While many people are thinking of holidays this month, as I write this on a sunny evening in Godmersham the ABDO board elections are taking place. I am delighted to say we have 10 excellent candidates standing for election and six are female which is a true representation of our membership.
It is wonderful to see greater engagement of ABDO members with the association over recent years. We changed our area structure to seven regions and recruited leads and sub leads to head the regions two years ago, with teams of members engaged at local level. Ninety-five percent of LOCs now have dispensing opticians on their committees, and our teams continue to host our many successful CET events around the country.
At the time of redesigning our national structure formed our National Clinical Committee, which has representation from the independent and multiple sectors with experts in general dispensing, low vision and contact lenses. Of the original committee members Phil Hall has joined the ABDO staff as head of our National Resource Centre in Birmingham and we welcome Alex Webster to the staff as head of the association’s CET department this month.
The number of students studying at ABDO College is at a record high and overseas training is gathering momentum, which leads to a need for more distance learning tutors. We now have 60 tutors in training.
There are ongoing opportunities for members to engage, so when you return from holiday why not think about getting involved? It is rewarding giving back, helping others in their career. Why not attend ABDO’s consultation day at our National Resource Centre in Birmingham on October 24?