question for Darryl M, Chip A and others

[hagi]

Hi Everyone

Its been long time since i've posted here.

I'm a UK trained optometrist working in the UK. Pardon my ignorance but are Darryl M, Chip A and other individuals based in US who use this board optometrist. The extent of your knowledge on ophthalmic optics is very diverse and deep. Whats the secret to this?

[chip anderson]

Who? Me?

:cheers: Can't speak for Darryl, who I respect but think he is well educated. For myself, I am relatively uneducated but started in the manufacturing end of the ophthalmic lens business in 1957 (night shift in high school) then went to the manufacturing end of the contact lens business. Later it was my privilege to have some fine mentors as I moved to the retail contact lens fitting/ophthalmic dispenser/ocularist phase of my carrier. I read every thing I could find in print, joined and went to CLSA education courses and worked about 80 hours a week.

You just pick up a few tips as you do something this long (could be I was just too dumb to find a better way to make a living).

Chip

[Darryl Meister]

If you are just curious...

My early training was mostly in "practical" optics and dispensing, working for my father's optical shop. I started actually studying ophthalmic optics in preparation for the ABO's Master in Ophthalmic Optics exam. I took the test when I was about 21, and back then the exam actually concentrated on ophthalmic optics, so I fed myself a steady diet of optical textbooks. A few years later, I started working for a lens manufacturer (SOLA), which of course familiarized me more with the production side and exposed me to actual lens design tools.

I was also a physics major in school, which helped a great deal. Once you get to a certain point in optics -- even ophthalmic optics -- a good math background becomes crucial.

If you are interested in broadening your own knowledge of ophthalmic optics...

I'm sure you can find various programs and courses over in the UK to supplement your previous training (perhaps something like the SMC Tech program, if it's not too fabrication-oriented). Otherwise, there are some excellent books on ophthalmic optics, including Jalie's Principles of Ophthalmic Lenses and Fannin & Grosvenor's Clinical Optics. British authors, in particular, seem to put out some highly-quality texts on the subject (Jalie, Tunnacliffe, Fowler, and so on). If you want something that leans a little more towards dispensing, get System for Ophthalmic Dispensing. If you want something that leans more towards vision and refraction, Introduction to Visual Optics and Clinical Visual Optics are both good selections.

Best regards,
Darryl

[mrba]

Jalie's Principles of Ophthalmic Lenses

http://www.abdo.org.uk/


This one is hard to find in the US. I had it shipped and paid in pounds!