Membership Information

FOM commenced in Abuja Nigeria, with less than five mentors but today, it has spread to over 20 states of the country with over 40 seasoned, active mentors and 150 Aspiring mentors.

FOM trains and empowers young and advent optometrists through experiential training on modern clinical practice and lends an eye to vibrant and committed Optometric mentors that are providing solutions to the shortage of highly skilled Optometrists in Nigeria and providing leadership in the fight against blindness.

We learn to teach, and we teach to learn. MENTORS improve themselves to improve others. MENTEES, in turn, improve themselves by improving others. We raise Optometric mentors who are dedicated and committed to improving their colleagues and the profession at large to a global competence. We are saddled with the responsibility of bridging the lacuna between the local and international standard of practice through training, equipping, and personal development with a focus on the knowledge of the use of advanced or ultramodern instrumentation and clinical and practice management. We are dynamic in our teaching and learning approach.

Today, FOM has reached out to over 3000 optometrists, supported social ventures and upgraded e-care practices. Through her unique methods of experiential clinical training and mentorship, FOM has helped young and old optometrists become better eye-care professionals. FOM also leads a community of vibrant. Highly skilled optometrists and committed optometric mentors who are providing solutions to avoidable blindness.

There are different pathways to become a Mentor, they include:

1. One on One Mentoring,
2. Group Mentoring Program (GMP),
3. Train-The-Trainer (TTT).
   A mentee must pass through one of the following programs through either a mentor of an Aspiring mentor.

An aspiring mentor on the road to becoming a member of the Family of Optometric Mentors must prove his/her mentoring skills before the faculty. To be ready and fit, he/she must have been and also attended one or two upgrade programs after participating in the following
PRECONFERENCE, GMP or ONE-ON-ONE programme

After a successful defensewith the faculty, a new CERTIFIED MENTOR is born. To continually grow and mature, mentor must remain active in the mentoring activities in order to be shortlisted for annual mentors re-

FOM cannot vouch for the clinical skills and competence of dormant mentors and hence not be up for re-certification in the next FOM service year

You don’t pay to join FOM. It’s free.

FOM is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) as a non-profit organization, and within a few years of its existence, it has gained recognition for its clinical training and mentorship of optometrists in Nigeria. FOM is a structured organization with a Board of Trustees and other National officers who, today, have piloted FOM to a greater height.

1. FOM State CPD:FOM has created many mentors who are mostly members of the education committee of NOA state chapters. These state mentors have been assisting in state CPD and internship programs. About 18 out of the 25 active NOA States that have adopted FOM and have been conducting FOM state workshops.
   
2. Group Mentoring Workshop: Hundreds of practicing Optometrists and students are trained by FOM mentors in groups. Such group training mostly takes months to complete and they are very intensive.
   
3. One-on-one mentoring: Due to space constraints in some clinics, mentors go on one-on-one mentoring. Many optometrists are benefitting nationwide from this method.
   
4. Interstate Train-the-trainer FOM Workshop (TTT): The FOM TTT programme is aimed at raising mentors for NOA state chapters. So far, FOM has conducted 13 T-T-T workshops.
5. Pre-conference FOM workshop: As part of her contributions to the NOA conference, FOM introduced the annual pre-conference workshop in 2015. So far, FOM has conducted nine (9) Pre-conference workshops.
   
6. School Mentoring program: FOM, over the years, has extended its training to our students in optometric schools and externs. FOM has been training students as FOM student mentors. The student mentors return to their respective schools to train their counterparts. NOSA (Nigerian Optometric Student Association) is actively involved in this process. So far, Uniben, Unilorin, Madonna University, FUTO and IMSU students are currently benefiting from this programme.
   
7. Practice Management: FOM is helping clinics to grow through her partnership agreements with optical instrument vendors. FOM has been assisting clinics to get instruments from FOM partners at low cost and on credit with long-term payment. This has enabled many colleagues to set new standard clinics in Nigeria.
   
8. Business Development: FOM has been contributing to optometric clinic rehabilitation through training and physical assistance by FOM partnerships.