Let us start with a fact: Professional Development (also known as Continuing Education) has not evolved in the minds of the vast majority of opticians as a needed, necessary or useful concept to advance their own abilities, their profession or simply, their own future earning potential.

For those in regulated states, Professional Development (I simply refuse to use the term Continuing Education, but more on that later) is seen as a burden, onerously foisted upon the individual; however, the individual optician (or other optical professional) certainly should be able to grasp the importance of the concept of Professional Development (PD). While this is anecdotal, if we simply use pure logic and apply the fact that less than half the states have regulated opticianry standards, we can quickly comprehend that few opticians (regulated or not) have much regard for PD.

Let’s first examine the simple terminology: Continuing Education vs. Professional Development (or, as some prefer: “Quality Assurance”). Continuing Education often denotes rudimentary, simplistic and remedial seminars. To look at your community college’s calendar under “Continuing Education,” you will as often as not find courses such as Computing 101, or (colloquially) Basket weaving (for the record, I fully appreciate and recognize the role of casual learning). This casual learning is a complete departure from the purpose of maintaining professional accreditation; now contrast “Con. Ed.” with the term “Professional Development” and the connotations this term derives. By merely parsing these two words, one can grasp the difference between “CE” and “PD.” 

So, why must one spend hours of one’s time in a stuffy conference room, sitting with people one (as often as not) doesn’t know, listening to somebody (likely from out of state, no less!) drone on about, say: aniseikonia?

“Jeesh, isn’t that the new progressive lens from Japan? Who cares!’ You should know and you should care; your next career opportunity may hinge on it. Unfortunately, the vast majority attend PD seminars for one of two reasons: they ‘have to’ or, ‘hey, it’s a tax write-off to go to Vegas.’ While both of these have merit, the sole, singular point is missed: to Develop yourself Professionally with the added benefit of potential future earnings.

Let me give a pertinent and personal example. I recently altered my career, moving from an administrative role as an ophthalmic educator back to dispensing in a busy ophthalmology practice. Now, this may seem fairly benign - I have been in the industry since I was 19, starting out surfacing and finishing spectacles, moving on through 5 years of post-secondary education fitting, dispensing and problem solving spectacle and contact lenses. One could argue that I’ve, “been there, done that” at all levels of ophthalmic optics, but changing my career path minutely had ramifications. 

Sure, fitting contacts and refracting were old hat, but now it was in a medical setting, a setting I had not had the pleasure of experiencing before (when I had worked in a retail environment). Glaucoma suspects vs. glaucoma patients, Plaquenil screening, Visual Fields, varieties of Tonometry, Acute Red Eye, the guy who had fireworks go off in his face (oops and ouch), Pharmacology out the wazzoo…These were things one studied in school, were aware of and taught, but as a previous retail dispenser, never had to deal with in any depth - if the patient presented with issues - they’d simply be referred to an ophthalmologist. But NOW- still working as a registered optician- I was on the receiving end, a totally different perspective. Hence: Professional Development.

I spent upwards of 5 hours per night for over 5 weeks catching up on various diseases rarely encountered in the retail setting and pouring over publications on various drugs (both systemic and ocular), trying to get back up to speed on everything from homonymous hemianopsia, to pediatric contact lenses, to epiretinal membranes, to when to order Goldman (vs. Humphreys) Visual Fields. Now keep in mind that I have always ‘had more than enough’ credits, but here I was, suddenly confronted with the fact that maybe what I was accessing through Professional Development wasn’t at all what I should have been concentrating on.

Point? I had shifted from a known and relatively simple life from when I was dispensing, and then to a national and international educator, and lately (and the point of this article) to an area I was very aware of and enthusiastic to challenge, but relatively unprepared for. Professional Development should be mandatory for EXACTLY THIS REASON - it keeps you in the game.

Look at your own position in your own career. We’ll presume you have a steady, stable and relatively prosperous job as a dispenser in a regional or national chain, or you offer your services within a clinic as the registered optician. Are you prepared? What personal angst are you ready for if you should decide to change employers? It is one thing to move from one retail dispensary to another. You may have to brush up on different brands of progressive lenses, and certainly new procedures, but aside from product knowledge, moving from ‘dispensary A’ to ‘optical B’ is usually pretty seamless- enough of us do it, and some of us have done it many, many times.

So what if an opportunity arose to make a significant change to your career, a Snell’s Law type of change whereby the new position you are entertaining has a much greater index of refraction and of course, you are entering at a steep angle, if you’ll pardon the analogy. More so, what if this change were to happen unexpectedly. This alteration doesn’t have to apply specifically to optics- maybe a large promotion is suddenly available in management in a different company. These advancements simply don’t happen just because you are a dedicated employee, by and large. Professional advancements happen because you are consciously, consistently and measurably improving yourself professionally. Now repeat that last sentence every night before bed.

Let’s move past the idea of spending hours trying to get up to speed for a new position. The point is to maintain, refine and better your existing skill set, as well as refreshing, reviewing and renewing past learning experiences. To put it flatly, do you honestly believe you could successfully challenge a licensing exam (state regulated, ABO, CLSA, etc) again today? Let us not forget that all those formulae and (what you probably considered) ancillary courses were the basis and framework of a general education in the industry - whether they were mandated by governmental oversight or corporate policy.

So, at length, I have danced around why Professional Development is relative. This process flows across all professional boundaries. To wit: One would suspect or expect few ophthalmologists to have current and relative data on the many varied ophthalmic lenses available, let alone how to properly dispense said appliances.

So what are you doing right now, actively, proactively, with forethought to advance yourself, and thereby your profession? Professional Development is the single greatest reward you can give to yourself, and the most rewarding, should you take it seriously.

For more on similar subjects, I highly recommend the venerable “Optiboard.com” where many of these same-said subjects are debated on a regular and continuous basis.

Mr. Ian MacIvor, since 1989, has had a proactive career as a Registered Optician and Registered Contact Lens Practitioner in Alberta, Canada. He has been Ombudsman, University of Alberta, Department of Ophthalmology’s COMT program; was the Chair, Optical Sciences Department, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and is Past-President, Opticians Council of Canada. He is a former Moderator of Optiboard.com and founder of the Bob Topley Memorial Library at the Alberta Opticians Association. He has spoken both nationally and internationally and is now deeply involved in a demanding ophthalmology practice.

Ian Maclvor, RO RCLP
Former President, Opticians Council of Canada