Historical Development

Question 1

When did optometry begin?

Answer 1

Just over 100 years ago when the first licensure laws were passed but theoretically the lat 13th century in Italy

Question 2

Why did optometry begin in Italy?

Answer 2

Venice had the best glass making trade used to make spectacles in the late 13th century

Question 3

When was the start of optometry in the US?

Answer 3

1783- John McAllister from the UK purchased a bushel of reading glasses and started the first optical firm in the US in Philadelphia, PA

Question 4

Why is the War of 1812 significant for optometry?

Answer 4

Before 1812, lenses were made in Germany and England. The war caused the US to make the first lenses in the country.

Question 5

What was the historical optometric refraction like?

Answer 5

Not a true refraction, trial and error with standard sets of glasses to determine best pair; paid for material not the service

Question 6

Describe the early 1900s optical

Answer 6

The McAllister family owned and operated an optical business until the early 1900s; spectacle makers became the first refractionists

Question 7

Who is James Prentice?

Answer 7

A European educated in physics, engineering, and math; he came to the US in 1847– his son is Charles Prentice

Question 8

Ophthalmoscope

Answer 8

1851 von Helmholtz

Question 9

visual acuity test types

Answer 9

1862 Hermann Snellen

Question 10

Retinoscopy

Answer 10

1873 Cuignet

Question 11

Who is Charles Prentice?

Answer 11

The father of modern optometry; static and dynamic retinoscopy, Prentice’s rule, schematic eye, laws of cylindrical lenses, dioptric power, published Ophthalmic Lenses in 1886, organized NY Optical Society

Question 12

Charles Prentice’s biggest contributions:

Answer 12

1895- wanted to get paid, threatened with jail
1896- wrote a treatise on optometry as a profession “a lens is not a pill”
1897- introduced the first bill to define optometry as “refraction, dispensing, and related services”

Question 13

When was the first licensure passed?

Answer 13

1901 in Minnesota

Question 14

Who is Andrew Cross?

Answer 14

Contemporary of Prentice, the “Grand old man of optometry”– believed that education was the key to the advance of the profession, not legislation! In 1911 he wrote Dynamic Skiametry in Theory and Practice about dynamic retinoscopy

Question 15

Explain Bausch and Lomb

Answer 15

Bausch was a German immigrant partnered with Lomb to set up an optical shop in NY; one of the oldest optical companies

Question 16

Who is AM Skeffington?

Answer 16

The Father of behavioral optometry; created CE after licensure; Vision is a learned behavior; how we learn to see influences the RE we show

Question 17

Who is Irvin Borish?

Answer 17

Wrote Clinical Refraction, the quintessential optometry text; role in founding Indiana University School of Optometry

Question 18

Where were the first university courses for optometry?

Answer 18

Columbia University between 1900-1940

Question 19

What court ruled optometry separate from medicine?

Answer 19

1915 PA Supreme Court “optometry is a separate calling from medicine” and “not a minor branch of medicine”

Question 20

Who is Charles Sheard?

Answer 20

The father of the four year degree (not doctoral); Princeton trained physicist, wanted a unified curriculum for schools; started OSU program

Question 21

AOA

Answer 21

1900-1940 Education and growth of the profession

Question 22

American Academy of Optometry

Answer 22

organized to encourage research and to improve ethical scientific standing of optometry

Question 23

First Doctor of Optometry degree

Answer 23

PCO in 1923

Question 24

Optometry on Trial

Answer 24

1937 article in Reader’s Digest

Question 25

What were the optometry successes and failures in terms of the military?

Answer 25

Between 1940 and 1960 the US Naval Reserves commission the 1st optometrist as an officer, adopted by the Army in 1947; President Truman vetoed the Optometry Corps bill in 1945 that had passed the house and senate

Question 26

National Board of Examiners

Answer 26

1951- goal: to make sure that all doctors have certain minimal competence regardless of school attended

Question 27

Development of CL

Answer 27

Soft contact lens material invented in b/w the 1940s and 60s, not widely available until the 1970s

Question 28

pharmaceutical fail

Answer 28

1961- PA introduces the first bill to authorize diagnostic pharmaceuticals; it fails

Question 29

AOSA

Answer 29

formed in 1968 along with the National Eye Institute and National Optometric Association the next year

Question 30

The Laguardia Conference

Answer 30

organized by Dr. Norman Haffner (started SUNY), laid the foundation for modern primary care optometry

Question 31

DPA law

Answer 31

first diagnostic pharmaceutical agent law passed in Rhode Island in 1971 – COVD formed too, Non-contact tonometer developed

Question 32

TPA

Answer 32

therapeutic pharmaceutical agent introduced in NC in 1973 and then first TPA law passed in West Virginia in 1976

Question 33

Optometry in the VA

Answer 33

1976 Congress established the VA Optometric Service

Question 34

Truthful Advertising

Answer 34

1977 US Supreme Court allows professionals to utilize “truthful advertising” Bates v Arizona State Bar

Question 35

Aphakic medicare ruling

Answer 35

1981- Congress recognizes optometric coverage under Medicare for aphakic patients

Question 36

Medicare

Answer 36

1986 medicare parity legislation passed signed by Reagan effective 1987 aka optometric physician

Question 37

Laser authorization

Answer 37

1998 first state to allow lasers by ODs is Oklahoma, 2011 KY, 2014 LA, 2019 AK

Question 38

American Board of Optometry

Answer 38

Est. 2009, not the same as ABOP which was defeated

Question 39

ACA

Answer 39

2010 ACA enacted recognizing optometry as a primary health care discipline of the federal government; Harkin Amendment= first federal provider non-discrimination standards; children’s vision is an essential health benefit