Our state society has been following the woes of Pennsylvania Opticians. You should join in on the forum that Jo posted 'OD's getting it from all sides'. A very interesting perspective has developed on licensure and formal education.
Jerry
Bev
Our state society has been following the woes of Pennsylvania Opticians. You should join in on the forum that Jo posted 'OD's getting it from all sides'. A very interesting perspective has developed on licensure and formal education.
I gotta be gettin old (or am!) or somethin.
Twas once upon a time...students paid to learn, instructors got paid to teach. Now somebody else is getting paid to decide whether someone should teach and if so, do it for nothin!
The really really good profs and guru's got all kinds of stipends, grants, fellowships, recognition for having, excuse the expression, accomplished something worth sharing. Tom Peters gets paid thousands to stand in front of business students to talk about corporate America.
He don't pay! . . . That's ridiculous!
I jutht thimply dont underthtand!
Who are these people getting this money and what is it for and are they qualified to evaluate an instructor or trainer And . . . and . . . let THEM give the course since they're gettin the big bucks.
Sheeesh!
Mveyes,
You can become a mail-order doctorate if you like .......... or you can get a real education by paying for it.
The higher the education the more complicated the criteria for the instructors. This is an absolutely necessary filter in order to have educational standards that will stand up to the other professions who might question our level/quality of education.
If you want free education, I'm sure you can find plenty of vendors to put on seminars for you - same ones a last year but with a different name so they can count.
Question. Do you want advanced education or do you want cheap CEC's
Come on Ohio! You are big and licensed, pay the price and be leaders. Show us that opticians are willing to pay for higher education.
Hi All:
You are discussing a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Over the years I have submitted several courses that have been disapproved for reasons which totally escape me. Four of my ethics courses were disapproved because "the basic exam test specifications do not include ethics..." Strange but true.
I suppose what has managed to give me more heartburn than anything else is that both the ABO and NCLE refuse to follow their approval guidelines. For instance, according to the April 1999 ABO and NCLE Sponsor Newsletter, "Level III courses should relate directly to skills or knowledge contained within the Advanced Certification Examination Content Outline and Test Specifications." Yet, when I have submitted courses related directly to these topics, many have been disapproved. To date, no cogent reasons have been offered.
I'm not sure where the problem is but it is real and bothersome.
Roy R. Ferguson
Knowing your background, etc. I doubt there are many at ABO who have your academic kahunas!
Which leads me to my next statement.
Opticianry is like Emerald City.
Can't really tell what drives it.
I see the ABO as the Wizard, supposedly there to guard the gates of competency.
But, I suspect that if we sneek a peek behind the curtain . . .
The Wizard may not be what we think it is. We just let it be that way 'cause . . . who questions the Wizard . . . . OF. . . . . EYES!
Homer
I suggest that you look at the Universities around the country who are offering college level courses on line. As a matter of fact my sister teaches nursing in Denver and also has to provide a series of courses on-line for the college she works for. Ohio is working hard on its formal education bill but it is a catch 22 with not having course material readily available within a certain mileage from all the counties. The legislature considers availability and the schools won't put on the courses unless it is legislated.You can become a mail-order doctorate if you like .......... or you can get a real education by paying for it.
:shiner: Jerry
The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground
I have great hope for distance learning and on-line education especially for the younger set. I was making fun of the old mail-order notion of diplomas and some of the cheap CEC's out there.
As we look down the road to success in the on-line education and CEC's we will have to ask the question about how state societies will then make their money.
Maybe the convention will have to be centered around clinicals and testing or on-campus times. ??
Homer
you said:
With better education (formal)we have a chance to improve our wage level. State societies could ask for more in membership dues and hopefully educated Opticians would be more likely to become active in state and national issues both financially and as volunteers in association activities.question about how state societies will then make their money.
:cheers: Jerry
The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground
Originally posted by MVEYES
you said:
With better education (formal)we have a chance to improve our wage level.
In my not-always-humble opinion, this is a very chancy assumption. It is a pipe dream. What occupation has every accomplished this in the last 15 or even 20 years? I honestly think that time lapse between formal education and licensure and then licensure and increased wage level would be quite a bit longer than we might hope.
In any given state, even licensed ones, the majority of opticians do not belong to their state professional association. Therein lies the problem. We apparently have not discovered the "product" that most "consumers" want to buy.
I tend to believe that for professional societies of the future, there will need to be found other ways to pay the bills and other reasons to exist.
We are all in the discovery process at the moment.
Hi you guys,
Formal education and state societies can work hand in hand. Let the colleges supply formal ed (AS degrees) and let the state societies supply continuing ed (CE courses)...every body wins.
Our college opticianry program could easily set up CE courses for a profit, but we don't because we want to leave that for the state societies.
Most opticianry colleges heavilly support their state society and many of our students join as a result.
Our online stuff is strictly for college credit, not for CE credit. The state societies can look into offering online CE credits. I know that Florida is researching that now.
Looking forward to meeting you in NYC : )
Laurie
However ............. the on-line CEC's are just getting started
and...... here in Colorado the Department of Regulatory agencies suggested that CEC's no longer be required for Optometrists ...
... their argument is that CEC's have already been dropped for MD's and Nurses.
If this is the trend, then the CEC business my still not be a reason for a state society to exist let alone paying the bills.
Homer
You're right. CEC's are an iffy way for state societies to stay afloat. Creative marketing needs to be a strong focus for our associations.
:D :cheers: Jerry
The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground
abo/ncle is made up of appointments by OAA and NAO. each group appoints 2 people to serve on each board thus 2 oaa on abo and 2 oaa on ncle. 2 nao on abo and 2 nao on ncle. at one time clsa and nfos also had appoiments on the boards but that was done away with a few years ago. This group is where most of your grant money comes from
Tom
You said:
Why were they done away with? Don't you think that two of the most important societies in Opticianry education should not be excluded? Why is OAA appointing to those boards? It is a legislative body unlike NAO, CLSA and NFOS. Wake up. Our credentialing bodies look like the judges in the pairs skating in the Olympics. They finally came around to reform and fairness.at one time clsa and nfos also had appoiments on the boards but that was done away with a few years ago
:shiner: Jerry
The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground
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