Opticians: It Is All About Business

Capitalism: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods and by prices, production, and distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.

The primary responsibility of the dispensing optician is to make money for his/her employer. The optician needs to bring in enough revenue to cover their income and provide their employer with a profit. It is just plain that simple! If you are not an asset to a business then you are a liability.

Opticianry as an occupation, trade, or career is fading away and if a radical change to opticianry education and educational preparedness is not quickly implemented then the role is doomed for extinction. The career or occupations that have failed to survive are those that spent more time looking back than looking forward.

The current structure of instruction can be thought of as an inverted pyramid, theory on top with practical application on the bottom. This is the worse possible situation and if we do not turn the pyramid over soon it is going to fall on us. We need to eliminate most of the theory, toss the unnecessary topics, and force practical application of skills through real-life experience gained by working in busy optical practices.

Yes, opticians should know how to think in abstract ways. I am not advocating a lowering of standards, in fact, I would like to see the opposite. Opticianry students should have taken high-school algebra and at least two college-level mathematics courses BEFORE they enter the classroom.

Should they spend valuable classroom time working archaic and inane problems calculating image jump in a lined bi-focal? NO, Bifocals are a way of looking back not forward.

Should they spend valuable classroom time working archaic and inane problems calculating slab-off? NO, There are computers now that do these calculations for you!

Should they spend valuable classroom time learning out-dated lens materials and designs? NO Why in the world are we even looking at ribbon segments and curve tops, let alone executives and round segments? Why? “Because they are included on the state examination!” Well, then get the state examination changed!

They should enter the classroom already able to reason and to think in the abstract. They should be spending their time learning insurance, sales, repairs, technology, current trends, fitting, adjusting, customer service, business skills, and lab work.

If opticianry programs do not start producing graduates that know the basics necessary to survive in a real world dispensary setting then the schools, programs, and the field have no right to remain in business.

The current structure would be similar to having a student mechanic ignoring hybrids and studying carburetors.

It is only when doctors of optometry and ophthalmology find that when they hire opticians (hopefully licensed and college educated) that their income increases that the role of opticians will have value. Until then opticians will be considered just “second shelf” additions to a practice and be considered an unwanted, but necessary, liability to operating a business in a licensed state.

Bear in mind that only twenty-nine states require licensure! I assume that the remaining twenty-three have people wearing glasses. The individuals selling and dispensing eyewear in those other twenty-three states gain their knowledge somehow and I am certain that it does not include sixteen hours of classroom time spent calculating slab-off values!