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NEW YORK--The nation’s professional colleges of optometry and a diverse range of opticianry and technical schools are grooming today’s vision care professionals and tomorrow’s eyecare leaders.
Perhaps one of the most dramatic elements of change in the arena has been the notable and significant increase in the number of women drawn to the optometric profession and the dispensing community.
As has been well documented of late, women are comprising the majority of today’s optometric school graduates. Drawn to the core values of the profession, the various practice opportunities that exist in private practice, group practice, public health and corporate and hospital settings, women coming out of the schools, as exemplified by the students we spotlight here, are already very active, curious and eager to extend the scope of their contributions.
As well, the need for educated dispensing opticians remains paramount. Increasingly complex and varied product technologies - combined with a more informed and inquisitive patient base--reinforce the need for professionally-trained individuals to serve their needs as well as the demands of competitive business dispensaries and retail operations.
This is the second year that Vision Monday will be bringing a new dimension to its annual report honoring the “Most Influential Women in Optical.”
We asked the heads of the nation’s professional optometry schools as well as those heading the ophthalmic dispensing and opticianry tech programs around the U.S. to recommend a female candidate to represent their school and the Class of 2007 graduates.
Their choices reflect superb standards of commitment, passion and accomplishment. The spirit of these young women are already influencing patient care and will undoubtedly impact the professional eyecare field’s future.
--The Editors