| |
 pticiansForChange.com
Our
mission is to humanize the
dispensing of prescription eyewear.
We're dedicated to the renewal and teaching
of excellence in customizing eyewear for the
improved vision and comfort of the Consumer.
POINTS TO PONDER
It's time to shift our thinking.
It's time to get our shift together.
It's time for eyewear professionals
to become agents of change going forward;
it's time to return to the days of providing full service;
to improve our hands-on craftsmanship skills; it's time
for those who know to teach those who do not know; and
it's time for those who do not know to surrender their egos.
Opticianry is defined by how well eyewear makes contact with the patient.
Eyewear consumers need and deserve the following:
Optician-assisted, in-depth lifestyle interview;
Optician-assisted, design and selection;
Handcrafted, form-fitting eyewear;
Free lifetime adjustments and
minor repair services, none of
which are available online.
OpticalGuidelines.com
Patients deserve a pleasant experience.
Patients deserve as much time as they need.
Patients deserve custom fitted prescription eyewear.
When Opticians do not touch the consumer at the time
they dispense their
eyewear, they're acting more
as unskilled eyeglass merchants than as Opticians.
There
is no right or wrong way to dispense eyewear.
There is only the Patient's way. Therefore, take as
much time as needed to customize their eyewear.
It's
time to end lecture-only training for education hours.
It's
time for Opticians to get real, hands on patient training
in order to 'humaneyes' the dispensing of prescription eyewear.
thereby reducing outsourcing of the Rx to Web-based providers.
What
are the chances of today's eyewear consumers getting a
hands-on,
customized fitting of their prescription eyewear? If you
answered this question correctly, you know why they buy online.
More
and more eyewear is being purchased online.
The number one complaint of brick-and-mortar
patrons ...
"Nobody adjusted my glasses. They just handed
them to me."
So, for these consumers there's little difference between the service
they receive in many of today's dispensaries and buying glasses online.
If you will recall, Opticianry is ultimately defined by how well
the eyewear fits the Patient. So, the real issue for Opticians and
Consumers to consider, is not whether prescription eyewear can be
purchased in stores or online. The real issue is the current deficiency
in the delivery of eyewear due to the absence of the craftsmanship
and skills required to dispense form-fitting eyewear to the Consumer.
The real challenge for any Optician is to take a symmetrically, 4-point
square device and handcraft it to fit an asymmetrically shaped surface.
The answer is hands-on training, hands-on training, hands-on training.
It's time for those Opticians who know to teach those who do not know.
And it is time for any Opticians who do not know to surrender their egos.
It's been predicted that if Opticians fail to practice customizing eyewear to
fit the Patient, Opticianry will become irrelevant as a healthcare profession.
Just
as a Dentist or Hairstylist cannot practice without direct contact,
the
Optician cannot dispense eyewear without tactile contact with
the Patient.
An unskilled eyeglass merchant routinely hands over prescription
glasses
with no hands-on assessment,
nor the appropriate ‘touch and feel’
required
to custom fit the eyewear.
Hands-on-the-Patient Opticians however, determine
for themselves by sense of touch how the frame feels in lieu of asking the Patient.
As
senior Ophthalmic Healthcare Professionals and founders of OpticalCourse.com and Optical
Workshops.com, we are interested in sharing our experience in the
dispensing of handcrafted prescription eyewear. If you are a Practitioner who
wants additional training or consultation, or you need assistance
in order to regain market share and improve the profitability
of your practice, please visit OpticianryToday.com and OpticalGuidelines.com, then click,
or call Opticians For Change at 855-410-2700 to discuss and-or arrange a Workshop session for your
staff. See Letter to Eye Care Professionals. See Conscious Communication Guidelines.
SEND US YOUR COMMENTS
Read Me First. 
Use
discretion when browsing the Web.
Do not believe everything you see, hear or think.
"Do
not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
in
anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe
in
anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe
in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do
not believe in
traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after
observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with
reason and is
conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and
live up to it.”
Siddhartha
Gautama Buddha
NOTICES
The e-mail form above must be used in order to comply with our e-mail
security spam filters. Our
Web sites are made available to visitors as a free community
service of the Webmaster under independent and private auspices.
The articles, links, letters, graphics, and services appearing
on this Web site are presented as a public service for your
entertainment and enlightenment. However, in some instances
our aim is to stimulate creative thinking and the subsequent
resolution of more perplexing issues of our time. Neither guaranty nor warranty, implied or otherwise,
is given regarding the contents or the opinions expressed. Nor
do we necessarily endorse them.
Notice
To Forum Contributors
We
welcome visitor feedback and contributions of e-mails, links, graphics,
letters, articles, etc. However, we are concerned about any drift towards vitriol in Visitor comments. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We encourage good judgment. General guidelines: We ask that Contributors avoid personal attacks on other Contributors; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity. Remember that making an impact for change begins with responsible action. See Rules of Conduct.
All contributions
become the property of the Webmaster and are suitable for posting on our Web sites at the sole discretion
of the Webmaster. E-mail addresses remain confidential, never
shared with, nor sold to any other parties. Click here,
or call 855-410-2700. See Privacy
Pledge. See Disclaimer. See Acknowledgements. 
'Professional Egotism'
 There are a number of conflicted forces at work within the ophthalmic dispensing industry, which keep us from making progress. The two biggest are:
 .) We have not yet effectively dealt with the reality that the majority of current dispensers are woefully under trained and extremely challenged when it comes to handcrafting prescription eyewear. For instance, I know senior Opticians who attend Optical Workshops who are unable to adequately customize eyewear directly on a Patient. (The number one complaint by prescription eyewear consumers is they are unable to acquire well-fitting eyewear.)
 .) There's also a lot of what I call professional egotism and shaktipad (see NOTES* below), whereby many 'Opticians' are unable to admit, either through ignorance or antipathy, that they really do not know how to adjust eyewear, i.e., handcraft eyewear directly on a patient. Many only think they know and take umbrage when challenged. They have convinced themselves that they need no more training because they've been adjusting frames for years, and they see no need to change.
Regarding this 'professional egoism' issue, we suggest that we ask this question of those dispensers who claim they already know how to fit eyewear, and those who claim that they have been working as an Optician for several years. "Have you had any formal training in handcrafting eyewear directly on the consumer?"
The problem is that many folks are self-taught, and most of those who came up as apprentices were taught by dispensers who have had no formalized hands-on the consumer, frame-adjustment training.
This decades-old history is the main reason, not price, that Opticianry as a profession has lost, and continues to lose market share.
Therefore it is incumbent on those who know to teach those who do not know. And it is incumbent on those who do not know to surrender their ego. OpticalGuidelines.com
*NOTES:
EGOTISM is the feeling or belief that one is better, more important, more talented, etc., than other people.
SHAKTIPAD is a state of egotism in which an optical dispenser is far less experienced, knows far less than they think they know, and who fails to acknowledge it. The worst case scenario is the optician who falls into the trap of convincing themselves and others that only they know the best way, and that the old ways need to change. Beware of the 'tiger's bite'! Shaktipad is a consequence of 'riding the tiger' of pride. One must ever be alert to the signs of shaktipad in order to take appropriate action. In the case of an optical dispenser in the state of shaktipad, the remedy is to seek out practical training with the attitude of a perpetual student, i.e., one who surrenders their ego, realizes that learning never stops, and that one can always improve their skills. See Ego Eradicator. |
 pticalCourse.com 
|
|
|
