Board of Trustees Backs ASCO National Campaigns

by Albert S. Licup, ICO Trustee-Elect

The AOSA Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution during its January mid-year conference in St. Louis to lend its support to the "Each One Reach One" and "The Eyes Have It" campaigns developed by the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry. The two campaigns were designed to address the declining optometry school applicant pool, which fell 40% between 1998 and 2002. The objective of the campaigns is to increase the qualified applicant pool for optometry programs to three applicants for each available seat, and to increase diversity in the applicant pool to reflect the national population.

As recently as 2002, there were only 1.5 applicants per available seat in optometry schools nationwide, or 2,037 applicants for 1,354 seats. With respect to diversity, optometry schools were underrepresented among African Americans (3% OD students, 13% US population) and Hispanics (5% OD students, 13% US population) during academic year 2001-2002. The decrease in applicants is not unique to optometry alone, with medical schools reporting a 28% decline, osteopathy 41%, and podiatry 60% during 2001-2002.

Why are college students staying away from the health care field? Between 1998 and 2002, a booming economy, poor national press, reduction in compensation, and perceived sacrifices of pursuing a professional education all contributed to a steady decline in applicants. The more important question, however, is what should we as students do about it today?

Starting later this year, members of the Board of Trustees will be providing training to students at every optometry school on how to use the "Each One Reach One" materials to encourage people to consider optometry as a career. Materials include: "The Eyes Have It" brochure that contains a job description about the profession, the "Optometry Career Guide" that describes steps for applying to optometry school, and "Career Promotion R_x Pad" that contains bullets promoting the profession and a link to ASCO’s website (www.opted.org), where potential applicants can find out more about the field.

"Optometry has been blessed with many outstanding leaders," said Ryan Parker, AOSA president. "It is time for our generation to become the leaders of the future. As students, we can easily relate to potential applicants and excite them about optometry. By taking the time now to get people interested in the field, we will ensure the continued success and growth of our profession."