Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: 2-year ASSOCIATES DEGREE... pre-requisites revealed.

Threaded View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Master OptiBoarder
    Join Date
    Jul 2002
    Location
    Vancouver, BC CANADA
    Occupation
    Dispensing Optician
    Posts
    1,120

    2-year ASSOCIATES DEGREE... pre-requisites revealed.

    MUST NOW, SHOULD KNOW and NICE TO KNOW... These are the three (3) learning categories that each opticianry school considers when they design their curriculum. And here is where private v. public school training models are remarkably different.

    For an Associate Degree from Moo**ark College in California, the opticianry student must first complete these five (5) prerequisites... English M01A, Math M03, Biology M01, Healthcare Ethics M17and Intro to Business M30.

    They must also complete these four (4) General Education Courses... Physical Science, American History, Fine or performing Arts and Kinesiology (Physical Education) before being admitted into their ‘Associate In Science in Optical Technology Degree’ program.

    This public College chose to add some humanities, basic Math, and the rest to end up with a ‘well-rounded’ graduate, or as they like to say ‘a compassionate optician’. And as a public learning institution this is their absolute right.

    However, when it comes to ‘Required (optical) Courses’ for graduation, Moo**ark lists only 33 Total Units, of which Contact Lens Fitting involves Contact Lens Theory I (3 Units), Contact Lens Theory II ( 3 Units), CL Clinical Lab (2 Units) and Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology of the Eye (3 Units)... for a total of 11 ‘Contact Lens Fitting’ Units or 33% of the 33 Total Units. Their other 22 Units (or 67%) are devoted to Optical Dispensing.

    Using an average ‘15 hours of training per Unit’, we see that only about 165 hours of CL training are scheduled to ensure that their graduate exits a competent CL fitter.

    In 1999 a Weinberger Report was commissioned in British Columbia, by respected New York educator Jane Weinberger. She examined the curriculums of over 30 USA public Colleges offering Associates Degree 2-year opticianry programs and found that virtually all 30 schools spend a maximum of 200 hours on CL fitting education. She also examined our 6-month BC College of Optics (BCCO) curriculum and found that we spend 260 hours on CL Fitting.

    As a private ‘career training’ opticianry school, we choose to devote most of our education hours to the MUST KNOW (core), and SHOULD KNOW topics of opticianry, and we try to minimize any NICE TO KNOW information in our field. And our experienced BCCO instructors concentrate on theory training and ‘hands-on’ labs, so that BC College of Optics can offer innovative ‘accelerated’ Optician/CL Fitter training... and in only 6-MONTHS!

    Ours is a ‘niche’ market ... and we are proud of the knowledge and confidence that BCCO graduates demonstrate everyday in Canada’s optical field. In fact, many BCCO graduates have been promoted to management positions at major Canadian optical chains. And one 1992 BCCO grad now owns a 9-store optical chain, with 5 stores in BC and 4 stores in Ontario.

    So if you are a young person straight from high school, then completing a 2-year public College program may well help you become a well-rounded individual. But if you are older, already feel yourself well-rounded and want to receive an excellent opticianry education in the shortest timeframe in North America, then consider joining our BC College of Optics 6-month ‘accelerated’ program.

    Next OPTICIAN/CONTACT LENS FITTER classes begin September 9th, 2019.

    www.bccollegeofoptics.ca
    Last edited by tmorse; 06-19-2019 at 04:38 PM.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Four year degree program
    By rbaker in forum General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum
    Replies: 181
    Last Post: 10-07-2005, 03:21 PM
  2. Deep Throat Revealed!
    By Cindy Hamlin in forum Just Conversation
    Replies: 24
    Last Post: 06-08-2005, 09:17 AM
  3. Buy AIT Edger Use Pre-Tax $ Before End of Year!
    By DrLMW in forum Optical Marketplace
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-21-2004, 11:36 PM
  4. Insecurities Revealed
    By eyecarepro in forum General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 10-25-2001, 08:43 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •