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A Journey in Opticianry

Karlen McLean, ABOC, NCLC

Michigan, Florida, and Texas are the three states in which I've been an optician. In each I saw a different aspect of the profession and a different professional standing for the opticians working there.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

I started my career in Michigan from the ground level—yes, I'm one of those, promoted from the stationary department. I learned fitting and dispensing details from a series of solid managers, eventually becoming a manager myself.

Michigan is an unlicensed state, so anyone at any level can be called an optician there. But I cared enough to keep learning and striving.

After 13 years and a stalled career, it was time for a change. I learned that opticians in Florida were licensed and making twice as much as my average paycheck.

My employer at the time had offices in both Michigan and Florida and allowed me to transfer to the Sunshine State. There, I became an apprentice optician and worked in several types of practices, from private optometry and ophthalmology to regional and national chain retail, all the while apprenticing and taking opticianry classes at Miami Dade Community College.

After taking and passing the ABO and NCLE exams, I took the intensive two-day Florida opticianry boards and passed, becoming a licensed Florida optician in 1991. Continuing my opticianry career, I worked in an independent opticianry practice.

In 1997, I wrote a query letter to (now out of print) Eyewear magazine. That turned into a part-time contributor gig, and later became a full-time lens technology editor position. The rest is history…mine, that is.

While I'm not dispensing in Texas, a state where registering as an optician is voluntary, I stay plugged into the opticianry community nationwide. I have maintained my Florida licensure and board certification because I did so much to achieve it; it's my badge of honor. EB

Senior editor Karlen McLean has been in the optical industry for 35 years. She has spent half of that time in the dispensary. In this monthly column, Karlen shares her own experiences, and hopes you'll share yours. Contact her via email at Karlen.McLean@WoltersKluwer. com or online at facebook.com/eyecarebusiness.