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Ron Fyfe And Annette Morgan - NZ delegates
The mural at the PR College of Optometry - people from classical optics and recent students.
The Aricebo Observatory detector.
Before Easter, I was in the Caribbean (San Juan, Puerto Rico), for the 2011 World Council of Optometry meeting - I am fortunate enough to be the NZ delegate. We attended the 30th anniversary celebrations of the School of Optometry there, which is a US school following US courses (four-year pre-med then a four year course). They take about 60 students per year, and this year's intake are all from "off-island", so there is some concern that they all will want to return to the mainland after graduation rather than stay in PR.
Most of the work is done in the committees - Legislative, Fellowship Grants, Public Health and Education, so they are very hard-working as the standards of the profession vary so much around the world that everyone needs to be mindful of where each country is at present and where it needs to go. The Governing Board met with some members of the PR government, and the President had spent the previous week meeting with health ministers in several Caribbean and Latin American countries to explain what it is that optometry does and how professional optometry can benefit their citizens. In some countries, there is really no access to eye care (including glasses) and in others (such as NZ) we can treat some eye condtions with medications. In Kentucky, optometrists can use lasers to treat!
And the food and the fellowship were great! Plus Tim and I got to visit the Aricebo Radio Observatory (and the MSC in Houston on the way home!)
Most of the work is done in the committees - Legislative, Fellowship Grants, Public Health and Education, so they are very hard-working as the standards of the profession vary so much around the world that everyone needs to be mindful of where each country is at present and where it needs to go. The Governing Board met with some members of the PR government, and the President had spent the previous week meeting with health ministers in several Caribbean and Latin American countries to explain what it is that optometry does and how professional optometry can benefit their citizens. In some countries, there is really no access to eye care (including glasses) and in others (such as NZ) we can treat some eye condtions with medications. In Kentucky, optometrists can use lasers to treat!
And the food and the fellowship were great! Plus Tim and I got to visit the Aricebo Radio Observatory (and the MSC in Houston on the way home!)
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