The first conference to establish optometric standards

In 1901, when optometry first achieved legal status, optometric education in the United States was inadequate. Two-week courses in refraction, correspondence courses, and 2 year apprenticeships were common. Over the next 2 decades, progress was made through the closing of a number of schools and the development of some creditable ones, but across the country optometric education remained unacceptably uneven. There were various calls for improvement, and in 1921 the American Optometric Association (AOA) formed a Council on Optometric Education. In 1921, funds were appropriated by the AOA to fund a nationwide conference on optometric education, which was held in January, 1992. Among other things, this conference resulted in the classification of all schools, closing some in the process; the adoption of minimum entrance requirements; the adoption of subject matter syllabi; and the recommendation of the end of apprenticeship and correspondence courses. Optometric education was forever changed.