At Gainesville Eye Physicians and Optical we are committed to delivering the highest quality of healthcare. That’s why we hire licensed opticians to treat patients in our optical department. Not every optical shop can claim that. In fact, most retail eyeglass outlets don’t employ licensed opticians. So, why is that important for your eye health?

Let’s begin with a definition. An optician is someone who interprets the prescriptions created by ophthalmologists or optometrists to produce contact lenses or eyeglasses. They often use a series of tests and technologies to determine how a patient can best benefit from the lenses and frames they select. These evaluations take into consideration both vision needs and lifestyle preferences.

Accurately translating the physician’s prescription into a set of lenses that address your vision needs is, of course, a critical step. It’s not uncommon for a patient to complain that an eye doctor inaccurately diagnosed their condition, when the breakdown actually occurred in the creation of the lenses.

Becoming a licensed optician requires a great deal of education, apprenticeship and testing. The State of Florida requires an optician to apprentice for 6250 hours before they can take the necessary tests to be licensed, some of these hours can be accounted for through a formal post-secondary educational program. Following this training, they take multiple board examinations to ensure their expertise.

Many retail optical shops put responsibility for your lenses in the hands of lesser-trained individuals. In fact, they may have no formal training beyond the company’s in-house instruction. This can result in glasses that fail to correct your vision problems and may even make them worse.

Gainesville Eye Physicians and Optical is blessed to have two of the best trained and best liked opticians in all of Florida, Mindy Tillman and Fagan Arouh, and they are both licensed. That means their education and skills surpass many others in our area.

When selecting someone to fill your eyeglass or contact lens prescription, remember to ask if he or she is a licensed optician. At Gainesville Eye Physicians and Optical, the answer will be yes.