2-years vs. 6-months opticianry programs

[Lab Insight]

[QUOTE=wmcdonald;555718]

It s insulting, but is not Mr. Morse's fault. He teaches the basics needed to perform the duties of a dispensing optician on a daily basis. and does it just fine. His students, just like those in the military program at Yorktown, Virginia go to school for 40 hours/week. Traditional school programs attend 15-20 hours, and take additional courses (what Ted calls the "nice to know" courses) in English, Math, and other subjects that help round out the individual's education. His program plays a role in Canada. You may be surprised to know that in Canada, all Opticians have to have SOME didactic course work, either online of face-to-face.

To your personal situation, I am very familiar with the Dothan program. It has never been COA accredited, something else you may not know. Had it been accredited you would not have been required to complete the apprenticeship. Its a shame you had to do that. But what is an even bigger shame is that now only 22 states in the US have to have ANY kind of training. The rest have to have the very stiff requirement of a pulse. That is the true insult, but hold on. It gets worse. There is really limited data in the literature that proves you/we with education, do things one iota better than those that do not.

Until we in the US change drastically, and mandate education and training all this discussion is moot. Ted offers a program. It provides training and education necessary to do the job and is heads and shoulders above any apprenticeship program, that I can tell you. You mention ODs and MDs. They have a solid education, and high incomes not found in Opticianry. Unfortunately what we attract to the field today is someone seeking an easy gig. We must improve.

Tmorse offers a fast track program that is compatible, meets the requirements and provides the same content of other programs in a quarter of the time for those where time is of the essence. The end game is exactly the same. And besides, no student really starts learning the real intricacies opticianry until they are licensed and have a few years under their belt. And do we ever stop learning? Most of us don't.

It's like speed dating; it cuts the BS and unnecessary expense of expensive dinners.

[Lab Insight]

- certainly he knows who you are, totally ignore him

+1

[Warrior]

You could take the same approach with optometry.

-refraction
-slit lamp exam
-fundus

You could probably put that into a 4 month course. Absurd but true.

[tmorse]

“If we teach today like we taught yesterday,
we rob our students of tomorrow” –John Dewey


Google it!!

[CCGREEN]

“If we teach today like we taught yesterday,
we rob our students of tomorrow” –John Dewey


Google it!!

Progressive teachings can be a good thing...............problem is they tend to stray from the factual foundations of the development of civilizations.

[Lab Insight]

You could take the same approach with optometry.

-refraction
-slit lamp exam
-fundus

You could probably put that into a 4 month course. Absurd but true.

The lack of merit and ridiculousness of your posts validates your lack of intelligence and certainly doesn't deserve any further replies from individuals who actually possess the skills you lack.

[Warrior]

The lack of merit and ridiculousness of your posts validates your lack of intelligence and certainly doesn't deserve any further replies from individuals who actually possess the skills you lack.

So it's ok to condense opticianry training but not optometry? Neither should be condensed. The fact is, ophthalmic technicians do refract and perform complete eye exams in ophthalmic practices under delegation. Ophthalmology practices no doubt save money by hiring them. They learn eye examination in condensed programs and on-the-job training. But it doesn't justify reducing optometry to a 12 month program. The same applies to opticianry. Optometrists hire dispensing assistants instead of ROs.

There is no justification for condensing opticianry training into 6 months if it means eliminating material. "ie nice to know"

[idispense]

........... Optometrists hire dispensing assistants instead of ROs.

There is no justification for condensing opticianry training into 6 months if it means eliminating material. "ie nice to know"

And thats the rub , opticians are competing on an uneven playing field, against untrained assistants that ODs hire, “nice to know”

and btw Ted is good at what he does , darn good at it .

[CCGREEN]

The lack of merit and ridiculousness of your posts validates your lack of intelligence and certainly doesn't deserve any further replies from individuals who actually possess the skills you lack.

Nothing at all wrong with Warriors comment, in fact hes right 100%.
Technicians are taught to do that all the time....refract, use the slit lamp, take fundus photos.
Now if you want to start talking about knowing why they do these things and how to do a good refraction or how to recognize and diagnose specific eye conditions and what may be the underlying cause, now we are talking about a different ball game. It take lots of time and practice to become good at it, there is always something new to learn.

As a Florida Board Certified Optician I can do what ever I want to with a contact lens but change the power. Any changes I make to it I am supposed to look at it under the slit lamp and make any adjustments needed, right there I just recognized and diagnosed a need. Refracting is a mechanical process that anyone can be taught to do. If it was a medical procedure then insurance companies would be paying for it. The only reason opticians are not refracting today here in the USA is because we want the patient to come in for any underlying issues that may be going on so that the health of their eyes can be cared for. If we were refracting only as most patients want us to do the pt would not be receiving the quality of HEALTH care that they deserve.
All that being said personally I feel we should be refracting but come up with a program that we HAVE to refer the patient every 2 years for a eye health exam before another refraction can be done. That way OD's, MD,s, and LDO,s all get a share of the pie. After all OD,s are constantly pushing to do more and more (and getting) to do more of things that MD,s are doing. Opticians need to be doing the same thing.

[Warrior]

Nothing at all wrong with Warriors comment, in fact hes right 100%.
Technicians are taught to do that all the time....refract, use the slit lamp, take fundus photos.
Now if you want to start talking about knowing why they do these things and how to do a good refraction or how to recognize and diagnose specific eye conditions and what may be the underlying cause, now we are talking about a different ball game. It take lots of time and practice to become good at it, there is always something new to learn.

As a Florida Board Certified Optician I can do what ever I want to with a contact lens but change the power. Any changes I make to it I am supposed to look at it under the slit lamp and make any adjustments needed, right there I just recognized and diagnosed a need. Refracting is a mechanical process that anyone can be taught to do. If it was a medical procedure then insurance companies would be paying for it. The only reason opticians are not refracting today here in the USA is because we want the patient to come in for any underlying issues that may be going on so that the health of their eyes can be cared for. If we were refracting only as most patients want us to do the pt would not be receiving the quality of HEALTH care that they deserve.
All that being said personally I feel we should be refracting but come up with a program that we HAVE to refer the patient every 2 years for a eye health exam before another refraction can be done. That way OD's, MD,s, and LDO,s all get a share of the pie. After all OD,s are constantly pushing to do more and more (and getting) to do more of things that MD,s are doing. Opticians need to be doing the same thing.

Agree on the refracting, if properly trained. A good optician would also know when to refer for an ocular health exam, even if less than 2 years.

Look at Dental Hygienists. It was recently ruled (Ontario) they can perform a cleaning without a dental health exam. It's about access to care. If I want my teeth cleaned, but I don't want to pay for x-rays and an exam, I should be allowed to obtain that service on its own.