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What is an Optometrist?
A career as an optometrist will put you at the front line of vision care. Every day will bring fresh challenges and new opportunities to care for one of your patient’s most precious assets – their sight.

Every day will be demanding and you will need to call upon a host of very different abilities. Not only professional knowledge, skills and understanding to determine and correct optical defects, but also the social and interpersonal skills to deal with people from every walk of life. In addition the business and management skills required to run a busy practice or hospital department.

Everyone should have their eyes examined, that’s over 50 million people in the UK alone and more than half of these have a diagnosed visual defect. Every day all over Britain, people find out that their sight is not as good as it should be and they need an Optometrist’s advice.

What does an Optometrist do?
The function of an optometrist is not only to prescribe corrective appliances for sight defects, but to also examine the eyes for signs of ocular & general disease.

To determine if a problem is present, information is needed - lots of it. This starts by questioning the patient about any problems they are having, their medical history, what their occupation is and any hobbies they have. This leads onto the full examination of the eye, assessing the health of the inside of the eye, the movement and reactions of the eye and establishing whether a corrective lens is required. From all the evidence gathered, further tests may be required – perhaps to measure pressure within the eye (a test for glaucoma) or to determine the visual field.

One third of your patients will not need immediate help. A few may need more specialist advice. You may discover that your patient has a serious ocular abnormality (glaucoma, a detached retina, cataract) which requires referral to your patient’s GP. You may discover signs of general disease (like diabetes, hypertension or anaemia) which you must also refer to your patient’s GP. In most cases, you will diagnose a visual or optical defect that can be corrected or overcome by using spectacles or contact lenses.

Spectacles – every patient will have particular and specific needs. Lenses can be glass or plastic, toughened or lightweight, clear or tinted. The frames must be capable of carrying the lenses safely and be comfortable, while meeting your patient’s particular aesthetic needs.

Contact Lenses – prescribing contact lenses requires a further range of professional skills and often further investigations to ensure suitability for contact lens wear. A wide variety of lenses are available and it is the Optometrist’s job to select appropriate lenses based on the needs of the wearer – that could be hard, soft, gas permeable, extended wear or disposable lenses.

Remember that every patient is unique and no two conditions are the same – in fact the chances of finding two people with exactly the same corrective needs is in excess of 13 billion to 1.

Do I need any academic qualifications?
You will need to be studying the relevant A-levels, usually needing three A-levels, two of which must be from Biology, Physics, Maths or Chemistry. You will also need at GCSE-level Combined Science, Maths and English Language to at least grade C. Typical offers are around BBC. Average entry grades vary but are around 20-22 A-level points.

All applications must be made through UCAS.

What types of training are there and what will I learn?
The first step to becoming an Optometrist is to study a full-time degree course in Optometry or Ophthalmic Optics (for which you are awarded a BSc Hons). To find out more about these programmes visit the relevant universities and read their prospectuses. The universities that run programmes accredited by the General Optical Council (GOC) are:

Aston University
University of Bradford
City University, London
Glasgow Caledonian University
UMIST – University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
University of Wales Cardiff
University of Ulster at Coleraine

During your course you will study a number of areas and will be given a broadly based scientific education with relevant specialist professional training. Every programme includes: Anatomy and physiology - Optics - Optometry - Pharmacology and the use of drugs - Recognition of ocular abnormalities - Dispensing practice - Management and professional studies, including law.

Would I have any recognition at the end of my training?
Upon successful completion of your degree course you have to undertake a final practical year when a qualified optometrist supervises you and then pass the Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE’s) set by the College of Optometrists. The year involves full-time training in either a high street or hospital practice. The PQE’s combine practical and oral assessment of your ability to manage patients and to practice safely as an independent optometrist.

When you have passed the PQE’s and you have completed your pre-registration year, you will be eligible to register as an optometrist with the GOC.

What are the career prospects?
There are a number of options for employment as a qualified Optometrist.

The majority of optical practices employ at least one Optometrist (some may use optical medical practitioners but this is in decline) – while bigger sites may have two or three at any one time. The duties performed will vary depending upon the situation taken and there is plenty of scope for specialisation in certain areas, children, special needs, low vision, contact lenses, shared care – the list goes on.

There are also a number of hospital eye departments around the country that employ the services of Optometrists and some of the Universities also make use of Optometrists to help supervise their clinics. For those wishing to undertake overseas work, your qualifications are recognised in several countries without the need for further training and voluntary work in third world countries is also an option.

Optometry is a rewarding career, offering social responsibility, personal fulfilment, the opportunity to care for others, opportunities to work in a variety of different environments, constant intellectual stimulation and excellent financial prospects.

If you are in any doubt about whether this career could be for you, try and speak to your local optometrist, arrange for some work experience and see first hand the type and variety of work performed.  

For more information contact the College of Optometrists, 42 Craven Street, London WC2N 5NG or telephone 0207 839 6000 or visit them online at www.college-optometrists.org