Abo renewal

**kcoscette** · 10-10-2012, 12:43 AM

So, I let my ABO expire and I'm out of the suspension year as well. How do I get this re-instated??? Please tell me I don't have to take the test again!

**Fezz** · 10-10-2012, 05:14 AM

Re-take the test!

I see no other way!

http://www.abo-ncle.org/ABO/CertRene...c-8b2055602e71

Welcome to Optiboard by the way!

**MakeOptics** · 10-10-2012, 07:10 AM

There's no real benefit to having it, just having passed it. My suggestion maybe unpopular but let it go, when the date and time comes that you need it then take the test again. If your looking for someplace to park the test money buy a good optical book.

**optilady1** · 10-10-2012, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by PhiTrace

There's no real benefit to having it, just having passed it. My suggestion maybe unpopular but let it go, when the date and time comes that you need it then take the test again. If your looking for someplace to park the test money buy a good optical book.

Yes PhiTrace, we know you despise all things "optician" in name, but the OP may actually need it to become licensed in the state they live in. I'd suggest calling the abo and do what they tell you to do. Many of us have been in the same situation, and a simple phone call will give you the answer you need.

**gmc** · 10-10-2012, 08:52 AM

If the OP is licensed in New York, and has maintained licensure, they won't have to retest. They'll just need to submit evidence of licensure to reinstate.

**Fezz** · 10-10-2012, 09:09 AM

Thanks for that gmc!

I didn't realize that and my ADD kicked in and I didn't read the whole page about renewal.

Definitely worth a call to them if the OP is really interested in renewing.

**MakeOptics** · 10-10-2012, 10:29 PM

Originally Posted by optilady1

Yes PhiTrace, we know you despise all things "optician" in name, but the OP may actually need it to become licensed in the state they live in. I'd suggest calling the abo and do what they tell you to do. Many of us have been in the same situation, and a simple phone call will give you the answer you need.

On a side note some states won't even accept the ABO towards licensure unless it was passed within the last year, so my statement holds true that it is definately better to wait until you need it before taking it. The term optician has such a negative connotation that I don't understand why more people don't despise it. The term optician closes more doors than it opens from my experience.

**Diane** · 10-11-2012, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by PhiTrace

On a side note some states won't even accept the ABO towards licensure unless it was passed within the last year, so my statement holds true that it is definately better to wait until you need it before taking it. The term optician has such a negative connotation that I don't understand why more people don't despise it. The term optician closes more doors than it opens from my experience.

WOW. I am an Optician and have been for (over 30 years). I am proud of being "called" an Optician. I am proud of training "Opticians". The word despise is truly disheartening in your reference. I question whether you are in the correct field. If your doors were closed, I don't believe OUR profession did it to you or OUR title.

Diane

**wmcdonald** · 10-11-2012, 08:26 AM

Diane,
As truly distasteful as this seems, we have let this field progress downward like no other. Insanity is often defined as doing the same thing the same way 100 times and expecting different results. Opticians have the strenuous requirement to a pulse to enter this field in 27 states, and even these folks get on the board and tout their professionalism. Says them! They maybe the best Optician in the world, and probably are in their minds, but they have no measurable evidence they have accomplished a thing. In the other states, we use some on-the-job program to train our people, and my research indicates that the vast majority of those folks receive little training at all. They get it themselves through reading and study or don't get it. We regularly fight the requirement of a lowly Associate Degree, the very bottom of the educational ladder and only used in the US, because it may place a hardship on some that don't have a school in the back yard. As a matter of fact, we fight almost anything new that would require us to do more than measure a PD, a seg height, and collect the fee, and expect respect as professionals? Opticianry used to be a great opportunity for a young person, and it still is really. Income is generally good (averages around 40K in the US........now I know some of you will dispute that, but read the data) with those in leadership roles much more. But if we do not soon change, this view of the field will not only continue but escalate. It is up to us. I believe we can change. In fact my son and daughter-in-law are currently in Opticianry school, and I know they will be able to make a great living. But it can be better if we just reach out and do it. I truly hope this new summit will be the beginning of this change.

**optical24/7** · 10-11-2012, 09:34 AM

Originally Posted by wmcdonald

Diane,
Opticians have the strenuous requirement to a pulse to enter this field in 27 states, and even these folks get on the board and tout their professionalism. Says them! They maybe the best Optician in the world, and probably are in their minds, but they have no measurable evidence they have accomplished a thing... .

Warren, I take issue with your generalization above. There are many opticians in un-licensed state that have gone to school, obtained their AC and ABOM and practice opticianry to it's highest degree (including refraction with an MD's blessing.) Is this the norm? No, but it's not the norm in licensed states either. Most licensed state don't *require* a license to work as an optician since you can practice under an OD or MD's license.

It's easy to use a broad brush and paint un-licensed opticians as inferior to their licensed counterparts, but the opposite could also be true.

Geo

**wmcdonald** · 10-11-2012, 11:06 AM

George,
I knew you would, along with several others on the board. But it is not about you. WE. as a field, are judged by our lowest common denominator. To be an Optician in Texas and 26 other states takes a pulse. Until that changes, we will never be viewed in a positive light by anyone but ourselves. I think you know that I hold you, personally and professionally, in very high esteem. You have set yourself apart from the pack in your state the only way you could, through advanced education and training and it is outstanding. I am very proud of your personal accomplishments. You are a fine Optician and consumate professional. But we will never gain ground until we pay the dues other professions must pay to enter their respective fields. We have been left behind by every other allied health field, and still cling to this silly nonsense of on-the-job training. We continue to dumb down with each generation. Believe me, education is a good thing. If most of the Opticians on this board understood all that they truly do not know, they would want to improve. It is not the fault of those folks who stive daily to make a living........it is the system that has failed them.

Again, this is not about individuals. It is about the profession improving.
Best,
Warren

**MakeOptics** · 10-11-2012, 12:06 PM

How could anyone be for education and the ABO/NCLE at the same time? The organization that runs ABO/NCLE is in support of OJT, which gives the opportunity for those to enter without education. Couple that with the ABO/NCLE used as a crutch to forgo education and you have a problem. Of course if you have the education and the certification then fantastic for you. Many use the certification as a means to "portray" themselves as opticians, when this goes on across the country then why would I be proud of the term optician, it's a dead title or at least should be as evidence of more and more titles describing the various roles in an office that used to be the work of an optician.

No need for a diatribe about the subject but let me leave you with this the organization stole $100's of thousands of dollars the leadership is still in place with exception of the 2 that stole. Now the fees go up. Just not good business sense to support that kind of entity.