I've Graduated! Why Should I Continue My Membership?

Your membership in your state affiliate, AFOS and AOA protects the investment you've made in your education by maintaining the current gains the profession has made - and breaking new ground as optometric research and technology evolve. This ensures that you and all optometrists can practice full-scope primary eye care in accordance with your education and license.

Without the efforts of optometrists working under the unified banner of the AOA and its affiliates:

1. You could not diagnose or treat eye disease with drugs in ANY state, much less all 50 of them.
2. You would be excluded from Medicare reimbursement.
3. Third-party plans would have no incentive to include the care you provide as a benefit to their subscribers and you would be denied access to an increasingly large share of potential patients.
4. Competing health professions could secure legislation that would cripple your ability to practice primary eye care. You would have no unified persuasive voice to represent your professional interests in state legislatures and in Congress.

Your affiliate and AOA work on your behalf to educate the general public (the people who will be your patients) and specialized audiences (managed care decision-makers, other health professionals) about who optometrists are and the services they provide.
Without the efforts of optometrists working under the unified banner of the affiliates and AOA:

1. Your patients would not see optometrists represented as respected sources of eye health information in media such as Good Housekeeping, Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY and the New York Times without the ongoing centralized media relations program. They would only see ophthalmologists as sources, with no reference at all to optometry, because the editors of these publications would be unaware of the services optometrists have to offer their readers.
2. Other health professionals (family practice physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, etc.) would have no idea about the services you can offer their patients and would not know to refer them to you for eye care. Your association membership provides you with benefits that would be difficult and time-consuming, if not impossible, to secure on your own.

Without the effects of optometrists working under the unified banner of the affiliates and AOA:

1. You would have to pay more for the continuing education you need to maintain your license.
2. You would not have a Clinical Care Center to serve as the profession's clinical authority and as a clearinghouse for you and the general public on optometry's clinical standards and its latest research and treatment advances. There would be no national authority to correct misinformation and inaccuracies competing entities might spread about the profession.
3. You would not enjoy group discounts that save you money on everything from office equipment to long distance phone service to car rentals.

We recognize that you have many financial commitments and priorities as you leave optometry school and start your career. That's why your optometric associations are committed to helping you make your investment in association membership as easy as possible. Just like your rent, mortgage and phone bill, you can pay your association dues monthly. Or you can charge them to your credit card. Once you graduate, ask your state association staff how they can help make your investment as painless and convenient as possible. Click here to transition your membership now.