RELATED CONTENT



 



NEW YORK--Females continue to raise their profile within the eyecare professions.

Women remain the majority of students now enrolled in U.S. schools and colleges of optometry. In addition, women are dominant among those students gaining technological and ophthalmics know-how at the leading optical dispensing and technical programs across the country.

Further, diversity of today’s female students--spanning many cultural backgrounds and age groups--young singles, mature “second career” women and working mothers--promises to further change the professional eyecare and dispensing landscape.

In optometry, women say they are drawn to the core values of the profession, and the various business opportunities that exist in private practice, group practice, public health and corporate and hospital settings.

The young women coming out of the schools and colleges, as exemplified by the students we spotlight here, are already very active, curious and eager to extend the scope of their contributions.

The need for educated dispensing opticians remains paramount. A range of product technologies, more complex optical choices and an increasingly informed and demanding patient base continue to reinforce this need.

The 3rd edition of this special section, of Vision Monday’s “Most Influential Women in Optical” issue, is underwritten by a grant from the Luxottica Group. We asked the heads of the country’s professional optometry schools and those overseeing the ophthalmic dispensing and opticianry tech programs around the U.S. to recommend a female candidate to represent their school and the Class of 2008 graduates.

Their choices reflect high standards of commitment, achievement and accomplishment. ■
--Marge Axelrad

Class of 2008 Student Profiles compiled and written by Samuel Colon.