Meet The Ocularists
Joyce E. Jahrling - BCO, BADO
Joyce Jahrling-Devoe, specializing in pediatric ocularistry for over 40 years, began her formal pathway toward a professional career with two years at Boston University School of Nursing. This schooling was followed up with one year of work at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary Eye Clinic in Boston. At this juncture, she began her five-year American Society of Ocularists (ASO) apprenticeship. In 1981, Joyce became a Board Approved Diplomate Ocularist (BADO), and was in the first group of applicants to pass the four-part National Examining Board of Ocularists (NEBO) test for board certification. She had previously served on the ASO Board of Directors for three years.
Eric R. Jahrling - BCO, BADO
Eric R. Jahrling attended the University of Maine and received a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology (1980). Between college semesters, he worked at the Photo Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). His formal ocularist five-year apprenticeship began in the same year and received his Board Approved Diplomate Ocularist (BADO) from the American Society of Ocularists (ASO). In 1987, he took the National Examining Board of Ocularists (NEBO) tests and became a Board Certified Ocularist (BCO). He served on the ASO Board of Directors for seven years, serving five years as their treasurer. Eric has presented several lecture courses for the society, and was the ocularist involved in the early stage research fitting of the Motility Coupling Post (MCP) on the Medpor porous polyethylene orbital implant.
Kurt V. Jahrling - BCO, BADO, FASO
Kurt V. Jahrling began his ocularist apprenticeship at Jahrling Ocular Prosthetics in Boston in 1983 after earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Western New England College. He became a Board Certified Ocularist by the National Examining Board of Ocularists and a Board Approved Diplomate Ocularist of the American Society of Ocularists in 1989. Kurt has been a Fellow member of the ASO since 2011 and served as Chairman of NEBO. Kurt was a member of the ASO Education Committee for 14 years. He has worked at the satellite office of Jahrling Ocular Prosthetics in Providence, Rhode Island since 1996. He has presented classes and lectures often for the ASO and ophthalmology groups. He has also written multiple articles in the Journal of Ophthalmic Prosthetics. Kurt presented the Ruedemann lecture at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 2021. Since 1997 Kurt has traveled to Munich, Germany consulting on acrylic prostheses at the Arnold Greiner Institut für künstliche Augen.
What is a Board Certified Ocularist?
A Board Certified Ocularist is a specialist in the fitting and fabrication of custom ocular prosthetics who has completed the education program of the American Society of Ocularists (ASO) as well as received certification with the National Examining Board of Ocularists (NEBO). This extensive training includes over 10,000 hours of working under a Board Approved Diplomate Ocularist to ensure that each Board Certified Ocularist is highly trained in the art of manufacturing, painting and fitting custom ocular prosthetics. This certification and training must be continued through annual meetings, lectures and education classes held by the American Society of Ocularists.
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