Optometric Extension Program

The Optometric Extension Program (OEP) is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the discipline of optometry through the gathering and dissemination of information on vision. The mission of OEP is to advance human progress through research and education on vision, the visual process, and clinical care. The OEP has been credited as furthering the post-graduate education of optometrists, with recent emphasis on behavioral optometry and vision therapy. The OEP produces the monthly Journal of Behavioral Optometry as well as many monographs on vision therapy. OEP reprints writings and lectures relating to vision.

The OEP has its origins in a continuing education program developed by the Oklahoma Optometric Association for its members in the 1920s. Optometrists E.B. Alexander (the secretary of the Oklahoma Extension Program) and A.M. Skeffington ("the father of behavioral optometry") have been credited as establishing the OEP in 1928. The OEP began with 51 members and has developed into an international organization with 3,500 members worldwide.