Plotting a course
Excerpted from page 5 of the June 2019 edition of AOA Focus.
Growing up, I was a big fan of the "Star Trek" TV show and movies, and even now I can recall the crew's mission uttered by Capt. James T. Kirk.
"Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before!"
That's us. The AOA is seeking to go boldly where few doctors of optometry have gone before.
A decade ago when I was first elected to the AOA Board of Trustees, the real estate and stock markets were crashing. Like others in these markets, the AOA took a hit, with its reserves hitting historic lows. The debate over the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was heating up, and the AOA was working hard to make sure the profession was in the thick of the debate over the delivery of the nation's health care.
Tides change, though. The ACA, which made children's vision an essential benefit, was signed the next year. The Harkin Amendment would bar discrimination by insurers against licensed health care providers. Also, I am pleased to report that our reserves are quite healthy today.
And yet, a decade later, we're still making maneuvers to ensure the future health of our profession. We're cutting through the headwinds from an evolving health care landscape and outside forces seeking to chip away at the essentialness of the comprehensive eye examination and the sacredness of the doctor-patient relationship.
Last June, I announced the Future Practice Initiative in the House of Delegates during Optometry's Meeting®. Well underway in several states, the initiative is a collaboration between the AOA and our state affiliates to aggressively pursue major scope enhancement legislation around the country. We also launched a task force that will provide the educational resources to prepare doctors of optometry to practice at their fullest, advanced scope. Ophthalmology has taken notice; we've seen their counter-initiative ads and efforts to raise money to fight optometry's advancement.
The AOA will be relentless in its support of these state battles. We will continue to help strategize, assist with grassroots and amp up lobbying efforts because we are aware of how important this is to the future of the profession and patient care. We will provide the resources to doctors of optometry to meet the demands ahead of us.
The success of the profession of optometry in the future will be anchored by our actions today. What can each of us do in this brave new world? Encourage nonmembers to join. Contribute to AOA-PAC and your state political action committees. Embrace change by signing up for continuing education. There has never been a greater time to be a doctor of optometry!
I'd like to thank the previous presidents who steered a steady course for the AOA in recent years. Each inspired me in different ways, and for that I'm grateful. I also wish well to our incoming president, Barbara L. Horn, O.D.
The AOA, which has lived long, will prosper.
Developing tomorrow’s leaders, today
In 2017, the AOA and the American Optometric Student Association launched an ambitious initiative to bring 2,000+ students and newly graduated doctors of optometry to Washington, D.C., to promote career readiness and success, foster professional aspirations and develop the next generation. Called AOA+, the initiative is returning to Optometry’s Meeting® 2023, bigger and bolder than before. Six years later, what do those inaugural participants say about AOA+ as a catalyzing moment in their careers?
AOA redoubles plan advocacy; volunteers chart association’s path forward
Nearly 300 AOA volunteers convened in committee workgroups this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, to engage in association business, including developing impactful resources and advising optometry’s foremost advocate.
Optometry’s Meeting® 2023: Keep up with contemporary optometry through continuing education
What are you waiting for? Early-bird registration is now open for Optometry’s Meeting® in Washington, D.C., June 21-24. And that means you can get first dibs on continuing education and professional development at the premier event in our profession. Interested in a unique, interactive case history diagnosis workshop or working toward a micro-credential for paraoptometric surgical assisting? Enroll in the education at Optometry’s Meeting.