Update: August 23, 2012 ABO claims victory.

[hello07]

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The American Board of Optometry issued a statement on their victory over the AOS Judge sided with them. They made an official statement to all appx 40,000 ODs. "Board certification is here to stay" and according to their view, applicants for thetest has increased contrary to what the AOS has expressed.

What are your views with this?
Any opinions?

 

[PBEA]

Like its predecessor ABOT, the ABO will fade away due to lack of demand. Fact is, ABO is a paper tiger as it offers nothing and ensures nothing. It doesnt serve the public interest OR optometry's interests. Because it lacks any usefulness whatsoever, ODs en masse will avoid wasting their time, money, and energy for something of so little value.

 

[Tippytoe]

Yes. I'm told less than 1,000 OD have taken or signed up for the fake test. That's a very small percentage overall (out of 42,000 ODs). But the AOA is using all their little market power to puff it up as big as they can. Complete waste of money. That's why I dropped them a few years ago along with many, many other ODs.

Fake board certificiation will die. It's simply an answer for which no one ever asked a question.

 

[Jason K]

Yes. I'm told less than 1,000 OD have taken or signed up for the fake test. That's a very small percentage overall (out of 42,000 ODs). But the AOA is using all their little market power to puff it up as big as they can. Complete waste of money. That's why I dropped them a few years ago along with many, many other ODs.

Fake board certificiation will die. It's simply an answer for which no one ever asked a question.

It's like the old saying goes.....There's a sucker born every minute. Apparently, one out of 42 of us ODs is a member of the sheeple class. "Put a hurdle in front of us, and we'll pay thousands to jump over it, baby!" Many thanks to the AOA/ABO for creating total chaos in the profession at a time when none can be tolerated.

 

[CMM83]

I'd argue that there was actually no victory at all in that lawsuit. All it did was waste a boatload of money and further divide the profession.

Any optometry student or naive optometrists reading this forum should realize that the ABO isn't real. It is merely a money-making scheme for the AOA designed for suckers who want to take a fake test and monopolize their CE requirements.

Many of your schools likely have Omni (Atlanta, GA) as an externship site. The director of that site, Paul Ajamian is also the chairman of the ABO. He's also a gigantic A-hole in real life. He thinks he's God's gift to optometry and making female externs cry is one of his hobbies.

From the ABO website, if anybody knows why this guy is giving me double guns, please shoot me a message.

 

[Shnurek]

Omni is beast though. It is owned by Optometrists and they hire Ophthalmologists. Boo ya

 

[hello07]

Thank you for the aforementioned replies. You guys/ gals are wonderful! Reasonable and logical replies to my question. I, personally am I disgusted with what they did to our profession- divided it more than ever.
From what I have read, AOA has lost thousands of members past few years because of this nonsense. The ophthalmologists must be laughing at this/us if they are aware of these circumstances.
I'm suprised and shocked seeing a President of a current optometry school on the ABO -members-directors.
I would like to hear from former AOA President- Dori Carlson her thoughts on all this.
Thanks again for the great replies!

 

[Shnurek]

I see nothing wrong with Board Certification. Especially since the President of my school is on the ABO board of directors along with David Cockrell, O.D. I think Dr. Cockrell is really propelling the profession forward by setting up and drafting legislation in Oklahoma and Kentucky that set precedents that were never possible before. He is a really intelligent OD and I'd agree with what he does as he wants to propel the profession forward and not have it stagnate where it is currently.

The old doctors just need to get with the times.

The ophthos have their own board certification fiasco as they have two boards of ophthalmology.

 

[Jason K]

I see nothing wrong with Board Certification. Especially since the President of my school is on the ABO board of directors along with David Cockrell, O.D. I think Dr. Cockrell is really propelling the profession forward by setting up and drafting legislation in Oklahoma and Kentucky that set precedents that were never possible before. He is a really intelligent OD and I'd agree with what he does as he wants to propel the profession forward and not have it stagnate where it is currently.

The old doctors just need to get with the times.

The ophthos have their own board certification fiasco as they have two boards of ophthalmology.

Ahh, to be young and totally clueless....

Shnurek, if you understood the larger picture of what was going on here, you might see things on a different level. This has nothing to do with "old doctors getting with the times." Many of the fools who have taken the test are old fart academics. It's a scam - if you buy into it, you're buying into something that has weakened optometry.

 

[Tippytoe]

I see nothing wrong with Board Certification.

Of course you don't. You are the smartest 23 year old student in the world.🙄

 

[caitsiex]

I'd argue that there was actually no victory at all in that lawsuit. All it did was waste a boatload of money and further divide the profession.

Any optometry student or naive optometrists reading this forum should realize that the ABO isn't real. It is merely a money-making scheme for the AOA designed for suckers who want to take a fake test and monopolize their CE requirements.

Many of your schools likely have Omni (Atlanta, GA) as an externship site. The director of that site, Paul Ajamian is also the chairman of the ABO. He's also a gigantic A-hole in real life. He thinks he's God's gift to optometry and making female externs cry is one of his hobbies.

From the ABO website, if anybody knows why this guy is giving me double guns, please shoot me a message.

Hah thanks for the heads up! I will now cross that off my list of possible externship sites.

Out of curiosity, any idea why so many optometrists in academia are pro ABO board certification? Or at least why many have taken the exam? I guess just because they took it may not mean they are for it...

 

[CMM83]

I see nothing wrong with Board Certification. Especially since the President of my school is on the ABO board of directors along with David Cockrell, O.D. I think Dr. Cockrell is really propelling the profession forward by setting up and drafting legislation in Oklahoma and Kentucky that set precedents that were never possible before. He is a really intelligent OD and I'd agree with what he does as he wants to propel the profession forward and not have it stagnate where it is currently.

The old doctors just need to get with the times.

The ophthos have their own board certification fiasco as they have two boards of ophthalmology.

You might think that Cockrell's efforts are propelling the profession forward but in reality, they aren't. Do a little research and you'll find that many optometrists in several states are not able to access insurance panels to get paid for services they've been able to legally do for decades or cannot legally perform/prescribe services that they've already been trained to do.

So let's say that optometry has 100 objectives that need to be completed in order to keep it a viable profession over our lifetime with 1 being first priority and 100 being last priority. We'll put the two aforementioned issues at objective 1 and 2, and for kicks we'll put curbing oversupply issue at number 3. Then, we'll put board certification at 99 and laser privileges at number 100. Do you think that skipping steps 1 through 98 is a logical sequence?

It has nothing to do with "old doctors getting with the times". It has to do with prioritization of issues, so in my opinion, it's optometry's so-called leaders that need to get with the times.

 

[hello07]

Shnurek, I know very well who the President of your Optometry school is. Do you belive after all that has happened with this issue dividing our profession like never before, it looks favorable for him to be on the ABO board of directors and President ?

I do not know personally P.Ajamian nor have I ever worked with him as either a student or colleague or Dori Carlson but do you realize their motive here? This is a "mob" not in the true sense; but they are out to make money. Lots of money.

Question for you: Why have the AOA journals, which I use to read every month been stopped? No longer published? You realize how disgraceful as a profession this makes us look? A profession with no monthly journal. Ask Dori how her 19 OD school visits were, top tier hotels she stayed at, flights from city to city, meals, etc............It's good to be taken care of with other peoples money huh?

Wake up! Board certification is a scam, bogus. I took a look at all who have passed it in each state- alot our academics, and others aren't.

 

[Jason K]

Interestingly, the "double guns" guy was only one of several options considered by the ABO. I have it on good authority that these were the runners up:

This was the original incarnation of the "double guns" guy, but apparently, someone at the ABO decided it was a little too racy....must have been the nipple show. I think it would have been far more tasteful, personally. The suspended iron adds a nice effect, showing that the ABO is going to smooth out the wrinkles that exist in optometry. It also says, "I may be old, but I can suspend 3 bricks ABOve my left nipple with no hands," something that many ABO reps would be proud to proclaim. I heard, through the grapevine, that Paul and David went back and forth on this one for several weeks, butting heads over which one was more appropriate. Not sure who finally won out, though. Very fitting.

This guy was seen as a good way of showing an older OD, relaxing with a good smoke after a challenging retake of the NBEO....I mean the ABO Board Certification exam.

This one was meant to convey the general attitude of the ABO: "Screw you guys, we're going to do whatever the hell we want with optometry, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it." I thought it would have been quite fitting, but they went with the old asian guy.

This option was most disturbing and I think it demonstrates the complete lack of connection with practicing ODs. The color choice is way off. This guy's far too tan to be rocking a purple speedo and we all know the rules about vertical stripes and exposed arm pit hair. I think everyone can see why this selection was rejected - the last thing the ABO needs is to be labeled as an organization that is without solid fashion sense. Well done, ABO....well done.

 

[Tippytoe]

Interestingly, the "double guns" guy was only one of several options considered by the ABO. I have it on good authority that these were the runners up:

Where'd you get a picture Shnurek, our favorite troll? 😛

 

[Jason K]

Where'd you get a picture Shnurek, our favorite troll? 😛

I was actually seriously impressed. How does one find the time to tan during optometry school? Excellent choice of cut, though.😀

 

[Shnurek]

Where'd you get a picture Shnurek, our favorite troll? 😛

Nice try self-hating OD. Where'd you get your portrait taken?

You should be about that size by the amount of time you spend posting on these silly forums. Sedentary lifestyle? Check. From the south? (highest obesity rate in the country) Check.

 

[Tippytoe]

Nice try self-hating OD. Where'd you get your portrait taken?

You should be about that size by the amount of time you spend posting on these silly forums. Sedentary lifestyle? Check. From the south? (highest obesity rate in the country) Check.

Not me. But he does have impressive breasts.