depend on the people in the room.

Dates and venues

Each zone's date is announced by its secretary and appears on this site's events page once confirmed. If you are unsure which zone you belong to, your entry in the chapter's register shows it — and if it is wrong or missing, you can correct it when you claim your listing.