That's wishful thinking Barry. The NOCE is not required in any state except those who use it as part of their state licensing exams. The only way it stays relevant is if the big box retailers continue to require it. Absent a state license, what would be the need?
Good conversation.
Does ABO/NCLE survive without licensure? I'm not certain. How many new to the profession will even take the test if there is no requirement to do so?
I know many opticians who don't/didn't keep their ABO and NCLE certifications active after gaining licensure. Most saw no need to renew ABO/NCLE as it wasn't a requirement for license renewal. Most considered the tests exclusively as a barrier to entry for licensure.
I, however, have always kept mine active and will until I retire.
Will employers care about certifications if licensure is removed? I think most will not. One thing is for certain, the profession will get hit with a huge pay scale reduction with no licensure.
A select few current well-qualified opticians won't be affected but my biggest concern is that smart young people that might consider going into opticianry won't even consider it if licensure is removed across the board.
I went to college for engineering and worked at a sunglass shop and later an optical shop while getting my degree. I enjoyed it so much that I made a career out of opticianry instead. Would I have done that if I wasn't in a licensed state? I probably wouldn't to be honest.
Well said!
Barry, are you saying that poorly made eyewear and/or unproffessional and unethical practices dissapeared when glass lenses lost its predominance? That's a pretty broad brush.Originally Posted by Barry Santini
Online has made licensure / certification a moot issue for an ever increasing number of spectacle and CL wearers. That genie can't be shoved back in the bottle.
As for optical licensure in particular, it's doomed to fail given the current system as noted above. None of the states can agree on the simple basics, reciprocity, or educational requirements. Let it die. National certification had a shot, but it also seems to be withering on the vine. Why will new dispensers pay for the training and test when fewer practices/doctors care? To say nothing of the absolute dumpster fire that is the majority of ABO CE today. In most cases, both written or in-person, nothing but overt adds for this company's latest woo-woo lens product, or that. Marketing - not science. But keep paying those dues, right?
The value needs to improve to consumer/employer/dispenser across the board. However the trend is sharply in the opposite direction. It could be different. It should be different.
But it aint.
Will ABO/NCLE survive? No doubt they will! Not only survive but thrive! Review how it has developed over the last decade, and you'll see. It's all we'll have, and there are some who still want to see themselves as professionals. If one sees it as a profession, they will seek learning opportunities, and a chance to develop. Unfortunately, this field has become a job for those with little ambition beyond that. Come on, work with us! No requirements, we'll train you! Folks, President Lincoln told us long ago, "You can fool all people some of the time and some people all the time. But you can never fool all people all the time." For a long time, people thought Opticians were far more than high school educated, and we trot around and tout our professionalism! A study done in the 80s is memory serves indicated that most thought Opticians had a minimum of a bachelor's degree! When they find the truth, they are surprised. The corporate folks, and now disruptors see us as an easy target. They're right! Several of us, long ago worked together with a man named Richard Hamilton at Charter Oak State College to develop a bachelor's degree for Opticians. ABO/NCLE were accepted as credit, and the pathway was developed. Those who graduated from Opticianry programs could transfer in as Juniors, and it was all online! We've had opportunities. When anything new came out, the typical hue and cry from the field was, "we can't do that?" Refraction, for example. Now, it's done on a cell phone!
When I was coming out, and the dinosaurs were just leaving, all Opticians wanted to be on their own. Many were quite successful! I went to school! Some told me it was a waste of time, but the more I got out and saw what I knew versus these apprentices, I was surprised! Some still say we don't need them thar school! We fought hard for licensure! The one thing we didn't do, unlike ODs who evolved from us, is educate ourselves! Then they expanded their scope and fought like hell to advance, while we sit and wonder! We made money, and attracted solid people who could have done other things. Now, unless they come based on a referral or personal interest, those who seek a degree in community colleges, with Opticianry programs, will have a choice. Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, etc. We usually come in last!
Professions have requirements! Yes, salaries are low in some places, but in many Opticians make more money than teachers! The reason we're in this condition is no one's fault but our own. Is it done? No, there will be people called Opticians, but defined by others! We could have been so much more! Again, I have seen the enemy, and it are us! I've warned constantly for 30+ years. Time to pay the piper! I only wish we could leave a better future for those who follow. We didn't!
1. On average, apples to apples, ophthalmic products cost consumers virtually the same in Arkansas ( licensed state) as they do in Texas (unlicensed state). So the argument that licensure drives up consumer prices is false.
2. If there were no licensure, would anyone get at least the basic ABO? Once again, Texas, unlicensed, and at least in 2011, When I was State Legislative Chairman, we had almost 2000 ABO certified opticians. (I still got a cd of all their names and addresses.) So yes, Opticians will seek out certification. Not necessarily because their employer required it, but to better themselves at the job they loved. I can also say my ABOM-AC went a long way in enabled me to get a job in a large, multi location OMD/OD practice that paid unbelievably well in upper management.
3. Reality; opticians ( little O) are an apathetic bunch. As has been said earlier, they are their worse enemy. They can’t agree on virtually anything as a group. Not scope of practice, how much training nor a future…That will NEVER change..
I will tell you that if licensure does disappear from all states, it won’t be the end of the world. Cream rises to the top. Better Opticians will make more and be sought after, especially when your competitors are neophytes who don’t know a PD stick from a pupilometer. Even a cheap a$$ dr that doesn’t want to pay much will quickly tire troubleshooting his own Rx’s only to find out his “optician” can’t take a proper measurement or frame recommendation.
I, along with Warren and Judy hate to see the dumbing down of our profession. But, there will be no new licensed states. The trend is just the opposite. I’m glad I retired in 20/20 ( great year to end my career!). For the educated Optician will much reduced in the marketplace. It’s a shame it’s come to this. We could have been so much more with much more opportunities for self employment and scope of practice. But, we did it to ourselves……
I appreciate your comment on the "dumbing down" of Opticianry. For some who may not remember, Opticians largely did two things in the distant past. We manufactured, fit and dispensed prescription eyeglasses. We also, in many states, fit contact lenses. Some may dispute that, but in 1948, Kevin Tuohy, an Optician (capital O!) filed a patent for the corneal contact lens! We were largely the CL fitters. People like my friend Dick Hamilton at the University of New Jersey at Durham (Duke, for those unfamiliar) was the director of the CL clinic for many years, followed by my colleague and friend, BW Phillips. Lee Hewitt, from Winston Salem, was the man at Wake Forest Bowman Grey.
For many years, the ABO/NCLE was under the auspices of the National Academy of Opticianry. There was only the Amercian Board of Opticians with one single exam. It covered both spectacles, which made up most of the exam, with contact lenses covered as well. Some complained that it was too difficult to pass, and so separated the exams into two! Let the dumbing down begin!
When you primarily do 2 things, and then split that, you weaken the whole! We continued to do that, and the lack of understanding and vision of what we could have been is now in the past. It's a shame, but we tried! There will always be an optician. A salesperson to tell Mr. and Mrs. Jones how lovely they look in that frame, with little actual knowledge of ophthalmic optics, a field which is supposed to be ours.
Here in my small county in the Midwest where I live now, 100 years ago was the local “ Optician “. He was my Great Uncle Frank. He refracted with trail lenses, ordered glasses, washed foreign body from eyes, many eyeglass repairs (probably more that than sales) referred for bad stuff, but he was the eye guy here..
That’s what we gave up, our Branch of Opticianry decided to sit on our rears, ignore the move towards formal education. My Great Uncle Frank ignored the trend toward a universal education, why should he? He’d still be doing the same thing, still working for a chicken or bushel of corn…
But others, doing the same thing he was, decided to educate themselves. They are called Optometrist now. They took the Nina and Pinta…We took the Santa Maria..(it’s the one that sank by the way….)
Some quick thoughts...
-This is the main problem that I think many of the extremely experienced opticians (not going to call you old ^_^) do not seem to understand. Online glasses sales spelt the eventual end of licensing. Which is why I think Barry has the right answers for the future of Opticianry. Talent will rise to the top.
-I agree with the sentiment that we could have been so much more, but like Uilleann said, "but it ain't." I wish it weren't so.
-I have a couple people in my office who see what myself and the other opticians do and want to be opticians. I try and talk through problems with them so they can see how we came to the conclusions we did. I tell them to go on Laramy K and watch the great videos that John@OWDC makes. I think youtube is a great medium for younger opticians to learn.
And any time you "extremely experienced opticians" have anything to say I will listen, and I would watch if you put it on youtube.
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