The General Optical Council (GOC) has named the members of two new Expert Advisory Groups (EAGs) for its ongoing Education Strategic Review (ESR).
Members of the two groups will advise on the education and training of optometrists and dispensing opticians respectively, to help shape new learning outcomes for students and education standards for providers.
Among the 13 members of the dispensing opticians EAG are: ABDO director of professional examinations, Alicia Thompson; ABDO College lecturer, Simon Butterfield; incoming ABDO chief examiner for contact lenses, Dean Dunning; and student dispensing optician, Eloise Stone.
Philippa Mann, GOC head of education, said: “Our two new expert advisory groups will play a vital role in the next phase of our Education Strategic Review. Their insights and expertise will help us in the further development of the education standards and learning outcomes to ensure that the changes made to optical education are focused on meeting patient needs and maintaining public safety.
“We want to make the groups as transparent as possible, so we have committed to consulting on their work as we go on through our Open Canvas approach. This will enable all stakeholders to share their views in much the same way as the groups’ members.
“We hope that this will demystify the development process and enable the groups to obtain even more wide-reaching feedback and improve the quality of the end products.
“Our collective goal is to ensure that, in an ever-changing sector, optical education evolves to prepare practitioners for the future.”
The EAGs will meet on a monthly basis until March 2020. Following the completion of their work, the revised learning outcomes and education standards will be presented to the GOC council in May 2020.
The full list of EAG members can be found on the GOC website here.