New GOC committee appointments

The General Optical Council (GOC) has announced the appointments of Alicia Thompson and Geraldine McBride to its education committee and Philip Bird to its registration committee. 

The three new members took up the committee member roles on 1 July and will provide expert advice on key areas of the GOC’s work. 

Ms Thompson started her career as an optical technician 30 years ago and became a registered dispensing optician in 1994. She has previously held roles as clinic manager at Aston University and was appointed to her current position as director of professional exams for the Association of British Dispensing Opticians in 2008. 

Ms McBride is a dispensing optician with a special interest in low vision. She is also an orthoptist and works as the senior clinician managing clinical services attached to the Ophthalmology Department at University Hospital Galway, Ireland. 

Mr Bird is currently studying at Aston Business School for an MBA and is due to finish in 2018. He has worked in optics since 2001, starting as a trainee optical advisor at Dollond & Aitchison. He qualified as a dispensing optician in 2007 before moving into practice management and then regional management.