Dispensing optician course from Sankara Nethralaya, ABDO

Updated on: Monday, August 09, 2010

Sankara Nethralaya, a unit of Medical Research Foundation, has proposed to launch an optician course as part of its silver jubilee celebrations this month.

The course — Fellow of British Dispensing Opticians — will be conducted in partnership with the U.K.-based Association of British Dispensing Opticians (ABDO).

The course will provide the necessary professional training that is lacking in India, says S. Viswanathan, director, Optometry and Optical Services, Sankara Nethralaya. “ABDO is an established body in the U.K. and one has to undergo this course before taking up a job as an optician. It is more a family business in India where no professional training is required,” he adds.

Aspirants should have scored a minimum of 60 per cent in Class XII and must have taken Physics as one of the subjects. Students will be trained in checking the eye for dispensing ophthalmic lenses and in the manufacturing aspects also.

The three-year course will be offered through distance mode with experts from ABDO explaining the nuances.

“Dispensing opticians, over the years, have emerged as key players in ophthalmology, as the onus of skilfully interpreting the prescription from an ophthalmologist or optometrist, and providing the patient with the required vision aids, depends on them,” Mr. Viswanathan explains.

In developed countries such as the U.K. and the U.S., dispensing opticians are professionally qualified to detect eye diseases using various diagnostic procedures, but that is not the case in India where it has always been a family enterprise so far.

The fellowship programme will educate optometrists on the general optics theory of ophthalmic lenses, assessment and management of refractive errors, low vision in ophthalmic dispensing, basic principles of contact lens wear, and advanced ophthalmic dispensing practices, to name a few.

Such trained personnel will be immediately absorbed in retail optical chain stores, says Mr. Viswanathan.

The degree will be awarded jointly by Sankara Nethralaya and ABDO, and is recognised worldwide. The candidates will have to visit Sankara Nethralaya's Elite School of Optometry for a week, once every six months, for practical training.

Dispensing optician course from Sankara Nethralaya, ABDO

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