Brief Comments on Optometry and Eye Care

Abstract

Karan Aggarwala

When there were many opticians and doctors of ophthalmology already, why in the world was the profession of optometry created? Formalization of the professional curriculum for the training and licensure of optometrists began at Ohio State University in the “heartland” of America (my father arrived on BOAC in year 1955). Back then, did the Founding Members of the American Optometric Association create optometry to service wealthy home-owners in Los Angeles or did they want to help immigrant labor in Brooklyn? Was the mandated curriculum adopted by the Association for Schools and Colleges of Optometry tailored for the typical machine shop drill press worker suffering fatigue at 3pm on Thursday, or was it designed to address the visual corporate strategy slide-show on a Tuesday at 9am? Today, I take this opportunity to present a few comments about eye care and its dispensation to the lay public, not limited to optometry.

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