• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.398-404
• /
• 2010

Purpose: Concerns had been voiced about an oversupply of optometrists in Korea. So, this study aimed to forecast the supply and demand for opticians for policy implications. Methods: Baseline Projection model combined with demographic method was adopted as the supply forecasting method and so was a ratio method using the number of physician and population using weight of healthcare utilization. Results: Under the 'physician to optician ratio', there would be a surplus of 83~700 opticians in 2010 and an undersupply of 15 to surplus of 6,118 opticians in 2025. Under the 'population to optician ratio', there would be a surplus of 1,055 opticians in 2010 and surplus of 9,376 opticians in 2025. Conclusions: We concluded that there would be oversupply for opticians until 2025, although the shortage and surplus of opticians might depend on the ratio's criteria. Hence, policies would need to be developed that could solve the imbalance in requirements and supply for opticians.