Stop any random person on the street and they will know what an optometrist is. Most likely they will also know these:
nurse
dental hygenist
pharmacist
denturist
dietician
audiologist
massage therapist
paramedic
Why don't they know what an optician is? Usually they have no clue.
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I've been asked if I were "the obstetrician" on several occasions. Once, a very pretty, but dizzy blonde asked me that. "Well, I do have a chair in the back"... huh? Nevermind...
Wesley S. Scott, MBA, MIS, ABOM, NCLE-AC, LDO - SC & GA
“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” -Albert Einstein
Actually over the last 50 years I have never met anybody that did not know what an optician is, in the USA with just 23 regulated states it would be more more like "are you really an optician ? or do you just say so ?"
Uh, because opticianry is dead?
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
I disagree. If anything, its the other way around. If opticianry is dead, it's because nobody knows what an optician is.Originally Posted by DragonLensmanWV
Isn't it a little odd that people know virtually ever other allied health profession, but they can never know what an optician is?
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Most people still think optometry is the same as ophthalmology as well. Go figure.
Duh
People do not know what an Optician is, because there are no many definitions across the country. Hell, Opticians can't even define ourselves.
Last edited by wmcdonald; 10-14-2011 at 03:58 PM.
I've been told that same thing on numerous occasions. For some reason they associate optician with obstetrician don't understand it but they do.
Really? When people ask me they have no idea what an optician is or what we do. When I explain it to them they usually say really and a license too. Most don't believe it at all. Go figure!
My name tag say's "Optician ABO Certified". No one ever asks me what an optician is but I get asked a lot what "ABO" means.
winning!
And *THAT* right there is why every group, society, organization, association and board should be tarred, feathered, and run off the wrong end of a short plank over shark-infested water. NONE of them do a thing to promote opticianry to the people. Its also why people don't know, and don't kid yourselves, don't care what an optician is either. Nor are an increasing number of them willing to pay what they perceive as grossly inflated prices just to work with one. Its a hard reality.
HARUMPH!!!!!
You better watch your gluteus!
Zing!
Most of them don't know what an ophthalmologist is either unless they are being treated for something. Many of them still don't know the difference between and OD and OMD and an optician. Of course over the last few decades the lines on the first two are becoming more and more blurred.
Chip
I don't blame the state and national organizations. Public awareness campaigns cost money and as long as Opticians refuse to support them and pay dues, there is no money available to fund such an endeavour.
Of course not! Let's keep blindly paying anything and everything that's asked of us to all the multitudinous "organizations" with absolutely no return (except for the guarantee of no action whatsoever and the continual dilution and disillusionment growing in our field of course). There's a new one each week you know, that is just certain to be better than all the rest before. After all, what could possibly go wrong?
Just for giggles, can you name the "multitudinous" national membership organizations of which you speak?
The way I see it, there are 2 main problems.
1) There is no specific SERVICE provided by an optician.
Your hygenist cleans your teeth.
Your therapist gives you a massage.
Your paramedic saves your life on the street.
The optician is the only profession that is primarily a PRODUCT PROVIDER instead of a SERVICE PROVIDER.
2) OPTICIANS DON'T USE THE WORD OPTICIAN
Yes, we say the word 'optician' and print it on our business cards, but likely the sign in front of your store says ACCURATE VISION OPTICAL or some variation. Most opticians don't have OPTICIAN as the most prominent word on the sign.
Sign on most dental offices: DENTIST
Most optometry offices: OPTOMETRIST
Chiro offices: CHIROPRACTOR
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It's our responsibility to inform our patients of who and what we are: Licensed Optician, Board Certified, whatever qualification or education you have or your state requires, let it be known. And yes there are state organizations that promote our profession to the public.
Confusion of the three O's of optical is our own creation.......we blend and do not differentiate in our mandates, services, and agendas. Confusion is propagated by delegation, and intrusion of "big business" into our professions.
That's ever so true. Few people really know what it means to be an optician. Some think that all we do is restock frames. Nice...
Every once in a while, when I feel the need, I grab a piece of paper and give the pt. a quick crash course in optics. Most of the times getting a lot of oooh's and aaah's. But these day's I don't really bother that much anymore. It's time consuming with little effect.
Ii think we sould have a nation wide campain, telling the people that opticians are optical wizards and people sould bow to us... Ok, maybe I got carried away a bit ^_^
Most of the "opticians" I meet IRL (in real life) are not optical wizards. Most don't even know Prentice's rule. If you want to differentiate yourself from the masses, earn something that distinguishes you from the masses. People see my Master Optician certificate and they ask about it. Most realize that means a higher caliber Optician.
Wesley S. Scott, MBA, MIS, ABOM, NCLE-AC, LDO - SC & GA
“As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it.” -Albert Einstein
Let's also be realistic. Many people know what dentists are (and the like) because 100% of people should go to them, and even when they don't, they know what they are. Most people have had to go to a pharmacy and pharmacist at least once in life. But not everyone wears glasses or contacts, and even those who need them after 40 wear crappy otc's recommended by their doctor.
In my experience those who have needed rx glasses know what opticians are. Usually patients don't know who their "specialist" are until they need them.
Alas, my evil grandmother, who tells me I am fat every time I see her and calls my husband and youngest daughter the wrong name all the time (no, she doesn't have dementia), still thinks I'm a baby doctor.
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