I’m sharing this post about the ‘Ask Fellow Optoms‘ app for one simple reason: it’s an outstanding free resource for our community. This is not a sponsored post, but a genuine recommendation for a powerful tool I believe every optometrist can benefit from.

We’ve all been there. It’s the end of a long day, you’re running on time, and your last patient presents with something unusual. In that quiet, isolated space of the test room, you feel the immense pressure of the decision that rests solely on your shoulders.

You wish you could just turn to an experienced colleague and ask, “What do you make of this?” But for so many of us, especially those working as locums or in smaller independent practices, there is no one next door. This feeling of clinical isolation is one of the unspoken challenges of our profession. It’s a challenge that fosters self-doubt and encourages overly cautious referrals.

I know this feeling well. I once referred a patient with what I thought was a sight-threatening problem, only to get an embarrassing referral rejection letter back explaining it was just dry eye. The mad panic of that moment could have been avoided if I’d had a quick sounding board. That experience hit my confidence hard. It’s in these moments that we need a lifeline.

My Own Experience with Isolation and the Need to Ask Fellow Optoms

Being a lone tester can be incredibly daunting. As a locum, I am often in practices where there is rarely another optometrist I can ask for a quick opinion. This makes the fine line between choosing to monitor a condition and making a referral feel even more precarious.

Recently, I was working in Herefordshire, a new area for me, and had a tricky case that required a combined glaucoma and cataract referral. Complicating patient factors meant I couldn’t use the standard, established pathway. The referral wasn’t critically urgent, so I was able to wait and discuss it with the resident optometrist on their return, but the uncertainty was stressful.

Having a “hive mind” to tap into, to ask fellow optoms for the general consensus in that situation, would have been a massive help. This is a common story. We are a profession of solo practitioners working in parallel, and we need a better way to connect our collective knowledge.

The Problem with Our Current “Solutions”

The need for peer support is so strong that many of us have turned to social media groups and WhatsApp chats to fill the void. I think many use these platforms because they are familiar. The apps are already on our phones, and we feel comfortable in those communities. But this convenience comes with huge professional risks.

While we may be doing our best to anonymise cases, sharing details in a local group where your name and practice are known can still make a patient identifiable. Different users from other countries might share management advice that is irrelevant or even wrong for UK practice.

There’s also a significant data security issue that many people overlook. If you have “auto-download” for images enabled on your phone, a clinical photo shared in a group of 200 people could be downloaded onto 200 personal devices. That is not private at all. We have normalised this risky behaviour because we felt we had no alternative.

A Solution Built by One of Our Own: Ask Fellow Optoms

This is where the new Ask Fellow Optoms app changes the game. It is a mobile application designed from the ground up to be the definitive peer-to-peer support network for UK eye care professionals.

Crucially, it was created by a UK optometrist, Kishan Devraj, who understood our daily realities because he had lived them himself. This isn’t a tool built by a tech company that spotted a market opportunity; it was born from the shared experience of clinical isolation.

This authenticity is at the very heart of the app. It’s a solution built for us, by us, designed to be a secure, professional, and intuitive platform that provides rapid access to the collective hive-mind of your peers. It effectively ends clinical isolation and places a trusted second opinion at your fingertips, 24/7.

The Power of Anonymity: Why We Need to Ask Fellow Optoms

One of the most powerful features within Ask Fellow Optoms is the option for anonymous posting. I like this for two core reasons.

Firstly, it helps us overcome imposter syndrome. We’ve all been in lectures and hesitated to ask a question for fear that the answer is mind-numbingly obvious and we’ll lose all credibility. Anonymity removes that fear. It creates a psychologically safe space where you can ask that question you’re pondering, knowing that even if it is a simple query, you can get the clarification you need without judgement. It’s astoundingly rare that these are “stupid questions” anyway; often, asking it could help another optometrist who was wondering the same thing.

Secondly, anonymity adds another layer of data protection. In a local WhatsApp group, your name and practice are known. On the Ask Fellow Optoms app, a post from “Anonymous” could have come from anywhere in the UK, making patient identification almost impossible.

Of course, you don’t have to be anonymous. If you’re an expert in a particular field, posting under your own name adds huge authenticity and weight to your advice.

Building a Stronger, More Connected Profession with Ask Fellow Optoms

My real hope for Ask Fellow Optoms is that it will interconnect us as professionals. It’s not just for optometrists; it’s a space for the entire eye care community.

Having a range of professionals; dispensing opticians, contact lens opticians and ophthalmologists, all available at the touch of a button will significantly broaden our collective knowledge base. It will help us identify rarer pathologies more quickly and give us a better understanding of our own knowledge gaps, highlighting areas for future training and development.

We already spend our days physically isolated in our testing rooms; anything that can help us engage with our colleagues is only ever going to be a good thing. This is more than just an app for tricky cases; it’s a platform for continuous professional growth and a way to build a truly supportive professional network.

Your CPD in Your Pocket: Learning with Ask Fellow Optoms

Beyond the immediate benefit of in-the-moment clinical support, Ask Fellow Optoms serves another crucial purpose: it is a powerful tool for your Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

The GOC requires us to engage in a range of learning activities to keep our skills and knowledge up to date, and this app fits perfectly into that framework. Every moment you spend on the app; whether you are reading through a fascinating case, researching an answer to a colleague’s query, or actively sharing a case of your own, is a valid, recordable learning activity. This is the very definition of self-directed CPD.

The app’s creator has confirmed that for every 35 minutes of engagement, you can log 0.5 CPD points. This includes both interactive CPD, such as commenting on a post or sharing a case, and non-interactive CPD, like reading through the discussions to broaden your knowledge.

In the busy life of a clinician, finding time for formal CPD can be a challenge. Ask Fellow Optoms seamlessly integrates this learning into your daily professional life, helping you meet your GOC requirements while actively helping your peers.

Your Invitation to Join the Community

The feeling of being alone with a difficult clinical decision is something every one of us has experienced. It’s a feeling we no longer have to accept as part of the job. Ask Fellow Optoms is more than just an app; it’s a movement to reconnect our profession and empower every practitioner with the collective knowledge of their peers.

It is a tool for better clinical outcomes, for professional growth, and for the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are not alone. It is, without question, the new essential piece of kit for every UK optometrist, dispensing optician, and optometry student.

I urge you to join the community today. Download Ask Fellow Optoms from the App Store and Google Play and rediscover the power of professional collaboration. I look forward to discussing cases with you there!