Editorial
This first year of my presidency of the American Orthoptic Council (AOC) culminated in an exciting week in New Orleans. Sandwiched between Hurricane Lili and Tropical Storm Isadore, the Council of Management of the International Orthoptic Association (IOA) met in New Orleans immediately preceding the American Orthoptic Council annual meeting and the Oral/Practical Exam for qualified orthoptic candidates to become certified. In spite of 25 inches of rain in three days, this close temporal proximity allowed for sharing of ideas and valuable observation of each other.
During the Annual Business Meeting of the IOA, thirteen members of the Council of Management entertained questions from the floor. The Council consisted of ORTHOPTISTS from Austria, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Scandinavia, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, and the United States. AOC members were able to understand better the scope of orthoptics in these countries. For instance in many countries the ORTHOPTISTS practice independently, collect fees independently, and carry their own liability insurance. In Japan there are 4,000 ORTHOPTISTS with 20-30 in each class in each university. Their problem is getting enough clinical material for the practical training. In Italy there are 2,000 ORTHOPTISTS, many of whom practice as ophthalmic technicians. If fact, in many countries there are no ophthalmic technicians except ORTHOPTISTS. Optometric scope of practice issues are a problem in many countries. Truly this business meeting was very enlightening for all in attendance.
Several of the international ORTHOPTISTS came to observe the Oral/Practical exam in which ten candidates were certified as ORTHOPTISTS. Each of these candidates were employed prior to completing their training confirming that there continues to be high demand for ORTHOPTISTS in this country. In response to the efforts of the AOC, the number of available slots for training ORTHOPTISTS has grown over the last 5 years. Unfortunately many of these spots go unfilled. Prospective students just are not aware of the training opportunities and the guaranteed jobs available upon completion of training. The AOC will now focus on recruitment of students to these training programs.
WE NEED YOU! Please recruit students to the orthoptic training programs. Talk up the profession. Give out the home office or web site contact information. Fifty percent of newly certified ORTHOPTISTS report that they became interested in the field because they were a patient of an ORTHOPTISTS. Where else can a college graduate go for two more years of education and come out with a skill that is immediately employable for excellent compensation and reasonable hours in an intellectually stimulating and caring medical environment.
The profession of orthoptics is flourishing worldwide. We are proud to be a part of the field. The number of ORTHOPTISTS in the United States is tiny in comparison to the number in much smaller countries. Together we can insure that orthoptics will thrive in this new century.