Off the Cuff: History In the Making
Have you imagined what it would be like to hear Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg address, how it would feel to stand in the middle of Times Square in NYC the day WWII ended?
I write this from a hotel room in Nanjing, China. Here to present at the 8th International Congress of Ophthalmology and Optometry China (COOC), I stopped in Taiwan along the way. Only two days ago, I sat in Taichung, Taiwan with two U.S.-trained OD friends, Drs. Shayan-Tarng Chen and John Hsiao. Both are professors at the Chung Shan Medical University School of Optometry in Taichung. Dr. Chen is also president of the Optometric Society of Taiwan; Dr. Hsiao is the Vice President.
See what your colleagues are thinking on OptometricPhysician® Blog.
Over dinner, we talked about the state of optometry in Taiwan and the struggle Taiwan optometrists face in creating a recognized profession in a country where anyone can open an optical shop without training or licensure. As we chatted, I imagined that these doctors possessed the same passion that our profession’s founders must have had as they created American optometry at the beginning of the last century.
Despite our profession’s struggles, optometry is alive and well throughout the world. Not long ago, the first optometry school opened in Thailand. Our colleagues in the UK and Ontario, Canada recently gained therapeutic privileges. As I chatted with my two friends in Taichung, their vision for the future of optometry in Taiwan became clear. I smiled as I realized that I was seeing history in the making.
Arthur B. Epstein, OD, FAAO
Chief Medical Editor
artepstein@optometricphysician.com