It's school time again! As an optician, you probably feel this enthusiasm in your office every year. Justin Barry, who is celebrating 25 years in business this year and who regularly deals with children, graciously accepted our request to share some tips about fitting kids with eyewear.
FITTING KIDS' GLASSES By Justin Barry, RO
As most parents know, kids can be tough on their toys, tough on their clothes and tough on their glasses. Sometimes they’re even tough to fit with eyewear. Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned over the last 25 years with fitting kids with glasses.
Remember that you are the professional, so take control to help the child and parents pick the proper eyewear. Ensure that the parents understand the merits of proper fitting eyewear for their child and the benefits of A/R coatings, blue light protection, transition lenses and Rx sunglasses.
Ask questions– Does the child play sports? Do they read a lot? What are the child’s hobbies? If their child plays sports possibly suggest a sports frame or at least a sports band to hold the glasses in place. Kids like colours – have a good selection of frames in order for the child to have input on their eyewear.
If it’s the child’s first pair, be positive about wearing glasses – they can be a fashion statement, make reference to other people they look up to that wear glasses. [...] Read More...
NEW 2020 OAC MEMBER BENEFIT
Continuing Education… not only a must to stay current with the latest developments, skills, and new technologies, but also a requirement in our profession.
The OAC has supported optician education for almost 30 years and is very pleased to announce today, its new 2020 OAC member benefit: FREE & UNLIMITED ACCESS TO OUR ONLINE CONTINUING EDUCATION LIBRARY
Renew your OAC membership after September 20, 2019 and enjoy this new 2020 member benefit right away. Select as many continuing education modules as you want, or need, to complete your 2019 education requirements all for FREE.
To make your life easier, instructions will be included with our renewal reminders which will be sent to you in the Fall.
NS SUMMER GAMES WITH ANGELA AND GILL
The OAC loves hearing stories about volunteering to share across Canada. This month we are taking you backstage at the Special Olympics Nova Scotia Provincial Summer Games with Angela Oulton and Gill Morrison, licensed opticians and OAC members from New-Brunswick. [...]
Special Olympics has become the largest global health organization dedicated to serving people with an intellectual disability.
It was Angela and Gill’s first time participating at the Special Olympics Nova Scotia Provincial Summer Games and both thoroughly enjoyed it. They even highly recommend all opticians and students to at least volunteer once and will help to promote this event next year.
“ I have A LOT of free event T-shirts but my Special Olympics shirt makes me smile and proud every time I put it back on, lol. It’s part of my PJ’s collection. I want to brag I did this!!” – Gill
Neither Gill or Angela were aware of the Health Care that is provided at the event and that the need was so great for these athletes.
“ I did not realize how many were without proper eyewear until I had the opportunity to talk with them and fit them with glasses.” – Angela
Gill continues: “ It shocks me that there are still children, athletes, special needs persons that aren’t having their basic needs covered, especially with social assistance programs, school screenings and non-profit organizations. I am wondering whether this situation is due to a lack of communication? It makes me sad because I think that we all want the best for our children but sometimes we just don’t know better.” [...] Read the full story by clicking here
CONGRATULATIONS TO 2019 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS!
Congratulations to the recipients of the following 2019 scholarships. We also want to thank all students for their scholarship submissions and wish them much success as they commence with training to enter the field of Opticianry.
The Optical Group Business Education Grant: Revere Optical – NAIT Student, Susan Jacobsen / Personal Optical – NAIT Student, Rachel Blais 3 year grant for TOG member who employs a student accepted into the NAIT Optical Sciences Program, including tuition, application fees and textbooks
HOYA Student Scholarship: Audrey Goupil 3 year education scholarship for student accepted into the NAIT Optical Sciences Program, including tuition, application fees and textbooks
Luxottica Student Scholarship: Kimberly Simpson 3 year education scholarship for student accepted into the NAIT Optical Sciences Program, including tuition, application fees and textbooks PPG Student Scholarship: Tanya Bonang 2-3 year education scholarship for student accepted into the NAIT Optical Sciences Program, including tuition, application fees and textbooks
SPOTLIGHT ON ONTARIO
By Lorne Kashin, Optician and OOA Executive Director
There is quite a bit going on in Ontario in 2019.
[...] The great turnout on Inside Optics weekend showed that opticians, student opticians, educators and optical industry vendors value the opportunity to come together to celebrate our profession. We are currently busy planning our fall shows, Professional Learning Ottawa and Specialty Symposium in Toronto.
As in a number of provinces, there are changes on the horizon in the oversight of healthcare in Ontario. The Ministry of Health commissioned a report, Modernizing the Oversight of the Health Workforce in Ontario, also known as the McMaster Report, to take a look at how self-regulation is working in Ontario. The report suggests a number of possible changes with the over-riding theme of more accountability to the public. The report also suggests that there are too many regulatory colleges and recommends that professions with similar or overlapping scopes of practice be amalgamated. The idea of only regulating professions with substantial risk of harm, and others controlled by registration, is also mentioned. College councils would be dominated by appointed public members with the president and chairs of committees being public members. We are seeing some of these types of changes at the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia. [...] Read more...
PACIFIC BLUE CROSS TO ADMINISTER VISION BENEFITS FOR FIRST NATIONS HEALTH AUTHORITY CLIENTS IN BC AS OF SEPTEMBER 16, 2019
On September 16, Pacific Blue Cross will become the new third-party vision benefits administrator for First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) clients. As of that date, claims for FNHA clients must be submitted to Pacific Blue Cross.
Vision Expo West is an unrivaled marketplace for eyecare professionals to discover trends, interact with new technologies and access innovative products and services. The Vision Expo education program is driven by the profession, offering content of the highest quality and relevance in order to enhance overall patient care.
OAC Members attending Vision Expo in Las Vegas this September 2019 will receive complimentary exhibit hall admission (value $150), 10% off education (1-4 hours a la carte) and a complimentary one-day lunch voucher.
Register* for Vision Expo West here: http://visionexpolv2019.com/OAC19 *Registration and Education Discounts are only available to members who register using the URL above before September 12th.
Contact Lens Spectrum Magazine - August 2019 - Page 18 SCLERAL LENSES - A PRACTICE BUILDER “Building a successful practice is both challenging and rewarding, especially because the healthcare landscape is constantly changing. Those who work in private practice are faced with growing competition from e-commerce and, more recently, apps that can perform online refractions. These issues are not going away, so to be successful in this competitive environment, practitioners must find a niche that attracts patients to their practices.[…]” Read the article...
OAC UPCOMING EVENTS Details and registration available on OACLIVE.CA
2019 VISION MANITOBA | SEPTEMBER 8 | WINNIPEG, MB VISION BRITISH COLUMBIA | OCTOBER 6 | VICTORIA, BC VISION SASKATCHEWAN | OCTOBER 27 | SASKATOON, SK
2020 SALON VISION-R | MAY 1-3, 2020 | ST-SAUVEUR, QC *NEW* Regard Action and the OAC have partnered to offer Eye Care Professionals one of the best events in Quebec.
ATLANTIC SUMMIT | MAY 2-3, 2020 | AMHERST, NS *NEW* A weekend filled with surprises, accredited continuing education and business opportunities specially designed for the optical industry.
OPTICAL SUMMIT | FALL 2020 | VANCOUVER AREA, BC A day of accredited continuing education and business opportunities specially designed for the optical industry.
PROVINCIAL EVENTS | ACROSS CANADA | Locations and dates will be available soon Continuing education geared towards the professional development of Opticians and other ECPs.
WEBCAST | FALL 2020 The OAC will be running a live webcast from Optical Summit 2020. Experience the same high-quality learning experience in a convenient format.
Our mailing address is: Opticians Association of Canada 2706-83 Garry Street Winnipeg, MB R3C 4J9 Canada
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