Optometry has become the second class course under the allied health professions since 2012, and has been the National undergraduate enrollment directory. According to the definition of optometry provided by the World Council of Optometry, the jobs of optometrist in China include the basic eye care, basic optometry, contact lens fitting, binocular vision anomaly treatment, strabismus and amblyopia treatment, low vision treatment, special ocular examination, maintenance of equipment related to optometry, operation and sales management. At present, the demand of professional optometrist is great. However, the development of optometrical education is limited by the lack of professional ranks. The professional ranks and titles for optometrist, corresponding registration and examination system should be established by the Ministry of Health as soon as possible, in order for the development of optometrical education and human resource management.
Objective To investigate the employment situation of optometry students from medical colleges 5-10 years after graduation to provide suggestions on construction and development of optometry. Methods Between July and November 2015, a electronic questionnaire survey was conducted among 100 optometry students graduated from West China Hospital of Sichuan University(from 55 students) and China Medical University (from 84 students) 5-10 years ago. The questionnaire items included: the employer at the graduation, the current employer, whether changing job, whether diverting to other professions, job satisfaction extent, situation of continuing education, and advice on optometry education and optometry professional development. Results Sixty-three graduates gave back valid questionnaire. After graduation, 61 graduates (96.8%) engaged in in the optometry profession, and 2 (3.2%) diverted to other professions. Five to ten years after graduation, 57 graduates (90.5%) engaged in the optometry profession, and 6 (9.5%) diverted to other professions. The job satisfaction of 52 graduates (82.5%) was good. Conclusions Under the circumstances of severe shortage of professional optical talents, optometry students from medical colleges should fully understand their own profession, make good psychological adjustment on employment and good phased career plan, and continue to strengthen the knowledge, to solve the present situation of the lack of the highly educated optical professionals.
Early onset and high incidence of myopia has caused great concern of the Party and the Government. On August 30th 2018, eight ministries and commissions, such as the Ministry of Education, jointly issued the Comprehensive Prevention and Control Implementation Scheme of Child and Adolescent Myopia, which put forward the actions and specific measures to various aspects, and particularly mentioned that the medical and health institutions should work together with families, schools, etc, to reduce the incidence of myopia. Medical institutions should do a good job in the following items: setting up visual archives for adolescents, so as to prevent and control myopia with pertinence and individualization; standardizing the process of diagnosis and treatment, doing a good job in refractive examination and correction of adolescents, and resolutely combating the commercial "treatment and correction" of myopia; strengthening myopia-related health education, and eliminating erroneous understanding to myopia prevention and control. Optometrists should play an important role in the prevention and control of myopia, speed up the cultivation of optometry talents, and call on the state to establish a professional title system and professional access standards for optometry talents as soon as possible.