New optician begging for help

[ethompson465]

Hiya all! To give some background, I was hired by a family clinic 4 months ago, where they taught me just about everything I know now. They were desperate for opticians, and liked how much (or little) my hourly rate would be given my lack of certification and experience. (I live in Texas where you do not have to be licensed). Anyway, I've learned A LOT in my last few months. I was fitting people for progressives in my first week. I made a lot of mistakes, and had to take some verbal lashings from upset patients, but I'm pretty decent now if I say so myself.
My problem is that my optical manager, who has been wonderful and teaches me everything she knows, but shes only been an optician a year come december. There's things she doesnt know as well and her and I were both interested in getting ABO certified and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or great places to get study material that isnt too expensive as I will be purchasing it myself.
When I asked others in the clinic about the ABO certification, I was told to go a lab rep and ask him my questions, which proved to not be super helpful.

Anything helps! Thanks!

[rbaker]

Clearly, no pun intended, what we have here is a case of the blind leading the blind. Your hands on training will be only as good as the trainer and apparently you ain't going to get what you need where you are. An optical Guru is what you need and they are few and far between these days.

You can get yourself a bunch of books and study, There are a ton of free resources on the internet and on YouTube.

If you were my grandchild and insisted on a careers in the retail eye care field I would suggest that you saddle up and mosey over to http://www.tjc.edu/vision/ and get yourself a real education.

Lotsa luck!

[Kujiradesu]

Best suggestion i can give would be find someone whose been in the biz for at least 15 years as a dispensing optician and go work for them. Get them to teach you what they know. Or if thats not an option consider going to school, as mentioned above.

In the meantime:
-System for Ophthalmic Dispensing by Brooks & Boorish
-Optical Formulas Tutorial by Stoner
-Essentials of Ophthalmic Lens Finishing by Brooks
-Ophthalmic Dispensing by Stimson

Are all books any optician should have in their library and learn well.

[Chris Ryser]

Optical labs have worked with only minus cylinders as standards for over 50 years.

Converting to minus cylinders has always been a basic item, to do when learning theory in practical optics.

Management wants you on their side, so just take a douible breath and sdo it no more.

[mervinek]

Learning from someone with just one year of experience does not sound like the best way to learn. I would recommend seeing if there are other openings in your area with opticians that have more experience (And are certified!). That is the optician you want to train you. On top of that as rbaker suggested, get a real education in the field. Speaking from someone who lives in a non-licensed state, I learned from the best in the area...decades of combined experience. Also worked retail and lab. You can do it, you just need to have a great support system to help you if you are not going to get a formal education in the field.

[Diane]

The National Academy of Opticianry has several study options that you may wish to look into. First, is the Opthalmic Career Progression Program, which is a comprehensive home study program. This goes into great detail in the study materials. For only reviews, The Basic Opticians Tutorial. Go to www.nao.org or call 1-800-229-4828. Hope this helps.

[scriptfiller]

If optical is something you want to make into a career, then, find someone who has been in the industry at least a decade and learn under them. In your current situation, there exists the opportunity for resentment from your supervisor if you learn quicker and become more knowledgeable then they. I also second learning both retail and lab, you will have a better understanding of the complete optical sphere. If you cannot find other employment under a seasoned optician, then get formal education and have an exit strategy upon completion of your degree program.

[Plausible]

Contact your lab rep or lab that you work with and get your lenses / work from, they may have the resources you need or an education department set up with training sessions available. I love the motivation you have to learn and get ABO certified. That will not only help you but your clinic as well!!! Good luck!!!

[Mizikal]

You are in a similar place I was when I started. I worked with decent opticians and they taught me everything they knew but unfortunately they didn't know a lot and the problem was they didn't know they didn't know a lot. You are going to have to read, study and learn on your own. That is what I had to do. I how a much better job then I did back then. I put in the time to learn my trade and that is what you have to do.

http://www.laramyk.com/uncategorized...o-study-guide/ One of the tools I used when I got my ABO. This is great for the basics but I would get at least one or two more study books. I found one lacking in a subject and it would be covered better in another.

https://www.amazon.com/System-Ophtha.../dp/0750674806 This book will teach you a lot of stuff to. I wouldn't us it as a ABO study guide. This book pretty much has everything an optician needs to know so much to broad subject base for your ABO. Let me know if I can help though.

What part of Texas? I have family all over Texas.

[rbaker]

Here's the deal. You got your book learning and your hands on learning. Two separate cats. Ya really can't learn to adjust a frame or edge and drill lenses out of a book and edging and drilling lenses will not teach you a single thing about SVTT or Prentiss Law.

Back in the day of "real opticians" you learned by apprenticing under a master optician. He taught you everything that he knew and guided your hand through the manual skills needed to fabricate a proper pair of eyeglasses. This process generally took a couple of years at the end of which you could be considered a journeyman optician.

Of course this was back in the ay before we had these "corporate" business models. back in the day when a single business stood on its own two feet and either survived or perished on its own skills and reputation. The owner of the business took a direct responsibility of not allowing unskilled or inept people to serve his customers. His name and reputation was on the line.

Today things are much different. In all but a very few cases the owner of todays eyeglass shop is a remote corporation whose only care is profit for them and their stockholders.

Maybe you can find one of the few "old school optical shops" and apprentice there. Otherwise consider one of these two year residential programs.