What do you consider yourself, as an optician?

[Wes]

I was having this discussion with someone the other day. Are we an allied healthcare profession or are we a trade? Healthcare professionals have formal education, tradesmen have apprenticeships. Healthcare professionals have degrees, tradesmen have certifications. As we move more towards a medical model, and away from the do-it-all optician who makes the eyewear they sell in-house, we need to move in the formal education direction.

[drk]

What the world wants is health care professionals.

What the world needs is tradesmen.

[AngeHamm]

What the world wants is health care professionals.

What the world needs is tradesmen.

ding ding ding

[lensmanmd]

My 2 cents
Dispensing Opticians should be HC professionals.
Lab technicians should be tradesmen.
Dispensing opticians could be both.
But, the other 2 O’s will fight it, as will big optical. And we all know that many Optometrists have no clue about the art and technical aspects of optical dispensing, nor do OPHs. With a few exceptions, of course. Add to the equation. Big Optical treats their labs as factories.

[Oculus Uterque]

There is nothing an optician does that resembles medical anything. There is also nothing that requires a formal education. Like... NOTHING.

[OptiNerdGirl]

There is nothing an optician does that resembles medical anything. There is also nothing that requires a formal education. Like... NOTHING.

Being that I am Licensed by the Board of HEALTH in FL and I have an AS in Opticianry, I take offense to this.

To answer the OP: I have always said I walk a fine line between healthcare and fashion.

[Wes]

There is nothing an optician does that resembles medical anything. There is also nothing that requires a formal education. Like... NOTHING.

What we have here is a prime example of "you don't know what you don't know"

[CCGREEN]

You know as well as we do, not all with a DR in front of their name are medical professionals. Most of society assumes they are just like many of the feel a Optician is a DR.
Shoot some have even had the DR title bestowed upon them for may different reasons.

[CCGREEN]

Being that I am Licensed by the Board of HEALTH in FL and I have an AS in Opticianry, I take offense to this.

To answer the OP: I have always said I walk a fine line between healthcare and fashion.

I concur with OptiNerdGirl.
To me it seems obvious that Oculus Uterque is only in this for a job, anyone can have a job ANYONE. Some of us are here because its a passion, its a profession, its career. Not just a job so therefore we put forth the effort to improve ourselves through education and experience at all levels of the ophthalmic field, even starting at "Lens Manufacturing."

[Barry Santini]

There is nothing an optician does that resembles medical anything. There is also nothing that requires a formal education. Like... NOTHING.

This. Is. Great.!

For me, the fastest and easiest way to be perceived as “better” is for others to get or remain worse.

Thank you for distilling that blueprint.

B

[Robert Martellaro]

The competition is uninspired.

https://twitter.com/cmclymer/status/1649304950403395585

[NAICITPO]

There is nothing an optician does that resembles medical anything. There is also nothing that requires a formal education. Like... NOTHING.

Is this someone's trolling account? If so bravo.

[Hayde]

I'm sorry but this should be a no-brainer. If you're filling a prescription with products regulated by the FDA, you ARE in health care. When you screw up, you can cause harm that jeopardizes someone's license hanging on the wall. No doc should risk their own employees being confused about the point of who all pays the price for dispensing vertical imbalance. You don't have to have direct patient contact to carry responsibility for the Hippocratic Oath. Worker bee cogs in the machine who can be confused about the point are most certainly answering to someone responsible for making sure their ignorance can't run business afoul of the contours of risk management dictated by health care standards & regulations that define all corners of our industry.

Edit to add: Dr K, are there some unseen semantics to your intended question flying under the radar? I get the feeling we may be missing some 'necessary and sufficient conditions' to the terms for you to present them as mutually exclusive?

[drk]

Warbly Parker, according to another thread, is trying to lift all licensure requirements by purchasing legislators (and if they aren't using that method, they're shockingly behind the times). That means "selling glasses" and "making glasses" is just a craft.

Now, truth be told, I'm a big fan of "craftmanship" and technical ability. You don't need a college degree for that (college is a rip-off, anyway, these days).

On the other hand, if everyone and anyone can do it, it's not health care, because health care seems to require regulation (in the U.S.).

If indeed it is regulated and people need certification of some sort by some accrediting body, I think it is truly health care.

My experience: it's health care. It can be "sexy health care" whatwith fashion and colors and fun, and that seems to be the main problem to solve. But it's health care. Eyes are parts of the body.

[kdw613]

Vocational Optician