As many of us know in the state of Florida one could become an Optician by way of apprenticeship. I was getting a haircut and overheard the barber say "years ago one could be a barber but now you have to go SCHOOL to get a license". REALLY REALLY
Doesn't this make you mad?
................and what about the optician ?
That kind of thing drives me crazy... and here I am in Central PA where any person off the street can be an optician. Grrrrrr
I wouldn't ever have made it into the optical world if it had required school. In my experience, a great number of opticians and techs found optics by accident and then fell in love. We are a mash-up of passionate learners and teachers and we are all the ones who dropped-out or ended up with degrees that will never be used.
I would love to get licensed this year purely for the option to travel, but know plenty of certified people whose value isn't even comparable to those I work with that will probably never take the ABO.
Have I told you today how much I hate poly?
I would have gone to school for optics after falling backasswards into it while I was in college, if there had been an incentive or licensure in my state. Instead I learned from those above me in the lab and on the floor and have decided to study it on my own as much as I could. I know from experience that most of the other "dispensing opticians" in maryland would not do this nor are they interested in learning like I am. As long as they do a good enough job I guess...
That is all about you, and I appreciate your circumstances, but it needs now to be about this field and making it better. Apprentices only learn as much as their teacher can share with them, and so is limited. EVERY other health-related field left this outdated and outmoded method of education and training long ago, and have improved because of it. We exist......and decline, using this ridiculous argument. Until we get serious, and recognize that the things we need to know now are more complex than ever before, and require a form education, then were will continue to decline. If Henry Ford felt that way, we would still be driving horses and buggies.Originally Posted by Quince
To your second point, yes there are excellent folks who are brilliant and have no degree at all. The same is true for folks like Bill Gates. He did OK, and was a drop out. But for the majority, we are measured by our lowest common denominator and all those around us have an education and require licenses. We don't.......we lose.
So we should model our education and training, and the future of this field because of this argument? What is a good job? No wonder we are in the shape we are in.
If you want to consider yourself a professional and command respect, then apprenticeship has to be eliminated and a formal education should be required, State licensing is a must. Being an Optician should be considered a profession not a trade.
I must agree with wmcdonald and eyedude. A conversion to only formal education is essentially inevitable, due to the tide towards such in the US, in nearly all industries, especially healthcare. I don't really see any other way forward.
Unless of course, opticianry is unregulated as it is in so many states already. And, how do you regulate someone in a foreign country? We will see a trend to deregulation in coming years.
That is a real concern, Mr. Baker. They are trying to do just that in my home state of NC, and many of the other licensed states. We cannot regulate someone in a foreign country, and I assume you are implying online providers. That is an issue as well. We are seeing a trend towards deregulation, and unless we do something to provide evidence of our relevance, I fear we may soon be deregulated. We have two choices. We can do as Opticianry has always done......watch someone else define us, or we can take a proactive stance and move ahead. I the latter is the route, it will be a slow process. Just like all others who have improved themselves (Optometry and Nursing are examples), we have to begin with education and training that is consistent across the nation. The National Federation of Opticianry Schools is a place that has that framework and is actively seeking to open schools across the country. I hope they are supported.
Well, those that i know do have the ABO and many are VA Licensed. They can't troubleshoot their way out of a wet paper bag. +1.00 in 1.67, -11.00 in TVX and don't get me started on freeform. Then there are those that fit a 20SH in a 28 B frame. All ABO and/or state licensed.
The problem I see is that most of them, once they get their certification and/or license, rest on their laurels and only take CEs on what they already know. All of my staff are ABOC, and most can go out on the floor as opticians. I encourage them to take CEs on freeform, HEV, Thin Films, new materials, anything that we process so that they have a better understanding of what we provide. I even provide them with the related materials. Can't say that our opticians can come to my lab and fabricate, nor properly QA the product.
This is my profession, and as such, I need to and want to stay on top of what is relevant. Wouldn't it be nice if all fitting and dispensing opticians did the same. If so, none of us would be having this discussion.
Formal education + apprenticeship and multi-tiered CEs are the way to go. Multi-tiered CEs = theory, new tech/product/material, ANSI knowledge, etc., to stay current and stay sharp on the basics. Nothing more embarrassing to our business than when the consumer knows more about a product than the optician. How many certified opticians have you come across that can't properly apply Prentice's Rule? Sad, really.
Just the opposite is true. De-regulation is the word du jour. As Warren points out below, licensure is and has been under attack, not just N.C., but Ohio has had recent bills introduced to take licensure apart. N.J. had an attack not that long ago.
Warren, what I love about you is your eternal optimism! But our ship sailed many moons ago and will not come back to it's port. We all should have done more back when legislators were more sympathetic to the public's protection. ( Like when dog groomers were able to get licensure.) Opticianry schools will do well in licensed states, but the majority, non-licensed states will not draw enough students to make them practical. We tried in Houston...A huge market.. We couldn't get enough students to pay for the lights in the classroom.
There is no financial motive in these states to attend school. Without motivation, it just won't happen. I know we agree to disagree on this, but mandatory licensure will have to happen before we'll see the motivation to attend an Opticianry school. I've said it many time... You will have to drag Opticians, kicking and screaming all the way into class. And since the atmosphere is to de-regulate, there little chance we'll see our profession advance. It's a shame we, and earlier generations of Opticians never stood strong enough together to keep our profession relevant. Now we see ourselves in the twilight of a career. It's a shame...
the play and training ground for the largest corporations .........................
If professions would have been regulated on a Federal level everything would have been easier to handle.
And since the atmosphere is to de-regulate, there little chance we'll see our profession advance. It's a shame we, and earlier generations of Opticians never stood strong enough together to keep our profession relevant. Now we see ourselves in the twilight of a career. It's a shame...
The continent also has become the play and training ground for the largest corporations on their way to totally dominate the optical trade.
On the other hand even if you learn by way of apprenticeship the individual will STILL need to pass the same test whether they had gone to school or not.
Most do not fare as well on any exam as those who attend a formal program. There are a few very bright ones who do a great job, but they are limited in number. For the most part we attract those who seek an easy path. In existing schools, if you can't get in Nursing, Rad Tech, or one of the others, they send you to Opticianry.......they generally take about anybody. There are some excellent students who come in, but they are fewer than the old days when it was competitive. Even then, even the low level student we typically attract fare much better on the ABO/NCLE and licensing exams. Apprenticeship is outdated, and ineffective and eliminated by every other health-related profession long ago......except us. But as George says above, it is probably too late any way. We should give up, I guess. But I just can't............
Warren, you know I've got your six, just like you've got mine if we ever get the opportunity to advance Opticianry. But we're in dark days my friend....
So true. But, the system was set up a long time ago when "across states" was never conceived of as being anything viable.
It is a strange situation, no? Every other area of medicine is heading towards more formal education training, degrees, and licensure. Why things are going in the opposite direction for opticinary, I have no idea. Beyond the scope of my current understanding of the field.
When it comes to beating this long dead horse, I guess it just depends on which side of the fence your feet are firmly planted on. Long retired, I can look upon the craft with a view unimpeded by any personal pecuniary gain.
I graduated from a two year program in Ophthalmic Dispensing back in the sixties and as a Licensed Dispensing Opticians worked for a Guild Optician where I really learned the business. I was very active in the old Guild and served as President of my local opticians association. I later owned and operated a wholesale ophthalmic lab.
After some twenty years, laboring in the eye care vineyard, I saw the handwriting on the wall. The MD’s were peddling glasses. The independent OD was dying and “Big Eye,” through vertical integration, was successfully taking over the whole business process.
Some States have licensing/registration and it really doesn’t matter. Some folks are “schooled.” and it really doesn’t matter. Some folk get their eyewear online from Ethiopia and it really doesn’t matter.
The truth is, the optician is not a healthcare professional no matter how much he want to compare himself with the pharmacist. A pair of eyeglasses is no more a medical device than a tongue depressor. It seems that these lofty goals have failed the test of time since anyone with the ability to fog a mirror can sell eyeglasses.
So, here we are today, wondering how opticianry is serving the general public. The point is that no independent source (FDA, FTC) has been able to show any evidence whatsoever that regulations have caused harm or increased the quality of getting a pair of glasses.
The bottom line is that the ultimate arbiter of this whole question is found in the free marketplace.
We have spent a ton of money and resources trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear through regulations, public schools and who knows what else. All to an ever decreasing craft. Its business as usual.
All the BS aside, all that matters, from a personal perspective is that you are happy with your work and are able to put food on the table. If not, move on.
As Warren stated above, "unless we do something to provide evidence of our relevance".... There are no bodies in the streets, there are no studies or papers that extrapolate the *danger* to the public of receiving and wearing incorrect eye glasses. There has also been a downward push from large corporations that have the most to lose with mandatory licensure. OD's fought us for years, so much so that they wrote in their state bylaws that they must perform a refraction themselves rather than delegate to a tech (like MD's can, which will come back and bite them with the coming telemedicine future on the horizon). But OD's don't need to fight us any longer. There are huge corporate interests that will rid themselves of the evil "licensed Optician" once and for all.
Sorry to be a gloomy Gus, but I've fought this on my state's level for many years, and it seems we have a predictable future.....
I was kind of being facetious with that good enough job, but I am powerless to change it. All I can do is control what I know and what I can learn myself and those at my shop. The ship has sailed in maryland I worry
Folks,
I know it is probably too late. I have been singing consistently this same song in written articles and lectures all across America and beyond for nearly 40 years. In the past, we were doing well, and no one saw a need for change and becoming more than we were. I always had a vision that we could broaden our horizons. But then the decline started, and we still did not grasp the need for change, fighting things other embrace so vigorously, like education and training. Unlike some, we allowed outside forces to shape us, rather than developing our own vision. I did my best, but had a message that did not gain momentum. In the long run, I do hope I was able to positively affect a few along the way. Know that I have appreciated all the positive comments I receive off line each time these redundant threads start, and I even appreciate those who disagree. I understand some take my comments a demeaning to them personally, and that was never the intention. They have their experience and background that has shaped their views and I do respect and understand them. Either way, I hope all here understand I wanted to do good things for this field, and offered a vision for what could be. I, like Dick and some others here are in the final phases of our journey. I only hope that the Optician of the future has a better road to travel. I can only reflect on my own journey, and hope the road is better because I passed by. I will try to refrain from continuing the redundant comments. It is clear most here have surrendered. While simply cannot, I do.....sincerely, wish you all the every best, and a brighter future for us all.
Warren
Last edited by wmcdonald; 02-01-2017 at 10:58 AM.
It really does seem as though the writing is apparently on the wall, according to our esteemed members here, which I am strongly inclined to believe are correct.
I am just going to say it and take the lumps that come. I have never met an optician fresh out of school that was ready to be turned loose on the public. They still need an apprenticeship period. Are they better than someone off the street with no training?... of course they are. But are they better than someone off the street after a 2 year apprenticeship with a good teacher?...not necessarily. You may not agree but even if you go through a degree program, you are still only as good as the people who taught you. I live in a state that has no laws regarding opticians , As long as the State Board of Optometry continues to believe that any monkey can be an optician, it will remain that way. My business is thriving because I have shown people in the area what a real optician can do for them. I guess you could say the lack of regulation has been good for me but not for customers who have not yet found me. I still firmly believe that any optician is only as good as they want to be... whether or not they have a formal education. As a matter of fact, I feel that way about any profession. I don' t care if my nurse is well versed in literature, as long as she can find my vein when she needs to. If I am being used as a human shield, I don't care if a police officer has a criminal justice degree...i just want him to be able to shoot straight, accurately and judiciously. Being a good optician requires many things, a degree is not one of them.
Last edited by bullseyemt; 01-31-2017 at 05:19 PM.
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