History – ODwire.org

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Visiting The Contact Lens Museum in Forest Grove, OR

Drs. Paul Farkas & Adam Farkas along with Gretchyn Bailey, Editor in Chief of Optometry Times visited the recently-opened Contact Lens Museum in Forest Grove, OR!

Curator Patrick Caroline gave us the story of how the museum came about, and then a big tour of the artifacts and the history of contact lenses (Paul of course had a bunch of stories about the stuff we saw… as well as his ingenius idea in the 1980s for using contraceptive sponges to clean contact lenses. Yes, really!)

Anyone who is interested in contact lenses and history should check out the video, and remember: if you have old contact lens related materials, the museum is always interested in donations! Visit their web site:

https://www.thecontactlensmuseum.org/

[Discuss the visit & the museum here]

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Interview

Dr. Frank Fontana on the Early Days of Contact Lenses and the Future of Eye Care

Dr. Fontana (aka optometry’s “Uncle Frank”), in his 69th year attending SECO, talks about being a pioneer the field of contact lenses, and what the future might hold for ECPs!

Registered ECP members can reminisce about the ‘old days’ & ask Uncle Frank questions in this thread.

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Interview ODwire.org Radio

Dr. Irving Bennett — The Practice Management Legend Speaks! [#R032]

On this edition of ODwire.org Radio, we were incredibly fortunate to have an in-depth conversation with Dr. Irving Bennett.

For those who don’t know him, Dr. Bennett literally wrote the book on practice management in eye care, and is the founder of the Bennett Center for Practice Management at PCO.

With a career that spans eight decades (he started in the mid-1940’s), Dr. Bennett has seen just about everything.

Highlights of our talk include:

How he devised & founded Optometric Management
How he founded VisionExpo, the largest eyecare show in the world
His thoughts on board certification, practitioner oversupply, the opening of new schools, and where he sees the profession heading
An amusing (painful?) story of how he passed up an opportunity to be the first to import Varilux lenses to the US!

If you are at all curious about the history of eye care, you won’t want to miss this show.

And if you have any follow-up questions for Dr. Bennett (or just want to reminisce), you can post in this thread.

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Interview ODwire.org Radio

Dr. Haffner & the LaGuardia Meeting that Changed Everything [#R021]

Former dean of the SUNY College of Optometry & genuine “Optometric Living Legend”, Dr. Norman Haffner sits down with us to talk about optometric history, and the fateful day in January 1968, when he was part of a clandestine meeting that took place in a LaGuardia Airport hotel room.

That meeting shook eye care to its foundation, and it was the day that changed optometry from a purely vision care profession to a true health care profession.

If you’ve ever wondered how you came to have prescribing rights, Dr. Haffner goes over the long bloody struggle, and tells what it was like to be at the center of it all.

The outspoken Dr. Haffner also goes on to talk about the current state of eye care, the AOA, and the current board certification issue.

Feel free to ask follow-up questions of Dr. Haffner & leave comments in this thread.

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ODwire.org Radio

Inside the American Optometric Foundation with Dr. Mark Bullimore [R#013]

The AOF is a philanthropic organization that develops and provides financial support for optometric research and education in vision and eye health.

Dr. Mark Bullimore, past President and current Development Director, sits down with us to discuss all things AOF!

Learn more about:

The core mission of the AOF
The process of how they award grants to ODs/Researchers
The growth of their endowment over the past decade
Irv Borish’s relation to the foundation (including funny stories about his (nude) artwork!)

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Interview ODwire.org Radio

The Genesis of the AOS & Analysis of the BC Trial [#R011]

If you’ve been interested in how the whole board certification dust-up started, this interview will help you get some perspective.

Because in today’s show, Paul and Adam sit down with Dr. Michael Rosenblatt, a founder and Board Member at the American Optometric Society to discuss:

How and why the American Optometric Society was formed
The political challenges of working in organized optometry
What the outcome of the board certification trial means to the average OD
His take on where the AOS will be headed in the coming weeks and months

If you’ve got any follow-up questions for Dr. Rosenblatt, please post them in this thread.

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Interview ODwire.org Radio

The History of the Residency Program at the VA with Dr. Ken Myers [#R010]

Dr. Ken Myers, the man who (nearly) single-handedly created the optometric residency program at the Veterans Administration talks about how he developed the program, and the necessity for residency programs in modern optometry.

He also discusses the latest controversies in board certification & gives his prediction on whether it will survive in its current form.

History – ODwire.org

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