GOC appoints three new members to committees

The General Optical Council (GOC) has appointed three new members to its advisory committees. Alicia Thompson and Geraldine McBride have joined the Education Committee and Philip Bird has joined the Registration Committee. The three new members took up their roles on 1 July 2017.

Alicia Thompson began her career in optics 30 years ago as an optical technician. She then went on to become a dispensing optician, registering in 1994 and managing a successful practice. Alicia was a clinic manager at Aston University for over ten years and in 2008 she was appointed to her current role as Director of Professional Examinations for the Association of British Dispensing Opticians. She is studying part time at Aston University, researching paediatric facial anthropometry in relation to spectacle frame design.

Geraldine McBride is a dispensing optician with a special interest in low vision. She is also an orthoptist and works as the senior clinician managing clinical services attached to the Ophthalmology department at University Hospital Galway, Ireland. She is actively involved in undergraduate education and research and has been a committee member on both the education and professional development committees of the British and Irish Orthoptic Society.

Philip Bird has worked in optics since 2001, joining Dollond & Aitchison as a trainee optical advisor. He qualified as a dispensing optician in 2007 before moving into practice management and then regional management. Philip is passionate about raising awareness of the value of the optical professions, both to the public and to prospective practitioners. Philip is studying at Aston Business School for an MBA, due to finish in 2018.

The committee members will provide expert advice on key areas of the GOC’s work, ensuring that it accounts for the realities of optical education and training, and a diverse range of optical practice.