Bay Area Optometric Council Mentorship Program at Berkeley

The BAOC-MP at Berkeley is a professional development initiative that aims to increase student involvement in local, state, and national optometric associations through networking, legislative awareness, and career guidance from a mentoring optometrist. The Bay Area Optometric Council Mentorship Program at Berkeley is a professional development initiative that aims to improve optometry student involvement in local optometric societies, California Optometric Association (COA), and American Optometric Association (AOA) through networking, legislative awareness, and career guidance. (1) Networking: For many students, it can be difficult to approach and initiate conversation with optometrists at networking events. We hope students will benefit more from attending meetings with a doctor who they can converse with during the event and help make the initial introductions to other optometrists. These students will in turn help their colleagues by opening the door for more students to enter the conversation. (2) Legislative Awareness: Optometry is a legislative profession that heavily relies on its advocates to improve scope of practice and community access to vision care. It is important to stress the importance of the students' role in local issues, COA, and AOA in order to improve participation in legislative activities through their school years and post-graduation. The Bay Area Optometric Council Mentorship Program at Berkeley seeks to involve students in local community events, legislative days, and general membership meeting business talks. (3) Career Guidance: The program’s mentors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have varying modes of practice and specialties. Students will gain career guidance by shadowing their mentors and learning about how they have achieved success. Students are encouraged to talk to all mentors in the program, not just their own, to be exposed to a larger variety career options. Mentors can share what they wished they knew as a student and to make the most of their educational experience for their future goals.