On Sunday April 23rd 2017 the OAC – BC chapter hosted the Vision Kelowna Spring Educational Event, a full day of learning, brainstorming and networking that brought together a great number of Opticians who made the event a success! It was a great pleasure for the OAC – BC to have the opportunity to bring education and support closer to Opticians residing in the interior regions of BC.
During the event the OAC launched the Ophthalmic Dispensing Master Program, the next level of education for Opticians, designed to further our knowledge and skills, 'raising the bar' of professionalism across the country. Professor Ed August, a world-renowned educator and presenter, thought the first four courses of the Ophthalmic Dispensing Master Program, including History & Vision Care Technology, Lens Cross, Power of Cylinder Away From Axis, and Curves. The response to the program was tremendous, as we had both newly licensed Opticians and long term Opticians share their feedback and express that it was good to be challenged during the sessions, felt that by the end they had great learnings, and further expressing their desire to partake in the full program.
Vision Kelowna also set stage for Jonathon Smith, who presented – “From Design to Production”, as well as for Dr. Andrea Lasby, who presented – “Addressing the Consequences of our Connected World: Digital Eye Fatigue”. Both fantastic topics that captured the attention of the audiences, providing with learning opportunities that will assist Opticians meet the needs of consumers while providing highest quality of eye care.
The College of Opticians of British Columbia was also one of the key presenter at our event, as they introduced the new continuing competency program that will be launching in January 2018. This program will further elevate Opticianry in our province, assuring the quality of the practice of the profession and promoting continuing competence among Licensed Opticians.
Our event was also supported by exhibitors such as Optik K&R, Cooper Vision and CNIB, who granted the opportunity for our members to learn about their products and services.
It was wonderful to see among the attendees, Opticians of various areas of expertise, and a variety of experience levels networking during the event, as their shared their knowledge and experiences.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors: OAC, Marcolin, PPG, Optik K&R, Luxottica, and Cooper Vision, for making Visions Kelowna come to life.
With gratitude,
Claudia Rojas
OAC Director, British Columbia
Licensed Optician
The Risks Of Internet Dispensing
Purchasing Eyewear on the Internet
Online purchasing has made its way into virtually every aspect of life. In many cases, shopping on the Internet is easy and convenient and provides a quality, reliable service. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. The attraction of buying prescription eyewear over the Internet is that it may be faster or cheaper than visiting an optical store. But at what cost?
Buying prescription eyewear is not like shopping for books or clothes. In British Columbia, Licensed Opticians are regulated and guaranteed to be highly trained, follow a standard of care, ethical and accountable. Only registered contact lens fitters are legally permitted to fit contact lenses and automated refracting opticians are legally permitted to assess visual acuity.
The information provided refers only to those circumstances where prescription eyewear is purchased over the Internet from someone who is not authorized to dispense – that is, from someone who is not a Licensed Optician, Optometrist of Ophthalmologist. Purchasing prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses from someone you do not know brings with it a range of risks. Some of these risks relate to the health of the eye (e.g. improperly fitted contact lenses can cause injury to the cornea) and some relate to the effectiveness of the eyewear (e.g. eyeglasses with lenses that do not match a patient’s eye measurements can impair vision). Improperly fitted eyewear can interfere with your ability to see, causing impaired depth perception, blurred vision, falls and other accidents, and worsened near or far-sightedness.
The following is just a partial list of the risks and problems posed by Internet dispensing:
