Carolyn Parker - Nottingham High School 1971-1978

A  Career in Vision Care

Sight is vital to everything that we do:  at home, at work, driving, for sports and for leisure.

In today’s fast moving world, good vision is of paramount importance.  Caring for people’s sight is a very rewarding and interesting profession.

There are different career opportunities within the field of vision care and all demand the ability to communicate with people and work with precision and professionalism.

Eye care professionals include:

Optometrists - previously known as ophthalmic opticians, the title optometrist was adopted in 1980 to use the same terminology as the rest of the world.

Optometrists are responsible for examining eyes, giving advice on visual problems and prescribing and fitting spectacles and contact lenses.  They also recommend other treatments or visual aids where appropriate and recognise eye disease.  Traditionally eye disease has always been referred to medical colleagues but the profession of optometry is evolving so that in certain areas minor eye disease or stable conditions are managed by the optometrist under guidelines drawn up by ophthalmologists.

Training to be an Optometrist:
You will usually need three A levels.  At least two science subjects at A level are required, normally a biological science and maths or a mathematical science (general studies does not count for this purpose)  Some universities specify biology at A level but not all. Typically grades need to be ABB but there can be some flexibility.  Scottish or Irish highers  are also acceptable enrty qualifications, usually five subjects for Scottish and six for Irish; all at A or B levels.

There are eight Universities:
Anglia Polytechnic University School of Applied Sciences, Department of Optometry and Ophthalmic Dispensing.  Tel: 01223 352979
Aston University Optomety and Vision Sciences School of Life and Health Sciences.
Tel : 0121 359 3611
Bradford University, Department of Optometry. Tel: 01274 234640
The City University, Department of Optometry & Visual Science.  Tel: 020 7477 8000
Glasgow Caledonian University, Department of Vision Sciences.  Tel: 0141 331 3000
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Department of Optometry and  Neuroscience. Tel: 0161 236 3311
University of Ulster, School of Biomedical Sciences, Tel: 028 7034 4141
University of Wales College of Cardiff, Department of Optometry & Vision Sciences.
Tel: 029 2087 4000,

which are approved by the General Optical Council (GOC) to train and award the degree in Optometry.  Gaining the appropriate class of degree in Optometry as approved by the GOC, gives exemption from the Part I Professional Qualifying Examinations.  Following the degree course a pre-registration year must be completed - this involves full-time clinical experience as a trainee under the supervision of a registered optometrist. Then you must pass the Part II Professional Qualifying Examinations combining practical, oral and written assessment of your ability to manage patients and to practise safely as an independent optometrist.  Once qualified as an optometrist, you must register with the General Optical council to practise in the UK and this registration must be renewed annually.

Once qualified, some optometrists work in the community, either as self employed optometrists who also run their own business, or enter into partnership with one or more optometrists in a larger practice.  Alternatively, some optometrists are employed, either by another optometrist or by a larger company.  Some optometrists choose to work in hospital departments, alongside consultant ophthalmologists, and some optometrists work in mobile clinics visiting factories, workplaces, nursing homes and prisons.

For further information, contact:
The College of Optometrists, 42, Craven Street, London, WC2N 5NG. Tel: 020 7839 6000

Dispensing Opticians - usually work in conjunction with an optometrist.  Following an eye examination by an optometrist or ophthalmic medical practitioner, a prescription may be issued stating the degree of error in the patient’s sight. A dispensing optician advises on lens type, styling of frames, and takes frame and facial measurements in relation to the prescribed lenses. The most appropriate spectacles, are recommended after taking account of the patient’s lifestyle and vocational needs.  Before any finished spectacles are deemed acceptable for a patient, they are checked to ensure that they correspond to the prescription and final order specifications and are suitable for the conditions in which they will be used.  Once the patient has received the new spectacles and been instructed on how to obtain the best results from them, the dispensing optician is always available to offer advice and effect adjustments and repairs if necessary.  Dispensing opticians are also able to fit contact lenses after undergoing further specialist training.  Some dispensing opticians also undertake further training to advise and supply aids for people with low vision.

Many dispensing opticians also manage the business in which they work.

Training to be  a Dispensing Optician:
A minimum of five GCSE passes, or an acceptable equivalent which must include maths, english and a science based subject.  Training can be undertaken as a course of full-time study(two years) followed by a year working under the supervision of a qualified optician (the pre-registration year), or as a three year distance learning course, whilst working under the supervision of a qualified optician throughout, with block release attendance at college.  Also available are three year full time courses incorporating optical management and these require A levels or equivalent for entry.

Completion of the appropriate course, pre-registration year and successful results in the qualifying examinations administered by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, leads to registration with the General Optical Council.  This registration is renewed annually in order to continue practising in the UK.
For further information, contact:
Association of British Dispensing Opticians, Godmersham Park Mansion, Godmersham, Kent, CT4 7DT.  Telephone 01227 738829.

Ophthalmic Medical Practitioners -  are medical doctors specialising in eye care.  Like Optometrists they examine eyes, diagnose abnormalities and prescribe suitable corrective lenses.  To become an ophthalmic medical practitioner, one must first qualify as a medical doctor.

Ophthalmologists - are also medical doctors who specialise in eye conditions and their treatment. They also perform eye surgery.  They mainly work in eye hospitals and hospital eye departments.

Orthoptists - are allied health professionals who work mainly in hospitals alongside ophthalmologists.  Orthoptists specialise in the assessment of squints, double vision and other abnormalities of binocular vision.  Orthoptists also carry out vision screening in schools, mobile units and health clinics.
Most of the patients seen by Orthoptists are children with squints ( a turn in the eye ), or lazy eyes.  Exercises and ‘patching’ treatments are given  to improve lazy eyes, and the patient’s progress monitored regularly.  If surgery is required, the Orthoptists monitor progress after surgery and liase with the ophthalmologist who carried out the surgery.  Obviously, it is important for an orthoptist to like children and quickly be able to develop a rapport with even the very young.
In older people, problems vary from strokes and thyroid disorders to damage caused in accidents.  The most common problem in older people is double vision, which is diagnosed by charting the eye movements, then advising on the best means of treatment and checking progress over time.

Training to be an Orthoptist:
Three year , full time degree courses are available at Liverpool, Sheffield and Glasgow Caledonian Universities.  The course involves both written and practical study.  Succesful completion of the degree course leads to statutory state registration.
Training includes placements in hospital orthoptic departments, where theory and practice can be integrated throughout the period of training under the supervision of registered orthoptists.

Career Prospects:
There are opportunities to progress to senior orthoptist, and to take up clinical management posts.  After further training and examinations, some orthoptists become clinical tutors or teachers; others move on to general health related management, research or other specialist posts.
For further information please contact:
British Orthoptic Society, Tavistock House North, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9HX.

A Career as an Optometrist

When it came time to decide on my future career path, I had no idea what I wanted to do.  I enjoyed maths and science and enjoyed the variety of the different scientific subjects.  I felt that I did not want to study only maths or only physics, for example.  I considered a career in teaching but felt that, realistically  I would only be able to cope with teaching people who wanted to learn and there would be no guarantee of that happening.  I considered a career in medicine, but  due to personal committments, I really was not sure, at the time, that I wanted to carry on studying for as long as medicine required.  I had always been shortsighted, wearing spectacles from the age of five and contact lenses from the age of twelve, and was fascinated by our sense of sight and the difference clear vision made to my world.  It was my mother who suggested that I consider a career in optometry.  She felt that it would be a good career for a woman, as there would be opportunities to work part-time.  Little was known about the profession within our careers department, but I found a handful of universities that held the appropriate course and sent for more information.  At the time there were only five English universities ( City in London, Aston in Birmingham, Cardiff, Manchester and Bradford) plus Glasgow.  Since then, new courses have been introduced at Anglia Polytechnic University and the university of Ulster in Ireland.

Following my A levels, I was accepted by Manchester University and started my course, still not entirely sure what I had let myself in for!  It was a very intensive course, with lectures and practicals almost all day, every day, whilst students on other courses only seemed to have a handful of classes each week.  It was a small class, only 34 students in my year but nowadays, I believe most intakes are between 60 and 100 students.  However, it was very interesting, it fulfilled my desire to continue with a variety of subjects, although I struggled a little with only having biology to O-level (now GCSE level).  Most courses do ask for biology A level, but it is not essential. Three A levels are necessary, with at least two science subjects and maths and entry grades required are usually ABB.

Obtaining an optometry degree provides exemption from the Part I  Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE), but then it is necessary to find a position for a pre-registration year.  This is a year of full-time clinical experience as a trainee under the supervision of a registered optometrist, either in private or corporate practice or in a hospital eye department.  At the end of the pre-registration year it is necessary to pass the Part II PQE, before being able to register with the General Optical Council as a qualified optometrist and able to work without supervision.  Manchester University has recently introduced a four year course, whereby the pre-registration year is split into two six-month chunks and completed as a ‘sandwich course’ during the degree, but most people complete the three year degree and then a twelve month pre-registration period with Professional Qualifying Exams at the end.

The pre-registration period is critical and you work very closely with your supervisor, so it is important that you get on well with each other.  It is an excellent idea to try and choose your supervisor ahead of time and obtain holiday work with them, in the practice where you hope to undertake your pre-registration year, preferably between the second and third year of the course.  If this doesn’t work out you have not committed yourself for the most critical twelve months of your life but if it does work out you can return to university for your final year knowing that your job is secure for the pre-registration year and it is not so daunting on the ‘first day’ because you are already familiar with the people and the environment where you will be working. 
If your pre-registration year is undertaken in private practice, you also need to arrange some time to work in a hospital environment, usually half a day a week, to gain more experience in the care of patients who are referred for further treatment.  Conversely, if you carry out your pre-registration year in a hospital department, you should arrange some time working in a private practice to gain experience in other aspects of the job.  Although the term private practice is used, the majority of optometrists are contracted by the Health Service to provide NHS services to those who are entitled to NHS treatment.
During the pre-registration year, you will only be paid a minimum wage, but your training, any extra courses and examination fees should be paid for you, although if you have to re-sit your Professional Exams, you can expect to pay for resits yourself!  Once  fully qualified, however, it is usual for your salary to more or less triple straight away.

Day to day work involves working to appointments, examining the patients’ eyes and finding the best solution for their eye problems.  This could involve providing reassurance or minor treatments or advice which you give yourself, prescribing new or different spectacles, prescribing contact lenses, prescribing specialist magnifying aids, referring for laser eye correction, referring on to a medical practitioner for health problems, or referring to an eye specialist for further eye treatment or surgery.   Although working to a routine, every patient is different and presents with different problems and so no two days are the same and you never know what challenges the next patient will bring with them.  Some optometrists work alongside a Dispensing Optician who helps the patient to choose and carries out the measurements for new spectacles and some Dispensing Opticians also undertake further training to fit contact lenses.  Other Optometrists (usually in smaller practices) carry out all aspects of the work themselves which brings further variety to the day.

Some optometrists own their own practices and so also require business skills and people management skills, as they need to recruit and train their staff, manage the stock, deal with suppliers, payroll, accountants and VAT as well.  Other Optometrists are employed and let someone else take care of the business management whilst they concentrate on seeing the patients.

Some optometrists prefer to stay with only one aspect of the job and only deal with eye examinations, or only deal with contact lenses, or only deal with low vision but others prefer the challenge of the variety.
 
It is essential that you like people, that you are able to quickly develop an empathy with them and their problems and that you have a lot of patience.  Good dexterity is helpful and an attention to detail is important.  It is important to be able to find different ways of solving problems and to be able to think logically.  There are plenty of opportunities to add variety to the work by becoming involved in training or research or by working more closely with general practitioners and / or hospitals.  Most of the work (except in hospitals) also involves retail work as spectacles are generally sold from the same premises as where the examination takes place.

The profession is now approximately 50% women and many do work part-time.
If you like people and enjoy science and variety then it is worth considering a career in optometry.

I can be contacted via the Minerva Network Development Office and I would be willing to consider providing work experience.