This past November I had the privilege of spending time with Sir Anthony Garrett. Sir Tony, as we affectionately call him, is the CEO of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians(ABDO). I first met Sir Tony at National meetings in Calgary a number of years ago. At that time, he kept us intrigued with his stories about Opticianry from around the world.
During his most recent visit, which was also to National meetings in Calgary, we had the pleasure of discussing our profession as it stands today.During a conversation one evening in Calgary, after our meetings, Sir Tony made a statement that has stuck in my mind since then. He said that opticians had a duty to ?Not just help people see better, but help them see the best they can?. This statement really resonated with me as I ponder the state of our profession.

The eye care consuming public is bombarded on a daily basis with advertising for glasses ranging from $7.95 on some Internet sites, to high end frames and lenses costing in excess of $1,000. Is there a difference? Of course there is. Almost every day I witness patients putting on state of the art, personalized, ?Digital? lenses and marveling at the quality of their vision.
Do patients see better when they put on basic lenses? Of course they do.
Are they seeing the best they can? Maybe not.
|