“Certain things, they should stay the way they are.
You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big
glass cases and just leave them alone.”
- J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
Robert Dalton
A change is a one-time occurrence: we
change a job, change our clothes, change
living arrangements. Change is a shift
from one person, place or thing to an-
other. Intellectually, we understand
that change is constant. That it can be
both positive and/or negative. Occasion-
ally the change we have chosen is to
initiate ourselves. Other times, the
change is forced upon us. Most people
don’t like change and some refuse to
believe that they can benefit from
change. I suppose we have been pro-
grammed through years of experience
to think we are going to get less or be
expected to do more. I remember my
father would announce after arriving
home from work, “THERE ARE GOING
TO BE SOME CHANGES AROUND
HERE”. That usually meant run and
hide because discipline was going to
be handed out – brought upon by our
behavior as kids that day. Change can
challenge our need for trust and to
have choices. When I think of words
associated with change, I think of:
uncertainty, fear, confusion, powerless,
numb, and even anger, panic or anxiety.
It’s quite normal to feel this way. Most
of us need time to deal with change …
we need to transition …and I don’t
mean those amazing lenses that help
you “live the good light” (a little respect
for an OAC partner :)-).
Transition is the ongoing process of
dealing with a change. Transition is
letting go of how things were and
embracing how things might become.
Most Opticians in Canada are facing,
or are going to face, a transition to a
new Professional Continuing Educa-
tion System. The OAC is here to assure
our members that we will be your
support through this process. If any
of our members are having trouble
assembling their portfolio (as in On-
tario) or a self-directed professional
learning plan in the rest of the country,
give us a call and we will find you a
mentor to help. The OAC is encouraging
our members to utilize the OAC library
which is already mapped to the national
competencies in preparation for this
new system. We are inviting Opticians
to attend our many live, in-person
events where we offer content with
consultation from our regulatory
colleges. The OAC will be offering the
OACM level 1 program which is a fan-
tastic preparation for any Opticians
required to write the new CCA exam. superior in quality and most content
is offered with the understanding that
it speaks to the proficiencies required
in the national competencies. Going
forward, our members will receive all
the support required to be successful
under these new CE systems.
Vision Canada is on November 4th
and 5th 2017 in Calgary and will be
broadcast via the internet for all those
unable to attend in-person. There are
Fall events in many other provinces
in the country. The education is The Opticians Association of Canada
is the leading supplier of Continuing
Education in Canada and we intend to
stay that way by supporting our
Optician members.
Be sure to join the OAC to have access
to all of these programs. The OAC is
dedicated to providing affordable CE
to all our members. Non-members will
pay more to attend our events. We
encourage all OAC members to embrace
the change and work through the tran-
sition by challenging our thoughts and
feelings, neutralizing negative behaviors
and accentuating positive performance.
“Maturity is when you stop
complaining and making excuses,
and start making changes.”
- Roy T. Bennett,
The Light in the Heart