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Thread: Optical professionals discussing optics with non professionals. Is it illegal?

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    Optical professionals discussing optics with non professionals. Is it illegal?

    Being on this board you would think so. What is with the attitude of this board? Helping a non professional become more versed with terminologies and knowing what he or she should bring to the attention of their doctor can only be beneficial. It is not like anyone is writing rx's thru the computer. There are many questions I would love to ask in the optic forums that are eye related but are hypothetical and my optometrist doesn't have the time to answer every hypothetical question I can think of. I would think a board like this would be more appropriate. What's so wrong with learning from each other?

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    Ophthalmic Optician
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    There are many questions I would love to ask in the optic forums that are eye related but are hypothetical and my optometrist doesn't have the time to answer every hypothetical question I can think of.
    Why don't they have time? Do they expect to get paid for their time?
    Ophthalmic Optician, Society to Advance Opticianry

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter Judy Canty's Avatar
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    Optically speaking, what would we learn from you?

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter Judy Canty's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    Being on this board you would think so. What is with the attitude of this board? Helping a non professional become more versed with terminologies and knowing what he or she should bring to the attention of their doctor can only be beneficial. It is not like anyone is writing rx's thru the computer. There are many questions I would love to ask in the optic forums that are eye related but are hypothetical and my optometrist doesn't have the time to answer every hypothetical question I can think of. I would think a board like this would be more appropriate. What's so wrong with learning from each other?
    Yes, on this board, it is a violation of the posting guidelines that you agreed to follow when you registered. Now, go away!

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    Quote Originally Posted by CuriousCat View Post
    Optically speaking, what would we learn from you?
    Very simple. The things regular people ask are the things patients are wondering. For example me being farsighted no doctor ever took the time out to tell me I may not see as well out of contact lenses or high index material. An optician who listens to the rants of consumers would hear that as a very recurring complaint. Often opticians themselves learn some of the basics in schools and it is experience that really teaches them. Dialogue opens up exchange of ideas. If an optician is fairly new he/she may hear of a case example on this board before it is something he/she experiences.

    Curiouscat, If you haven't realized by now that you have learned thru trial and error often with patients feedback maybe it indicates that you are not learning and or listening. Kinda like how you are acting on this board.

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    Quote Originally Posted by CuriousCat View Post
    Yes, on this board, it is a violation of the posting guidelines that you agreed to follow when you registered. Now, go away!
    Some rules and laws are stupid. Anyone familiar with the laws of Nazi Germany circa 1942?

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    So what I am not a practicing optician. I majored in physics before I decided engineering was not for me. I learned alot about the properties of glass and other fibers that sparked my interest in optics. Not to mention I have worn glasses for a long time. If it wasn't for me reading posts on this board I would have never known it was the high index plastic material plus aspheric design that was causing my spatial disorientation when I got my new glasses. If someone on this board would have advised me directly that that reaction is normal to a change in material, index, frame shape, aspheric/spheric design, would they have been doing something negative or positive?

    My dad who is a diabetic was saved because my mom took the initiative to tell the doctors to try kidney dialysis when he fel into a diabetic coma. She was visiting a forum and an internist advised that. The doctors at the hospital had no plans on suggesting it(and he had the highest blood sugar the hospital had ever seen). No one doctor knows everything. Not everyone has the option to get a second or third opinion on a simple question.

    If what I said doesn't sound logical to you it makes sense you may just be illogical and we can just have that understanding.

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    Cape Codger OptiBoard Gold Supporter hcjilson's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    Some rules and laws are stupid. Anyone familiar with the laws of Nazi Germany circa 1942?
    Your point with that statement?

    The rules we have in place were not put there to foil an arrogant "Consumer or Non-Eyecare field" into thinking they were stupid. They were put in place to protect the consuming public from taking BAD advice from an ANONYMOUS source!
    NOW do you understand?

    PS You can often learn more with your mouth shut and your eyes open, than vice versa.
    Last edited by hcjilson; 07-01-2010 at 04:29 AM. Reason: PS
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    Being on this board you would think so. What is with the attitude of this board? Helping a non professional become more versed with terminologies and knowing what he or she should bring to the attention of their doctor can only be beneficial.
    If you are reading the board then you are already informing yourself. The rules are that we cannot answer your questions directly and since we value our membership here we follow the rules. There are any number of "ask and answer" forums on line if that is the way you prefer to get your information.

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    Master OptiBoarder optical24/7's Avatar
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    rocwilder35;

    Jubilee, a member here posted the message I'll paste below that answers why we don't answer consumers here. It's the best expaination I've seen........



    You are more than welcome to use the search feature to find times when we have discusses this topic and many more. There was a time when we considered actually hosting a forum to answer consumer questions but there were a few issues..

    1) There was a lot of debate about what people termed the "best." Value? Function? Technology? not to even mention the branding that goes and people's favorites to both love and hate. Just look at some of our current threads on aspheric lenses and when/where they should be used, or the use of free form technology in any type of lens.

    2) Most questions really can't be answered in the specifics that consumers want simply cause we don't have you, your prescription, and glasses in front of us. Sure we can speculate, we might be able to even think we are 99% certain in our thoughts.. it still can't be verified unless we have those three things in front of us. Even then, sometimes we might need additional information like best corrected acuity, and comparison to old. With literally thousands of progressive lens designs, hundreds of polarized lens choices, at least 6 frequently used materials.. and that isn't even counting the patient's posture, head positioning, pd, frame, tilt, wrap, and one can easily see why one on one personalized service is the best form of service. The last thing any provider of a good or service want is to have a customer come in with misinformation and preconceived notions of what needs to be done.

    As one of our members stated.. she had been having back pain for several days. Thought she might have pulled a muscle, then when it settled in a certain area was certain she had a kidney infection. Turns out, she had neither.. she had shingles. Sometimes being able to look and touch make all the difference in a diagnosis.

    3) We were still debating on whether to proceed with a limited consumer forum when some people decided to become belligerent and started to harass people that are a part of this community and our founder. Having limitations but still trying to answer general questions ended up bringing use more grief than a flat out, no consumer posting on optical topics policy. Your attitude unfortunately does not help support reversing that decision. It instead drives the argument to keep the current one. Particularly with the numerous online optical sites that have popped up, why should we give away our advice and tips/tricks to make our competition money.

    I originally supported a consumer forum, however with all the places advocating getting our services for free to make purchases elsewhere, I can no longer in good conscious do so. Not only does it not support what I feel is the best form of service through working with a face you can trust, but honestly it does not allow me to help support my family and make a decent wage for the years of education and experience I have put into this field. I am proud to be an optician and not just an order taker. However I would like a bit of respect and compensation for the additional value and service I provide.





    I'll add to the above, that if you have general questions about optical theory, Wikipedia is your friend. You will get up front, researched answers from that site.

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    Barticus Prime - Optibot opticianbart's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    If what I said doesn't sound logical to you it makes sense you may just be illogical and we can just have that understanding.

    Awesome! I'm illogical because I don't agree with you!!

    *High Fives to all the other Illogical People out there*
    Bart Smith, continuing to be awesome since 1982 so that you don't have to.

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    Bad address email on file RetroRat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by opticianbart View Post
    Awesome! I'm illogical because I don't agree with you!!

    *High Fives to all the other Illogical People out there*
    To illogic! :cheers:

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    Master OptiBoarder cleyes's Avatar
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    AMSCRAY GO GET YOUR JOLLIES SOMEWHERE ELSE. What part of GO AWAY don't you understand?

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    Quote Originally Posted by rocwilder35 View Post
    There are many questions I would love to ask in the optic forums that are eye related but are hypothetical and my optometrist doesn't have the time to answer every hypothetical question I can think of. I would think a board like this would be more appropriate. What's so wrong with learning from each other?
    rocwilder35 - Very insightful and thoughtful for you to search for your discussion on the net and respect the doctors time. Unfortunately the reality is that doctors are paid for episodes of service and when a very bright person comes in wanting a longer conversation there is no mechanism to bill on an hourly rate as the lawyers do. Ultimately, the doctor has to move on to the next person, who also wants their fair share of doctor time.

    I suppourt your quest: information wants to be free and there are places for laypeople and professionals to mingle online. Medhelp is one example but i don't know how good they are on optics for example.

    But there needs to be a place for people who are professionals in the field to communicate with each other and that is what makes OptiBoard popular with the professional crowd because it stays on topic. Its neat for laypeople to be able to read the threads. There are other places, e.g. sermo, which are closed to laypeople where you cannot read the threads unless you register.

    Moderation makes this particular forum valuable to the professionals who use it.

    Best wishes.

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    Optimentor Diane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jakemoore View Post
    rocwilder35 - Very insightful and thoughtful for you to search for your discussion on the net and respect the doctors time. Unfortunately the reality is that doctors are paid for episodes of service and when a very bright person comes in wanting a longer conversation there is no mechanism to bill on an hourly rate as the lawyers do. Ultimately, the doctor has to move on to the next person, who also wants their fair share of doctor time.

    I suppourt your quest: information wants to be free and there are places for laypeople and professionals to mingle online. Medhelp is one example but i don't know how good they are on optics for example.

    But there needs to be a place for people who are professionals in the field to communicate with each other and that is what makes OptiBoard popular with the professional crowd because it stays on topic. Its neat for laypeople to be able to read the threads. There are other places, e.g. sermo, which are closed to laypeople where you cannot read the threads unless you register.

    Moderation makes this particular forum valuable to the professionals who use it.

    Best wishes.
    Great post and welcome to Optiboard.

    Diane
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    Master OptiBoarder cleyes's Avatar
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    jakemoore: Wilkommen Beautifully and succinctly witten post. May it have the desired effect.

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    Doh! braheem24's Avatar
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    The answer would take a capable doctor 2 minutes to listen to the question and explain; at a typical $100 a pop, I hope a doctor would make time for the 2 minute disturbance.

    It takes longer to explain glaucoma managment, I'm sure glaucoma suspects are not treated in the same manner.

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