Optometric education: planning for the future

Collectively, the American Optometric Association (AOA) and the Association of Schools and Colleges (ASCO) have felt a growing need to develop a strategic plan that would ensure that the financial and other resource needs of the educational establishment can and will be met. Only when this is accomplished can the profession of optometry continue to be able to meet the needs of the public. An initial Georgetown Conference--Summit on Optometric Education was held in March 1992. It was followed later in 1992 by a Conference on the Scope of Optometric Practice and a Curriculum Conference. Scheduled for 1993 were four additional conferences which dealt with Optometric Students, Optometric Research, Graduate Education, Residencies and Fellowships, and the Financing of Optometric Education. Critical questions have been addressed and recommendations have been made. Additional efforts are underway to reach the stated objectives of the initial conference.