 | |
| Abbreviation | AOP |
|---|---|
| Founded | February 20, 1946 |
| Location | |
Membership | 17,000 |
| Website | www |
Formerly called | Association of Optical Practitioners |
The Association of Optometrists (AOP) is the leading representative membership organisation for optometrists in the United Kingdom.
It supports over 82% of practising optometrists (members) to fulfil their professional roles to protect the nation’s eye health.
The Association provides a range of professional services and products to its members, including:
The organisation traces its history back to 1946. [1] when the Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians (formed in 1904) [2] and the Joint Council of Qualified Opticians (founded in 1923), [2] were incorporated into The Association of Optical Practitioners. [3] [4]
In 1986, the organisation renamed to the Association of Optometrists. [5] The organisation retains use of the 'AOP' acronym.
In 2017 the organisation reported it had grown to "17,000+ members", "representing 80% of UK optometrists". [6]
The organisation publishes a professional journal, Optometry Today .
Optometry is a specialized health care profession that involves examining the eyes and related structures for defects or abnormalities. Optometrists are health care professionals who typically provide comprehensive primary eye care.
The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, UK.
The British Optical Association (BOA) was founded in February 1895 as the first professional body for ophthalmic opticians (optometrists) in the world. The British Optical Association Museum and Library was founded in 1901; it retains the BOA name but is now part of the College of Optometrists, located in Craven Street, Charing Cross, central London.
An optician is an individual who fits eyeglasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with accessories. There are several specialties within the field.
Robert Gurth Hughes is a British Conservative Party politician, who was a Government Minister in the 1990s.
Vision therapy (VT), or behavioral optometry, is an umbrella term for alternative medicine treatments using eye exercises, based around the pseudoscientific claim that vision problems are the true underlying cause of learning difficulties, particularly in children. Vision therapy has not been shown to be effective using scientific studies, except for helping with convergence insufficiency. Most claims—for example that the therapy can address neurological, educational, and spatial difficulties—lack supporting evidence. Neither the American Academy of Pediatrics nor the American Academy of Ophthalmology support the use of vision therapy.
The General Optical Council (GOC) is an organisation in the United Kingdom which maintains a register of opticians and regulates the services provided by dispensing opticians and optometrists. The stated function of the GOC is "to protect the public and promote high standards of professional conduct and education amongst opticians".
The College of Optometrists is the professional, scientific and examining body for optometry in the United Kingdom, working for the public benefit. Their headquarters is at 41-42 Craven Street, London WC2, of which no 41 is a Grade II listed building.
An eye care professional is an individual who provides a service related to the eyes or vision. It is any healthcare worker involved in eye care, from one with a small amount of post-secondary training to practitioners with a doctoral level of education.
Optometry is a health care profession that provides comprehensive eye and vision care, which includes the diagnosis and management of eye diseases.
The Institute of Optometry is a centre for optometry, based in south London, England. It was established in 1922 as the London Refraction Hospital.
The Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science at the University of California, Berkeley is an optometry school at the University of California, Berkeley. It offers a graduate-level, four-year professional program leading to the Doctor of Optometry degree (OD), and a one-year, ACOE-accredited residency program in clinical optometry specialties. It is also the home department for the multidisciplinary Vision Science Group at UC Berkeley, whose graduate students earn either MS or PhD degrees.
The eye care system in Ghana can be said to be one in its infant or growing stages. Today there are less than 300 eye care professionals taking care of the eye needs of over 23 million Ghanaians.
The Optical Confederation is a British trade association launched in April 2010. It is said to help the optometric profession to "punch well above its weight". Lobbying is one of its key activities. It agrees on advice to opticians with the Department of Health about the administration of NHS sight tests and what fees practitioners can claim. It also issues guidance on professional issues which apply to the entire optical sector, such as the prevention of abuse of vulnerable patients.
The British Contact Lens Association is an educational and scientific membership organisation formed in 1977.
Local Optical Committees are statutory bodies established within the British National Health Service to represent the interests of community optometrists and opticians. There are 78 Local Optical Committees in England. They are supported by the Local Optical Committee Support Unit which provides a link to the national bodies the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, the Association of Optometrists and the Federation of Opticians.
Optometry Today is a professional magazine, published bimonthly by the Association of Optometrists in the United Kingdom.
Shahina Pardhan is the Director of the Vision and Eye Research Unit and the Anglia Ruskin University School of Medicine. She was the first woman to be appointed Professor of Optometry in the United Kingdom.
Samuel Black was a British public relations manager involved in the founding of the Institute for Public Relations in 1948, and the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in 1955. He wrote eighteen books on the subject of public relations and organised over 200 exhibitions all over the world showcasing the British industry. This work in exhibitions gained him an MBE in 1969 for Services to Export.
Clinical and Experimental Optometry is a bimonthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering optometry. As of 2021, the journal has been published by Taylor & Francis on behalf of Optometry Australia, the New Zealand Association of Optometrists, the Hong Kong Society of Professional Optometrists, and the Singapore Optometric Association, of which it is the official journal. Previously it was published by John Wiley & Sons. The editor-in-chief is Professor Nathan Efron.