Looking Ahead in 2012
President's Message
By: Jason Tu, O.D.
January, I held my first board meeting as President of the San Diego County Optometric Society. During the meeting, I realized how lucky and proud I am of our board, our membership and our profession. Our board members are very representative of our membership. They range in age, ethnicity, and there is about an even distribution of male to female. They have practices in all modes, from private to commercial to Federal government. Every board member is busy with his or her families and practices, but they take the time to volunteer. I think our unifying theme is our love of optometry and our desire to make optometry into a better profession in the future.
We have a very busy and productive year ahead of us. Coming up soon is the California Optometric
Association’s (COA) House of Delegates (HOD) Meeting in Sacramento on February 10-11. The HOD meets
to transact COA business, establish COA policy and elect officers to the Board of Trustees. I predict this
year’s HOD will include discussions about the importance of Optometry having access to patients under the
new Obama-related healthcare mandates. Thanks to our strong membership numbers, our Society is able to
send 18 delegates. I would like to thank Drs. Amanda Dexter, Bob Meisel, Brooke Kirby, Carrie Turley, Dave
Sherman, Dawn Pewitt, Dick Skay, Doug Osborne, Eric White, Erin Swift, Greg Hom, Jack Anthony, Joe
Garvin, Joe Malllinger, Kathy Witmeyer, Lisa Weiss, and Phil Smith for representing out Society.
We also have the second annual San Diego Specialty Contact Lens Symposium being held on February 24-
26 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. I would like to thank the organizer, Dr. Jerry Legerton, for recognizing the
critical need for education and training of specialty contact lenses. Dr. Legerton has selflessly spent hundreds
of hours organizing this outstanding educational event. There will be 20 COPE approved continuing education
hours, hands on industry sponsored workshops and an amazing exhibit hall. New this year is the option to take the basic track versus the advanced track. The dual track option allows for attendees with various levels of prior exposure to contact lenses. There is a generous discount on registration for SDCOS members and, in addition, attendees can take one ancillary (non-OD) staff member for free! If you haven’t registered already, you can register online at www.specialtycontactlens.org. All proceeds from the event go to support the mission of the SDCOS.
The COA Legislative Day is also fast approaching. Legislative Day is being held on Tuesday, March 20th in
Sacramento. Optometry is a legislated profession and decisions being made in Sacramento this year will impact the practice of optometry for years to come. It is imperative that we have as many optometrists as possible attend this year’s event. The impact on elected officials hearing from their constituents cannot be understated, particularly with an election looming. There are also opportunities to be involved without leaving town. Call your local representative and schedule a meeting or offer to volunteer. If you need help or guidance in how to do this, contact Dr. Dick Skay or Dr. Bob Meisel for additional information. Please consider attending Legislative Day - the Society will reimburse members for some portion of the airline ticket. Don’t delay, please contact me if you are able to attend. Thank you for your involvement!
Jason Tu