Students are seeing their futures more clearly, thanks to Brown County Eye Care and Ivy Tech. But it doesn’t have to do with their own eyesight.

Ivy Tech in Bloomington offers an Optometric Technology Program, where students can see if they want to be a part of eye care and health. Brown County Eye Care in Nashville is allowing students to observe and learn at the practice, and the Career Resource Center of Brown County has just received permission to offer the accompanying classes in Nashville.

The Optometric Technology Program offers students training that allows them to enter the workforce in as little as a year (two semesters), as either opticians or ophthalmic technicians.

Students gain experience in both optician training — working with eyeglass frames and lenses, and helping patients select, prepare and adjust them — and ophthalmic technical work, which focuses on testing and medical history.

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“The program trains through anything and everything,” program chair Leanne Short said. “They’re getting a lot of that breadth of knowledge, so not only are they sure that they like that field before they spend four years in undergrad and four years in optometry school, they actually know that they are passionate about it, and they can work in the field while they’re in school.”

Short is responsible for the advising, administration and teaching of the majority of courses. She took her undergraduate courses at Indiana University in Bloomington until the program was moved to Ivy Tech.

Ivy Tech is currently the only location in Indiana that offers the training, but Short has hopes to expand the program’s reach.

On Friday, Feb. 28, the program was approved to be offered at the Career Resource Center of Brown County.

“What we’re thinking,” Short said, “is that two days a week, (training) will be from 5 to 9 p.m. at the CRC, and those will be all the lecture courses, then one full day — 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. — for all the labs. Every other week, that day will be at the CRC, then at the lab in Bloomington to use the equipment.”

Short had spoken with CRC Director Christy Wrightsman about an initiative the CRC has with the high school, to make sure students have some sort of plan post-graduation.

“She’s going to target a lot of those students that don’t yet know what they want to do,” Short continued, “but they might want to work in a helping career or healthcare field.” In the Optometric Technology Program, those students would be ready to enter the field in one to two years.

Ivy Tech had already started talks of collaborating when Dr. Merle Pickel owned Brown County Eye Care, but then he retired and sold the practice to Dr. Ben Gootee around the same time.

“We wanted to do it, but we were right in the middle (of selling the practice) and in the middle of the semester,” said Sandi Pickel, who worked with her husband at Brown County Eye Care. “Dr. Gootee was really excited and wanted to do it from day one, but he had to get his ducks in a row.”

Dr. Gootee now hosts students at his practice, allowing them real-world, on-the-job training.

As this is the only program of its kind in Indiana, a lot of students who aren’t local to Bloomington are driving as far as two hours to attend classes. That’s one of the reasons why having Brown County Eye Care as an affiliate was attractive.

“We’re trying to expand where our affiliate clinics are, so if there’s a student closer to an affiliate, and it’s not a day they have normal lecture, they can be closer to home for those clinical sites,” Short said.

In high demand

Sandi Pickel sits on the nine-person advisory board for the Optometric Technology Program. For more than 40 years, IU School of Optometry offered the program, but it was shuttered a few years ago. “Luckily, Ivy Tech picked it up,” she said.

“It’s like any program,” Pickel continued. “If you don’t have students, they’re not going to continue it.” The advisory board is trying to help in any way they can, getting the word out so people know about it.

“It’s been hard marketing the program, because people need to know, first, that the career even exists,” Short said. “The jobs are there, and the doctors are begging for the students to fill the seats.”

Currently, there are eight students in the program, which is the minimum amount.

Opticians and ophthalmic technicians are considered high-demand and high-wage jobs. A current Workforce Ready grant for Indiana helps students pay for programs that are in fields considered to be high-demand and high-wage. You only need to have a high school education to qualify for the grant, Short said.

Gootee believes his office is a good fit to host the program because it does a lot of medical testing, and sees a lot of ocular diseases.

John LaShorne, as an optician with 40 years’ experience, also works at the office.

“It’s beneficial for students to see the optical side and medical side, and decide their preferences that way,” Gootee said.

Salaries vary, and according to Short, depend largely on what the graduates’ responsibilities are and what kind of practice they go into. “Typically — and I can’t guarantee this — retail will be on the lower end, and medical practices will be on the higher end,” Short said. “Last year’s average was about $16.50 an hour.”

“I would say I get at least one call a week from an optometrist or ophthalmologist that’s hiring,” Short said. “They want to make sure that they’re first in line to interview our graduates, since this is the only program in Indiana, and the graduates will be cross-trained in every aspect of the industry from day one.”

Pickel said they call this an upbeat career, because of nice work hours and “no blood and guts,” like other medical professions.

Every review that program leaders have received from students has been encouraging. They are satisfied with where they end up and stay in their jobs.

The program leaves plenty of room for advancement as well. Short said she has three students whose plans are to become optometrists or ophthalmologists, and they’re completing several pre-optometry credits by being in this program.

First-year student Aaliyah Wilcoxen was working with Dr. Gootee last week. She plans to go on to optometry school. She had looked up the path on Ivy Tech’s website, wanting something related to eyes and optics. This was a way to get her “feet in the water,” she said.

“It’s amazing,” Wilcoxen said. “I’ve learned more than I’ve ever learned than being at IU for three years (in the exercise science program).”

Gootee’s practice has been a great help to Wilcoxen. “It’s been wonderful. Everyone is so nice here. Dr. Gootee lets me sit in on the exams. Not all doctors do that,” she said. “He’s been open to teaching me a lot.”

Gootee also works at IU in its primary care clinic with third-year optometry students who see patients full-time, double-checking exam findings and helping with diagnosis and treatment plans.

He’s glad to be a part of the program with Ivy Tech and excited to see where it heads in Nashville.

“They’re very eager to learn, and it’s enjoyable to pass on some of our craft and generate interest that way,” he said.

“I absolutely encourage people to enter this field,” Gootee said. “It’s a way to impact people’s daily lives in positive way. Improving people’s vision helps them with every one of their daily tasks. Being able to help people in such a personal and meaningful way, I think is an excellent career choice.”

“This is a good place to start off,” Wilcoxen said. “It’s worth trying.”

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Paper applications for the Optical Technician Training program are available on Ivy Tech’s website and are being accepted now through May 15. Basic math class and medical terms class can be completed online before the class after applications are accepted. For more information, visit ivytech.edu/bloomington.

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