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Paul R. King |
Hello All! There are times
when I feel as though my rambling thoughts are falling
on deaf ears, but my last submission (December ‘07)
was not one of those times. I have a feeling that most
of you, like myself, feel as though opticianry is at a
crossroads. Will we start to act as a unified body for
the betterment of our profession or will we continue
to accept the status quo? By challenging ourselves to
contribute in a positive manner, we can make a
difference. The following was a note that I received: |
I just read your article in the December issue. I
liked what you wrote; we opticians need more education and
should be licensed, even in PA. I have been a dispensing
optician for forty one years and unfortunately will be
retiring in the spring. I learned the hard way, on my own,
by taking an optical course, attending many seminars over
all the years, visiting labs and trying to learn and
understand how to properly adjust, deciding which lenses to
prescribe, taking the necessary measurements for
progressives, ordering, and verifying the prescription from
the lab. There are so many things to do and do them right.
Opticians need to keep up to date with the new types
of lenses, new equipment available, and tools for the
profession. The rimless frames need special attention,
especially if a progressive has been used, the type of
material, prescribing A/R coatings and Transitions lenses.
We need to communicate with the doctors and the patients to
better understand what is the best vision we can give them.
I can never understand how a patient with a -10.00 only has
one pair of glasses. Why are we not getting the importance
of having a spare pair of glasses to this patient? Where is
their priority? They purchase a new TV, what good is it if
they cannot see it? I may be getting into another issue
there, but opticians are not getting the education and the
recognition they deserve.
Esther Bingaman
Ms. Bingaman, thank you for your service to the eye care
community. Over the last 41 years you have seen many changes
in the world of eye care, not the least of which is the
dumbing down of the average “optician.” When you started
in the “Biz” there was no such thing as the ABO, yet you
could walk into almost any optical shop, in almost any
state, and as a patient feel assured that the optician knew
what they were doing. That just doesn’t seem to be the
case anymore.
I don’t know if it is because of an overall lack of
interest that the American public has in LEARNING a trade.
Or it could be the pervasive nature of the large “chains.”
A nature that lends itself to hiring cheap,
educating/training poorly, and then turning the poor fools
loose on the public. Most of those places will hire any Tom,
Dick, or Harry that can walk through the door. By the way,
“Tom, Dick, and Harry” is just a figure of speech, so I
don’t want to get a bunch of letters from all of you Tom’s,
Dick’s, and Harry’s out there about your hurt feelings!
As to your point that opticians should be licensed, you
dear lady, are 100% correct. The person who cuts the hair on
your dog, in most states, has to be licensed, why not
opticians? I think part of the problem lies in the fact that
the standard is so different from state to state. Take
Continuing Education, for example. In Kentucky, if something
has been approved by the ABO/NCLE, then it will qualify as
CE’s for their opticians. Yet here in Ohio, all CE’s
must be approved by the state board, regardless if ABO/NCLE
has approved them or not.
There has got to be some common ground, something in
which we can build upon. I have often heard it said that we
opticians should “educate then legislate.” This means
that we should raise the educational standard and then go to
the state house and push for licensure. Who we first need to
educate is the public, and tell them why well educated,
licensed opticians are important. Some of the news channels
have given us a prime tool to use at our disposal. Remember
the network story that broke last fall? I don’t know about
you, but for weeks after the story I was answering questions
about licensing, certification, and about opticiany in
general. “John Q. Public” has no idea who we are or what
we do. One patient said, “You mean to tell me that you can
be flipping burgers today and dispensing glasses tomorrow?”
I know that the majority of you are thinking about what
you can do to help. Well here is a thought, ask the young
opticians to read our magazine and tell you what they think.
This may open up some dialogue so that we help to instill
some pride in these up and coming ECP’s. In closing, Ms.
Bingaman, you still have so much to offer. I urge you to
contact your state optician society or even the OAA. A few
phone calls or a few letters to the right people in the
state house could make all the difference for opticianry.
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