A Prismatic Approach To The Reflection Of Professional Practice

Have we been seeing our profession through a narrow beam of white light? ?We look at things, the same way, day after day. As long as we view them from the same angle under the same lighting conditions, nothing changes. Have we been viewing our profession from a single perspective, in the same light for too long? Maybe we need to put a prism up to our practice of Opticianry and have a look at it the way that a prism splits light into the spectrum of colours? We work with light every day in our practice, paying attention to the components of light; UVA, UVB, blue light, white light, issues with chromatic aberration, the refraction of light, etc. We apply our professional knowledge in finding solutions to control light with the goal of providing our clients with the best view of the world possible.

Its time to apply the metaphor of light so that we can reflect on the components of our profession from multiple perspectives. ?We provide counselling and devices for our clients so that that they look ?good and are comfortable wearing this device. We interpret the needs of our clients and provide education so that they can choose from the options available. We deliver these services in a safe professional, convenient way. Shining light on our practice, will help us to continue to learn professionally to best support our clients. Together, we can illuminate our professional value to the public.

Reflecting on my practice

When I reflect on my practice of Opticianry and compare it to light, I realize that while the prism breaks light up into its colours, I can put my Opticianry interests in sections. I realize that I must also look to see multiple perspectives in the same way as images reflect from faceted glass.?In order for me to see my practice from a broader perspective and from the perspective of others, I must widen my field of vision and look from the perspective of multiple angles. As opticians we know that even the invisible lens with an anti-reflection coating is visible if the angle it is viewed upon is oblique enough.?

So what do you think? Have we been viewing our profession through a pin hole? Is it time to see the light?