Optometry History

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Popoy

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Can someone share any thoughts on the origins of the optometry profession?

Did it start from one person? Did it branch from conventional medicine?

Share any thoughts you may know of how the profession came about.... I sure don't know, so please share.

Thanx, :cool:

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Originally posted by Popoy:
•Can someone share any thoughts on the origins of the optometry profession?

Did it start from one person? Did it branch from conventional medicine?

Share any thoughts you may know of how the profession came about.... I sure don't know, so please share.

Thanx, :cool:

Do a lot of physics majors go into optometry? This field uses the coolest equiptment I've ever seen. How do you ever get that kind of stuff?
 
well, I don't know any physics majors in optometry. I would say most of us are biological science majors just like pre-meds.. although I do have to admit the equipment is kinda cool. We're required to buy a set before starting in the fall.. although i'm sure the really cool equipment you're referring to (like corneal topographers) are bought from venders when starting a practice. They're way too expensive for students to buy on their own. I've been trying to find history of optometry stuff online with no success. Even futureoptometrist.com doesn't have a link to the history of the profession. Although, i'm sure i'll get lectures on it at the start of classes in the fall. ;)
 
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cpw.... I knew I could count on you to check other resources out... Thanks for trying!!!

It would be nice to know about the history... Maybe I'll ask again some time and you'll be able to answer then.... :D
 
While I don't have the complete history of the field.. I do know part of the origins...

Optometry actually derives itself from opticianary. They started out as a specialized optician trained in refraction. Gradually the field began to take on a more medical approach and include eye health checks etc...to the point that today most states allow ODs to prescribe therapeutic agents and the like...

It is also this reason that some opticians and ODs don't always get along...

ODs are primarily an American career. In many countries such as those in the UK..there is a DO..dispensing optician, LO..or lab opticians..and OO...ophthalmic opticians...then of course the MDs..or GPs...general practicioners over there...

I will get the rest of the story tomorrow...

Cassandra
 
Thanks Jubilee.... Very interesting... Keep posting the rest of your findings....

BTW, is your screen name based on the X-Men's Jubilee? Just wonderin' :D
 
I guess Jubilee didn't get back to me.... Oh well.... We're so close to reaching 200 post but somehow we've slowed down....

Keep on posting question people regarding Optometry...
 
An excerpt from the encylopedia at www.infoplease.com

The word optometry came into use in 1904 with the organization of the American Optometric Association. Until this time people bought eyeglasses from traveling vendors whose activities were not supervised. With the passage of optometry laws, this method of dispensing glasses was prohibited. Optometrists must now fulfill certain educational requirements and be examined and licensed by the state.
 
Well I got a bit more info for you :)

Sorry it took me a bit..Between work and my son, sometimes I don't get back to things for a while :rolleyes:

here is a time line I found...

1270 Workmen or tinkerers manufactured the first eyeglasses.

1320 Italy, Germany, and France created regulations to protect the trade by requiring standards for materials and craftsmanship.

1460 The Medicis of Italy created spectacles for nearsightedness.

1778 Opticians used trial sets in Europe to refract, which enabled the evolution of the bifocal.

1806 An optician named McAllister refracted President Jefferson, and made round bifocals for him.

1824 Fuller developed astigmatic corrective
lenses through refraction.

1827 Hawkins, who was an optician and an inventor, devised a trifocal through refraction.

1844 An optician named Chevallier developed prisms to correct strabismus.

1862 Snellen devises the eye chart currently in use today.

1872 At the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, opticians McAllister and Queen taught physicians the art of refraction. Some physicians' reluctance to refract was the stimulus for opticians to further develop their skills.

1882 Eberhardt proposed the terms "optometrist"and "optometry."

1884 An Optician named Fox invented offset guards which allowed for nasal adjustment. This patented finger piece mounting is still used today with the trial frame for refracting.

1898 The American Optometric Association (AOA), was founded

1899 Borsch generated, through refracting, the Kryptok bifocal.

1900 Foster started the first formal school of refracting in Boston.

1901 Minnesota had the first optometry law in the United States. Under impending grandfather laws and other potential licensed states, opticians began to qualify themselves in refracting techniques.

1904 The Illinois Supreme Court declared that the examination of the eye and fitting of glasses is not intended for the treatment of disease or injury. This decision was of great importance to refracting opticians seeking optemetric licensure.

1907 Opticians, not ready to call themselves optometrists, decided to charge for refraction services. In that same year, the American Association of Opticians passed a resolution not to use the title "doctor" unless they have obtained that degree from a recognized medical college.

1930 The American Optometric Association sought funding for a $6 million ad campaign to make optometry better know to the public. The request was declined until the schools were formed and chartered by law and granted degrees.

1940 Contact lenses begin to be used

1944 Optometrists sought commissions in the United States Army. The Surgeon General's office refused.

1947 Optometrists were commissioned in the United States Army.

1963 The American Optometric Association became an agency member of the American Public Health Association.

1970 Soft contact lenses become available

1970-present Diagnostic and therapeutic drug laws are passed

1970-present Refractive surgery techniques improve and become widely available

Hope this helps some :cool:

And no I didn't take my name from the X-Men's Jubilee..She always seemed a bit immature for my tastes. I always conisdered myself to be more like Rogue..but of course that really isn't fitting for a girl's name anymore :)

I liked the name cause it is fun and it reminds you of a party..as in jubilation :)

Cassandra
 
Cassandra.... That was an eye opening read.... So 1882 the term optometrist was coined.... WOW... :D

I most definitely learn a lot.....
 
That was just flat-out great!! :D :D :D
 
when and where was the OD first conferred? what degree did optometrists reuire before then?
 
The first schools of optometry in the US began in the late 1800s, with the Illinois College of Optometry in 1872, and the New England College of Optometry in 1894

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optometry
 
....

1904 The Illinois Supreme Court declared that the examination of the eye and fitting of glasses is not intended for the treatment of disease or injury. This decision was of great importance to refracting opticians seeking optemetric licensure. ....

I wish this actually held up in court today! :thumbdown:
 
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