Opticains are retailers NOT medical professionals

[outsider]

Why do opticians have such high opinions of themselves ? How can we think that we are medical professionals when most do not have any formal training?
I've heard opticians say "we are just like pharmacists, we fill prescriptions "
Are you kidding..... how many pharmacists have NO education ?
How many medical professionals work on commission ?
What other MEDICAL needs are satisfied at places like Sears, Costco,Walmart,or the mall ?
Optical is a TRADE at best.

[Steve Machol]

And what is your profession?

[fvc2020]

Is there a reason you're so angry? We are doing our best to get education to the forefront. Do we fill a prescription? Yes we do. Is it the same as a pharmcist? No we are not, but it's similar with how we do it. We educate patients, we make so that they see well out of their glasses or contacts. We reassure them when they are overwhelmed by their doctors. We hold hands of kids who are afraid they're going to get laughed at. We can and do make people feel better about themselves on occasion. Do some of us work on commision? Yes, but many of us don't.

There are many people on this board who work hard at furthering credentialling importance and the need for formal education. We have many obstacles in our way that we have no control over. Such as large lobbying by big manufactors and associations that we can't (even though we have tried)overcome since we don't have their kind of money.

Cut us some slack, the professionals out here are trying.

christina

[For-Life]

Why do opticians have such high opinions of themselves ? How can we think that we are medical professionals when most do not have any formal training?
I've heard opticians say "we are just like pharmacists, we fill prescriptions "
Are you kidding..... how many pharmacists have NO education ?
How many medical professionals work on commission ?
What other MEDICAL needs are satisfied at places like Sears, Costco,Walmart,or the mall ?
Optical is a TRADE at best.

Actually:

1. All Opticians here do have formal educatin.
2. We do not get paid commission here.
3. We do fill prescriptions. An ill fitted or improperly filled presciption will give bad vision.
4. Costco's, Zellers, Wal-Mart, and many others all have pharmacies.

[Chris Ryser]

Why do opticians have such high opinions of themselves ?

Optical is a TRADE at best.

It is not at it's best a trade profession.............................it is a trade that all who have learned it can be proud of.

Nobody has ever said that this is a medical profession and it should not be. Many opticians over the last 100 years have made a comfortable living working in this profession.

Your profile say's that you are an optician and if you are one of those that know the ropes from A - Z then you should be proud of it and not knock all others on being medical workers which they are not.

[mattress]

i saw somewhere that wal-mart is trying to get physicians in the stores.

[mrmac]

Yeah... thats where I want to go for medical help, and have minor surgury at KMart.

[QDO1]

Why do opticians have such high opinions of themselves ? How can we think that we are medical professionals when most do not have any formal training?
I've heard opticians say "we are just like pharmacists, we fill prescriptions "
Are you kidding..... how many pharmacists have NO education ?
How many medical professionals work on commission ?
What other MEDICAL needs are satisfied at places like Sears, Costco,Walmart,or the mall ?
Optical is a TRADE at best.

Im not sure what your point is. This is an international board. If you are refering to Qualified Opticians, of which I am one, then you have no point at all. I am highly educated, experienced and skilled, and that is where my opinion comes from. Our High opinion migh be that we are immersed in unskilled dispensers, who havent been educated, and are often clueless. That in itself though isn't the problm. The legal fraework, that allows patients to be served by those types of dispenser is at fault

[Dave Nelson]

Here in B. C. we are regulated under the Health Professions Act. We are, by definition, a HEALTH PROFESSION. (Not a "medical" one.) Some opticians provide services in pediatric aphakia, corneal trauma, vision rehabilitation ect. Some custom-make frames for people that have suffered facial injury and/or surgery, and work with those same people sometimes for years providing services that require years and of training and education. Some indeed do work selling eyeglasses for the big chains, and there aint nothing wrong with that. Some of the finest opticians I know started that way. I have 6 years of formal education and training, 28 years experience, and brother, I hav'nt begun to learn it all. I'll never forget the girl I worked with 25 years ago who quit because she thought after 6 months working at a large chain store she had learned it all, and wanted to move on to a "challenge."

[OptiJim]

I think the "outsider" is just trying to start an argument. Don't humor he/she/it.

[outsider]

I am not trying to start an argument, I just want to point out that an awful lot of opticians are full of themselves. I have been licenced for over 25 years and alot of the people in this industry today think that they are something special.I will say it again ...This is a TRADE

[hcjilson]

In the "outsider's" home state it is a profession. Just ask him to look up the Board of Registration of Dispensing opticians and see what the name of the state division it is under.....That is, if the "outsider" has a license.If he has a license, he should be aware of the amount of time and effort expended in the late forties and early fiftys to establish licensing and what that means to him today.

[chip anderson]

I agree the neither I or the outsider are medical professionals. But I damn sure am an Optical Professional.

Of course I believe one can be a professional carpenter, plumber, lumberjack or most anything that requires a certian degree of expertise or skill. I don't think "Professionalism" is conferred by the State, or an Educational institution.
Medical Doctors call me when there is a severe keratoconnus patient, a bifocal or trifocal contact lens patient, people with 5 or more cylinder, or a patient needing a prosthetic eye or prosthetic shell. Does that mean they are not professional or that I am? No it means that I am the person with the most expertise for that particular situation? If I go to a medical school and give a talk on contact lens fitting, or prosthetic eyes, does this mean that professionals are trained by tradesmen (yea, probably).
Who cares as long as you get a little respect and get paid.

Chip:cheers:

[SpecialT]

If the question is tade vs. profession. It is a bit of a toss up.

Definition of a profession - An occupation, such as law, medicine, or engineering, that requires considerable training and specialized study.

Definition of a trade - An occupation, especially one requiring skilled labor; craft: the building trades, including carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrical installation.

Though I have seen some amazing opticians that know incredible amounts of information, I would probably say that most (not all) fall under the definition of a trade.

Not that it matters in the least.

[outsider]

Hey Harry, you have been around long enough to remember when opticians could BUY their licence in the mid to late 70s from R.R. Bela refused to let his students take his " review course "

I got my licence the year AFTER R.R. was the proctor for the test.

[hcjilson]

I became aquainted with R.R. when I was still a teenager.He and my dad served on the Board together for a few years. R.R. never "sold" a license while serving on the board. He would not have done that, he was a gentleman. While a sitting board member, he did offer a review course before every exam, placing himself highly at risk for accusations such as the one above. Rather than give up teaching the course, he resigned his seat on the board and continued to teach the review course until the early eighties. I know this because I was appointed to fill his seat on the board, and later hired him after he had retired and closed his business,on a part time basis at Montgomery Frost Llyod and Co.He was a good optician, and his students are good opticians because of it. Same goes for Bela who I happen to think was a great innovator as well as teacher.

In 1978, our board was extremely troubled by the subjectivity inherent in the method Massachusetts candidates were examined, and we went to work to rectify that, and largely have succeeded,but I am not aware that one license was ever granted upon the exchange of money, or favor. If indeed, outsider has knowledge that I do not, one wonders why it was not brought up directly, to the people involved. It is a disservice to their memory that it is brought up today.

[QDO1]

The question is more to do with what Opticians are now required to do on a day to day basis. The salaries are so crappy, we have in the main been forced into becoming managers, and retail experts. we (in the main) work for retail oriented companies, so I can see the conjecture

However that does not get past the fact of the variance in the skill set accross the industry is immense. Dispensers are considered to be anything form a greeter to a fullyfledged, and qualifed profesional Optician; whereas, fully qualified, Opticians are in a group on thier own, paying registration fees, having attained certain standards in examination and striving to keep thier knowledge up to date.. I certainly am not a "tradesman" I dont know of any plumbers, electricians, carpenters or bricklyers, who have been trained and educted to the standards that I was (even if I respect the trades they are in)

I also dont know any plumbers, electricians, carpenters or bricklyers who would be expected to manage a shop, and deal with all the other stuff we have on our plate on a day to day basis

I also dont know any plumbers, electricians, carpenters or bricklyers who are paid such a miserly ammount for a skilled profesion

I nail my flag on the mast - it says Qualified Optical Professional

The $1000000 question - is is that worth anything nowadays?

[rbaker]

Outsider will probably also remember I.B. Smith and all of the others who worked so many long unpaid hours getting the Optical Technology program started at the Worcester Industrial Technical Institute and he may even know a few of the graduates.

Whether we graduates were professionals or tradesmen is of little consequence; Chuck Walsh, Paul Longval and Bill Underwood insured that we knew our optical cookies.

[Framebender]

What difference does it make? You either like what you're doing or you don't. I love what I'm doing!! My folks like me and they trust me. I'm the guy the go see when they need something to do concerning their vision. If they have insurance I help them. They don't have insurance I help them. The dog eats it, the spouse squashes it, I help them.

I've never run a poll to see how they see me. I do the best I can for them, they help me grow my business. I'm happy with that! My Dad saw it as a profession, but I can live with being a tradesman.

Isn't it about helping folks, having fun, bending frames and making money?!? Hey, we have some regulars that stop in for coffee and the floor show while they're out doing shopping. Now that's guerrilla dispensing with audience participation. It doesn't get any better than that!!

I hope you're all having fun and making money!! Oh yeah, its really not nice to burn somebodies reputation when they can't defend themselves. That's just wrong!

:drop:

[Matthew]

My profession is an Optician NOT an Opticain.

I am educated and continue to get re-educated every year.

Let your anger and hatred go, it is the dark side of the force. :finger:

[outsider]

Matthew , Its Called A Typo

[drk]

In my opinion, a tradesman connotes a person who physically makes, repairs, etc., rather synonymous to craftsman, even artisan. There is a huge aspect of opticianry that involves machinery, fabrication, manufacture.

A professional (not necessarily medical) connotes a formally educated person who practices a very specific field. There is an aspect of that in opticianry as well.

A merchant is a person who sells goods. Obviously there is that aspect as well.


Some opticians do all three, most do one or two. It's a little broader profession than most. Eye care seems to be that way: fashion aspect (merchant), physics/optical aspect (professional), tradesman (bench optician).

[impact500]

drk,

Good definitions and a logical post.

Nothing wrong with being a tradesman for those who are offended by the term. We could use more skilled ones.

[HarryChiling]

Wow, what crawled up in his **** (outsider that is). I am glad that opticians regard themselves so highly, it is this confidence that will lead to higher education hopefully. I am not sure what it will accomplish putting down the proffesion. I do agree our proffesion is one littered with idiots and layman, but they are not opticians. In your opinion what constitutes a proffesional?

As for me personaly I am a medical proffesional, I perfom diagnostic tests for the doctors I work for, I assist in surgery when needed, and in some casses the doctor will have me explain certain diagnosis to the patient. I hold a COA from Joint Commision on Allied Health in Ophthalmology, so I do qualify as a medical proffesional. I have found that most the members on this board are medical proffesionals.

I don't think that you are a proffesonal or an optician. I don't care how many years you have been doing this. Do you have any formal education?

<blow off steam>
My thought is that some young guy who probably does not know much about jack, but calls themselves an optician offended you in some way. If that is the case take your gezer attitude and vent it elsewhere.
</blow off steam>

I apoligize for acting an A** and hope I have not offended any of the proffesionals on this board.

[hipoptical]

Two cents:
I am a craftsman. I don't care if you call me a professional, a tradesman, a craftsman, or a laborer. My self worth is not based upon someone else's viewpoint. I am not defined by a title. I am a business owner, and don't care if anyone knows or cares. I am in this business because I am good at it, I enjoy it, and I like to help people. You would likely not pick me out as owner or manager, and that is OK with me. I want others to get the glory.
I think, that rather than beat up on "outsider" we would all be better off taking an honest look at ourselves. There are a great many out there who are full of themselves. Let your work speak for you. You can say you are a professional, but the better thing is to look at the fruit of your labor, and allow that to be the determining factor.
"Outsider": there are SOME out there who are professional Opticians. There are a lot of phonies, too. I say often that the reason we have so many "opticians" in Texas is that they couldn't remember if the cheese or lettuce went on the taco first, and they flunked out of Taco Bueno University. They had no other option but to get the only job available that seemed professional. Thus, the chains are full of "opticians" who then spill over into the market and convince "doctors" (another discussion) that they invented the eyeglass. HOWEVER.... not all are bad. Some of the responders to this post know what they are doing.
If you need to be a professional, OK. Tradesman? OK, too. Me? I'm an optician. Call me whatever you want.