Margaret Meagher remembered

Colleagues and friends gathered to remember Margaret Meagher at a dedication of a park bench and
plaque in her honor on the walkway at the New Westminster Quay on February 3. Margaret, an
instructor in the College’s Dental Auxiliary program, passed away suddenly last year. A memorial
endowment fund has been established in her name through the Douglas College Foundation.

 

Boomers’ need for eyewear leads to development of

College program

Baby boomers have created trends in
just about everything they’ ve touched.
From Mustang cars to platform soles to
home computers, if the post-war
generation wants it, it’s going to be a hot
item.

But as baby boomers get older, their
consumption power creates markets for
what they need rather than what they
want. What the aging population needs is
vision care -- and that means
opportunities in the eyewear industry.

“The baby boomers are now reaching
the age of presbioptia, the age of poor
reading vision, and the demand for
eyewear will increase very significantly
within the next twenty years,” says Glen
Oxenbury, Project Worker for the new

Dispensing Optician Program at Douglas
College.

Oxenbury, an optician for thirty years,
says this technical program will give
graduates the theoretical knowledge and
laboratory skills to meet the growing
demands in the vision care profession.

A concern within the industry is public
safety, says Joy Holmwood, Director of
Health Sciences at Douglas College. The
vision care industry needs an entry-level
program to prepare practitioners to meet
standards of practice by the College of
Opticians of B.C.

New provincial legislation is now in
effect requiring opticians to be licensed.

The curriculum is being developed
with industry experts, and will have a

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theoretical base and a strong emphasis on
workplace skills. There will be laboratory
and practical courses as well as
communications, business management,
and computer courses. Graduates can
apply for licensure through the College of
Opticians of B.C.-- and can go straight
into careers in retail eyewear outlets and
optometrists’ or ophthalmologists’
offices.

The Dispensing Optician program
commences in September 1995 at the
New Westminster campus but will move
to Douglas College’s Pinetree Way
campus in 1996-97. The application
deadline is May 1 for September 1995
intake. For more information on the
program’s options, call 527-5478. #l