Celebrating women in optometry: 5 awesome facts

One of the most fulfilling careers today is in the field of optometry. This is not only because of the income but also because of the challenge and opportunity to help the people improve their eyesight. Here are awesome facts about women in optometry.

1. Women optometrists are rising in numbers

The first woman to take up the career was Gertrude Stanton, and that wasn’t until 1899. The profession boasted only 2% women as late as 1976 but increased more rapidly to 38% and finally to 44%, according to a recent report.

In fact, women in optometry schools have outnumbered males for more than a decade. In 2017-18, the number of women in optometry schools was 4,830 while there were only 2,294 men. If before, you could count female optometry students at the back of the room with one hand, today it is no longer the case. While there is still a greater number of male optometrists in the field, women are catching up fast and growing in numbers constantly.

2. Women optometrists are AOA leaders

Four women have now become members of the Board of Trustees out of eleven in the American Optometric Association. In other words, women are also leaders in this field.

Their excellence is recognized and the stigma of trusting male optometrists more is broken. Women have also made ground-breaking progress in these 5 fields.

3. Women in optometry research

Research in optometry has been on the rise, and women have been a big part of that. Women are working on children’s diseases and other issues relating to the eyes.

For example, IMMAD, a research company, is looking at studying tears instead of saliva to verify fatal drugs in drivers, including marijuana. A research study tells of findings that show the impairment in eyesight from marijuana that can cause accidents.

4. Opportunities for women in optometry

Optometry is a field that has opened up for women who want a fulfilling career. If you want to find local optometrists near you and look at online directories like a list of Jacksonville eye doctors, it is no longer impossible to find women optometrists on this list.

5. Womens’ successes in the field

Now women are finally taking their place within more organizations and leading groups. That teamwork allows for great success in advances in the field of optometry.

For example, Dr. Kelly Nichols O.D., M.P.H., Ph. D. does research in dry eye disease. This was a direction her career took after finding that she was seeing so many patients with this condition early in her career.

She began to study it, finding it was so prevalent but needed much more research. She became involved. Today, she is a leader in the field of dry eye knowledge and research.

Final words

Women have helped elevate the field of optometry. They have proven that is not necessarily a boring career as eyesight helps you see the world, experience deeper, and stay healthier. Women have found ways to push themselves and help others, to join teams that constantly move forward.