“Education, training and professions: a scenario in motion”

The Registro dell'Optometrista Magistrale Consortium conference at Mido The OttiClub was the location of the Registro dell'Optometrista Magistrale Consortium conference titled: "Education, training and professions: a scenario in motion".   The leitmotif of the three different steps of the conference was the relationship between the rolls and what goes on in the professional world, the crisis concerning the role of the optician, and the creation, practically as a consequence, of the Register. The subject drew a very large audience (and put a strain on the capacity of the meeting room) which included numerous young people and the representatives of many industrial and distribution companies.   An outline of the political and legal context of the debate between the rolls and the professions, the timescales imposed by the European Union, and the need to liberalize and unblock the country's economic system was given by Mrs. Monti of the Fondazione Rodolfo De Benedetti / Bocconi. She also described the fraught attempts to liberalize the professions and gave a summary of the Foundation's research into the link between access to rolls and familism.   Some of the data presented were disturbing (some were sensational, such as those from attorneys from Catanzaro or notaries from Rome) and drew a picture of a country dominated by family and professional lobbies with no real transparency with regard to aspiring professionals and citizens. The audience found Mrs. Monti's talk extremely interesting.   The second step of the conference was a round table. Moderated by consultant and journalist Danilo Fatelli, the participants included Andrea Garagnani representing Assogruppi, the association of independent opticians, and Riccardo Perdomi, president of Andom, the association of optical distribution chains. Paolo Pettazzoni, president of Anfao ophthalmic lenses group, was in the audience and was interested in the comparison of the two sides of distribution.   Two directly opposite visions emerged from the discussion with regard to the role of the optician and relationships with ophthalmologists. Paolo Pettazzoni reiterated that opticians represent a filter, the quality of which affects the industry, and that their main skills should be an entrepreneurial spirit and the ability to relate to customers, which are all based, obviously, on good technical and professional preparation. The audience also joined in the discussion and underscored its preferences by applauding. At the end, it emerged that everyone agreed about the need to improve the professional quality of the optician as a link in the entire supply chain.   The conference ended with three short talks by Danilo Fatelli, Giorgio Righetti and Pietro Gheller representing three of the five consortia: Consulter, the project creator and organizer, the Istituto Zaccagnini, for training and the organizational support of the Register, and Sopti, the scientific association of optometrists that guarantees optical and optometric quality on the road to joining the Register. From the three talks it emerged that the Consortium - a non-profit entity that uses its members' streamlined outsourcing organizations – enables opticians to join the Register, which testifies that they have the knowledge and expertise necessary for the delicate role that opticians/optometrists perform. A characteristic and principal element of the Register is the fact that exams are held by the national AICQ–Sicev certification body, a third-party entity which guarantees that the results of the exams satisfy the provisos of the Register's regulations. Although with the inevitable slight delay, it was a conclusion that was seconded by all the people who accepted the invitation of the Consortium.