Graduates from the 2018 Australasian College of Optical Dispensing (ACOD) cohort recently celebrated their completion of the Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing at Luna Park, Sydney. ACOD acknowledged the achievements of the 31 students who travelled to attend the event, as well as the 97 graduates from both Australia and New Zealand.
James Gibbins, ACOD Director, congratulated the “97 qualified dispensers now added to our industry” and said, “in the last 12 months there has been a steady and continuous stream of students crossing their course completion line with ACOD”.
Richard Couch, Head of Dispensing Advancement at Specsavers, acknowledged the achievements of the graduates as, “a true reflection of the quality and the tireless efforts made. The benefits to the industry that this represents, to be able to grow the profession of optical dispensing, is so incredibly important, particularly at this time.”
Guest of honour, Andrew McKinnon, CEO of O NSW/ACT, reiterated the success of the graduates in their course completion and provided perspective on how their qualification fits into the broader optical industry.
“You have joined a four prong eye care environment – yourselves, optometry, ophthalmology, and orthoptics. Eye care is a booming field and you are key players in it,” he said.
On the night, ACOD Director Chedy Kalach presented the graduating optical dispensers with the Certificate IV in Dispensing. Following this, the outstanding achievements of graduates were recognised through the presentation of awards.
The recipients of the ACOD Certificate IV in Optical Dispensing 2018 Course Award Winners are Kinga Kozlowski, first in course award winner; Elizabeth Sumner, second in course award winner; and Emma Gorman, third in course award winner.