Optician
[3] Ophthalmic laboratory technicians must understand optics and how to use machinery in order to surface, coat, edge, or finish lenses according to specifications provided by dispensing opticians.
They typically insert lenses into frames, also called glazing, to produce finished glasses and conduct all quality and safety testing required by the respective local and country regulations.
Many who work for them report the trade-off is greater room for growth, higher pay, and better benefits due to the larger scale of the employer.
Opticians working in a hospital or clinic typically oversee patient care, administer treatment and operate medical equipment under the supervision of an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
Pope Leo X, who was very myopic, wore concave spectacles when hunting and professed they enabled him to see clearer than his cohorts.
In 1730 a London optician named Edward Scarlett perfected the use of rigid sidepieces that rested atop the ears.
John McAllister of Philadelphia began fabricating spectacles with sliding temples containing looped ends which were much easier to use with the then-popular wigs.
The loops supplement the inadequacy of stability, by allowing the addition of a cord or ribbon which could be tied behind the head, thus holding the eyeglasses firmly in place.
A young Austrian named Johann Friedrich Voigtländer [de] studied optics in London and took the monocle idea back to Germany with him.
After World War I, the monocle fell into disrepute, its downfall in the allied sphere hastened, no doubt, by its association with the German military.
The lorgnette, two lenses in a frame the user held with a lateral handle, was another 18th-century development (by Englishman George Adams).
Gentlemen wore any style which suited them—heavy or delicate, round, or oval, straight, or drooping—usually on a ribbon, cord, or chain about the neck or attached to the lapel.
Ladies more often than not wore the oval rimless style on a fine gold chain which could be reeled automatically into a button-size eyeglass holder pinned to the dress.
Opticians use a variety of equipment to fit, adjust and dispense eyewear, contact lenses, and low-vision aids.
The modern lensometer was invented in 1922 by Edgar Derry Tillyer of American Optical to determine "whether lenses have the refraction and power prescribed.
[10] Manual lensometers can also be outfitted with an attachment to read the back vertex power of a contact lens for modification and verification purposes.
[11] The optician uses the refracted, or bent light, displayed within a lensometer to interpret the sphere, cylinder, and add powers (if prescribed), axis orientation, prismatic effect, and locate the major reference point of the lens.
The benefits of an automated lensometer are increased speed, adjustments for variables in the index of refraction in the lens material, the ability to measure UV and light transmittance, and a decrease in training time while on the job.
The measurement is used to align the Major Reference Point (MRP) of the lenses along the visual axis to reduce unwanted prismatic effect, eyestrain, and lens aberrations.
This does not mean that it is more accurate than a skilled optician with a corneal reflex light, a millimeter ruler called a PD stick, and fully adjusted eyewear for certain age groups and pathologies.
While a ruler alone is susceptible to parallax error, when it is used in conjunction with the other tools previously mentioned the accuracy can exceed the pupilometer for these certain patient groups [17] The fitting and dispensing of contact lenses requires the use of additional equipment, all with very specific purposes.
A keratometer is a diagnostic instrument for measuring the curvature of the anterior surface of the cornea, particularly for assessing the extent and axis of astigmatism.
All provinces in Canada require opticians to complete formal training and education in opticianry and then must pass competency examinations prior to receiving governmental licensure.
Opticians in Alberta and Ontario are also permitted, under certain conditions, to refract and prepare and dispense glasses and contact lenses.
Since 2001, all jurisdictions (except Quebec) have agreed to and signed, the Mutual Recognition Agreement among Opticianry Regulators that ensures labour mobility to all opticians across the entire nation without need for further examination.
As a prerequisite for registration in any province of Canada opticians are required to complete a course at one of the NACOR accredited teaching institutions.
A dispensing optician advises on, fits and supplies the most appropriate spectacles after taking account of each patient's visual, lifestyle and vocational needs.
This qualification has been awarded level 6 status (equivalent to BSc) by Ofqual Welsh Assembly Government and Council for Curriculum Examinations and Assessment (CCEA).
In the United States, an optician, through testing, may be certified by the American Board of Opticianry (ABO) to fill the prescription ordered by an ophthalmologist or optometrist.
Many formal education programs will accept hours worked as an apprentice to supplement or replace course credits, as well.
