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Thread: New ABO Master Exam

  1. #51
    Rising Star
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    Warren, you and I have fought this battle for more years than I would like to recall. We both have heard all the lame excuses. Opticians have argued that the “chains” would never allow the field access to education since this might require greater pay. Unfortunately, when we had the opportunity to pursue formal education in Tennessee, it was the opticians that fought long and hard to destroy the goal.

    How about the canard that Optometry would prevent education because that in a hundred or so years it might allow opticians access to refractions. Again, in Tennessee it was the optician’s state society that undercut education, not Optometrists.

    Our field is saddled with an unmotivated leadership determined to remain the only uneducated branch of the health care industry. This is an unfortunate truth that seems to defy all solutions. Rather than push for change, each leadership cycle brings forward another batch of individuals determined to just do their time and tack another certificate on the wall.

    Complaints are posted on OptiBoard bemoaning the sad state of opticianry and how there is a lack of respect from the other O’s. This stems from opticians wanting to equate hanging out in an optical office for a few years and passing a couple of risible tests with that of a college degree. Respect is earned, not given. If you want respect from educated professionals start with an education.

    Now that I have vented, the flaming can commence.

    Roy

  2. #52
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    The parellels between the situation in the U.S. and Australia are amazing. I just think that we're a bit further along the path toward the complete demise of optical dispensing. If you want a look at your future, look here gentlemen, and I suggest that you be very worried!
    Governments in Australia have been in a deregulatory frame of mind for about twenty years now. In the three states here that had regulated optical dispensing, two have gone and the last will be gone this time next year.
    Big corporations have had a hand in dumbing down the level of education and the prerequistes for entry, as all they are after is a source of cheap labor and hand outs from government, and by dumbing down the courses it means less of their ex-employees will leave and go into competition against them. Since the demise of our four year apprenticeship and diploma into a two year traineeship, very few young dispensers have struck out and started up their own business. The corporate plan has succeeded!
    It seems the powers that be don't consider opticianry an important or worthwhile endeavour. We all know differently, so I think it is a matter of how we sell the message to the general public, governement and associated professions of the importance of well educated and trained opticians.

  3. #53
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Opticians won't be able to do anything w/o money. Warren you're right about education, but it's so much more than that. Money, education, on going training, and most of all, respect from our employers for what we do.

    Unfortunately, our American eithical culture has been persuaded by adulation to the golden calf, as exemplified by Wall Street.

    For me, it's about gettin' on that next rocketship: I've earned my skill set. Slavish devotion to money via wall street, should be told "no vacency"!

    Rant off!

    B

  4. #54
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    Roy,
    I agree with you. I've seen this underminIng firsthand in NY.

    And when you flame Roy, you're hot!

    B

  5. #55
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    Even if we had money, we are too tight to part with it. In my state we could have had licenseing back when you could buy the legislature for
    $5.00 a vote and these clowns wouldn't put up a dime. I was working for about $150.00 a week and offered to put up $5,000.00 personally. Couldn't get the very prosperous optical owner exec's in our state society to put up a dime.
    They let it all slip from thier hands.

    Chip

  6. #56
    ABOM Wes's Avatar
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    Thought I'd revive this thread

    As it somewhat goes to the other thread currently in this forum. I took both of the AC exams, and passed both the first time out. Both were very comprehensive. The ABO-AC I found rather easy to pass, as this is my field and has been for many years. The management questions were unrelated to the title Master in Ophthalmic Optics, true, but this test IS NOT the Master in Ophthalmic Optics test anymore. It is the Advanced NOCE. We can call it semantics, but that is the current format. If you want the title, Master in Ophthalmic Optics, write the paper. On a side note, I found the Advanced CLRE much more difficult, due to that not being my primary field.

    As far as education goes, We may never see opticianry educate itself out of the pit it is in, but at least with difficult certifications like these, the cream of the crop can still set themselves apart from the rest. I have issued a challenge to my optical lab co-workers that if any of them successfully pass one of the advanced examinations, I WILL PAY FOR IT. I do not think I am in any danger of losing money.
    Wes
    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

  7. #57
    OptiBoard Apprentice Yellow's Avatar
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    I agree that we shouldn't be dumbed down, I've just finished my two year certification through Lux and RMIT in Aus and now I really don't know where I stand in comparison with my non Lux/ RMIT peers. It's hard as I believe that everything was covered and have not had a situation I haven't been able to remedy at work
    (but that might be because of you guys!!), but another OD thought it was comical that I wasted the last two years of my life.

    If I had a choice of providers I would have done some research into what was best, but it wasn't up to me.
    I am wondering if anyone has an old final exam from another university that I could have a look at?
    Maybe then I'll be able to make a comparison.

  8. #58
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    I full-heartedly agree with Darryl! I'm studying right now to take the test in September and I do not see the relevance of including business questions on a certification exam for Ophthalmic Optics. If these are to be added to this test, the designation should be changed to "Master of Ophthalmic Management" or "Master of Ophthalmic-Related Business". The Masters (or Advanced) certification is not a requirement for opening a business and it does not lend it's taker to open a business, therefore the need for these questions is not founded. I feel like I'm wasting the time I could be using for studying oh, I don't know... optics... on studying useless junk.

  9. #59
    ABOM Wes's Avatar
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    Musicvirtuoso, see below.

    Quote Originally Posted by wss2020 View Post
    The management questions were unrelated to the title Master in Ophthalmic Optics, true, but this test IS NOT the Master in Ophthalmic Optics test anymore. It is the Advanced NOCE. We can call it semantics, but that is the current format. If you want the title, Master in Ophthalmic Optics, write the paper. .
    Wes
    the Master in Ophthalmic Optics certification is now a seperate entity from the Advanced Optician certification. The AC exam is a prerequisite, but is no longer the Master's exam. I feel it accurately reflects the knowledge needed to perform as an advanced optician; knowledge of optics, certainly, but also of diseases, pretesting, and business management.
    Let's be honest here. Unless you're a lens designer or work in a surfacing laboratory, you probably don't spend a lot of time contemplating too much in the way of ophthalmic optics. The Advanced Certification exam content covers what most upscale employers would want from a seasoned optician.
    I hold both Advanced Certifications, the Master in Ophthalmic Optics, and a BS with a major in business. I work in a surfacing lab and dispense part time. Take my words for what they're worth. Wes
    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

  10. #60
    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
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    I feel it accurately reflects the knowledge needed to perform as an advanced optician... business management...Let's be honest here. Unless you're a lens designer or work in a surfacing laboratory, you probably don't spend a lot of time contemplating too much in the way of ophthalmic optics.
    At the same time, how many opticians are really in a management role? I would say no more than 1 out of 5.

    I agree that business management represents a skillset that could potentially benefit many opticians, and anyone else for that matter, but until the ABO renames the Master in Ophthalmic Optics certification to something else, like the Advanced ECP Certification, it is still outside the implied scope of the certification.

    While I do believe that knowledge of certain aspects of sight testing will benefit individuals who fit, make, and dispense eyeglasses, the incorporation of content areas that do not specifically pertain to ophthalmic dispensing dilute the focus of the examination and, therefore, the quality of the results.

    In fact, opticians are probably more likely to dispense contact lenses than perform pretesting, refraction, or manage a business. Yet there are no questions regarding contact lens dispensing on the advanced ABO certification exam or former Master exam. Why? Because the ABO/NCLE offers a separate exam that focuses specifically on contact lenses, as they should. The new Advanced ABO exam seems to me to have become a "catch-all" for everything else, yet the actual length of the exam is still no longer than a typical high school final.

    Best regards,
    Darryl
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

  11. #61
    Eyes eastward... Uilleann's Avatar
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    Curiously - what is the current average attention given to business management in med or optometry schools these days?

  12. #62
    ABOM Wes's Avatar
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    Perhaps they should have kept the Master exam as it was and created the Advanced exam as a seperate entity? But who would take both as they're so closely related in content anyway?

    The new exam was created to reflect the skillset needed to manage an office and dispensary. These are the skills most employers want from a top level optician. It has a 5 percent pass rate from what I hear. Not too shabby, and you're right. It is a catch-all.

    No reference is made anywhere that the new advanced exam is the old master in ophthalmic optics exam although one may infer... If it were I would agree completely with you. It is not that now; it is a higher level certification.

    I'm not disagreeing with you about what should be. I'm just stating what is. I constantly see people saying these things shouldn't be in the masters exam. Well they're not! They're in the Advanced NOCE.
    Ps. I would like to add, Darryl, that I think you're tops in optics on this board, so no disrespect. I still say were arguing about semantics.
    Best regards to you,
    Wes
    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

  13. #63
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    I do understand that this is not the exam for the "Masters" certification. But, if you look at it one way, aren't both the Basic and the Advanced NOCE pathways to the Masters certification? After all, each exam is a prerequisite for the following subsequently more difficult one (yes, and to reiterate, I do understand that the Masters certification is obtained by writing a thesis, not taking an exam). I may also be arguing semantics as mentioned earlier, but aren't all three certifications in the same realm of subject matter (they do have the same root in there abbreviated designations, ie: ABOC, ABO-AC, ABOM)? And if Business management is so important in the qualifications as an optician, why aren't there business related questions on the standard exam? Surely, as a certified optician of any level, you'd want to have even marginal strength in all areas that are required of an optician. I may just be venting because of how much I do not like studying business...:hammer:

  14. #64
    Master OptiBoarder optical24/7's Avatar
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    Music, if it's any consolation to you, the version I took last Nov. only had a handful of business or agency questions (ANSI, OSHA, ect ).

    Mine was mostly path, prism, formula and a lot of refraction questions.(a lot!) Concentrate more on those.

  15. #65
    Master OptiBoarder Darryl Meister's Avatar
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    Perhaps they should have kept the Master exam as it was and created the Advanced exam as a seperate entity? But who would take both as they're so closely related in content anyway?
    I have a lot of opinions on this matter, but I will spare the 'Board my diatribe for now. ;) There are a lot of very passionate opinions regarding this topic, and all too often such heated debate ends badly on OptiBoard.

    The new exam was created to reflect the skillset needed to manage an office and dispensary. These are the skills most employers want from a top level optician.
    I'm not suggesting that the new ABO-AC examination doesn't have a place or offers no value. I just feel that a certification described as a "Master in Ophthalmic Optics" should, in fact, only be conferred upon someone who has adequately demonstrated an advanced level of knowledge of ophthalmic optics and lenses.

    If there really is value in testing someone on potentially related subjects, like business management, then a separate exam should continue to be administered for the ABOM certification. Right now, the only distinction between the ABO-AC and ABOM certifications is a 2,000-word paper, which in my mind makes one of these certifications redundant.

    No reference is made anywhere that the new advanced exam is the old master in ophthalmic optics exam although one may infer... If it were I would agree completely with you.
    I'm not suggesting that the title of the exams are the same, or that the titles should even matter. After all, how many opticians even remember that the "ABO Exam" is really called the "National Opticianry Competency Exam?" But the Master certifications are the same, and this is all that really matters. You still get a certificate from the ABO that reads "Master in Ophthalmic Optics," as well as the "ABOM" credential.

    I would like to add, Darryl, that I think you're tops in optics on this board, so no disrespect.
    Absolutely none taken. I respect the fact that every person is entitled to his or her own opinion, and I am happy to entertain any opinion that is respectfully submitted and reasonably supported, as yours always are.

    Best regards,
    Darryl
    Darryl J. Meister, ABOM

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by optical24/7 View Post
    Music, if it's any consolation to you, the version I took last Nov. only had a handful of business or agency questions (ANSI, OSHA, ect ).

    Mine was mostly path, prism, formula and a lot of refraction questions.(a lot!) Concentrate more on those.
    Actually, that is a consolation... I feel a little better.

  17. #67
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter Barry Santini's Avatar
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    What do you mean, "business management"?

    The Reader's Digest version of
    The 5 Point Business Managment for Opticians:

    1. Take all Insurance Plans
    2. Open 7 days a week
    3. Operate a website 24/7
    4. Blame the lab for everything, and get all redone at no charge
    5. Get blamed for everything, and never EVER bill the client nor the referring doctor for any of their contributions to your bad and less profitable days.

    Did I miss anything?

    Oh yeah, one more thing: NEVER think you're wrong!

    B

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry Santini View Post
    What do you mean, "business management"?

    The Reader's Digest version of
    The 5 Point Business Managment for Opticians:

    1. Take all Insurance Plans
    2. Open 7 days a week
    3. Operate a website 24/7
    4. Blame the lab for everything, and get all redone at no charge
    5. Get blamed for everything, and never EVER bill the client nor the referring doctor for any of their contributions to your bad and less profitable days.

    Did I miss anything?

    Oh yeah, one more thing: NEVER think you're wrong!

    B
    LOL. True!;);)

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