Category: Pre-Registration Optometrists
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Duty of Candour: Your Professional Guide to Honesty and Trust
As healthcare professionals, we hold one duty to be sacred. This is the duty of candour. But what does this phrase actually mean? It is not just a buzzword. It is the absolute core of our patient-practitioner relationship and is the foundation of trust. I have written this guide to explain exactly what the duty…
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Visual Impairment Awareness Training & the NHS Long Term Plan
Today, I am thrilled to welcome Daniel Morgan-Williams, from Visualise Training and Consultancy, back to The Eye Care Advocate for another important guest article. This article looks at how visual impairment awareness training can help support the NHS Long Term Plan. I will now hand over to Dan to show how his consultancy can aid you…
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Patient Confidentiality: The “Jigsaw” Risk You Need to Know About
Maintaining patient confidentiality is the most sacred, non-negotiable duty we have as healthcare professionals. It is the bedrock of the trust our patients place in us. In the digital age, however, this duty faces a new and insidious threat. We have all felt the urge: you see a fascinating, “textbook” case in your clinic and…
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Contact Lenses for Halloween Costumes: What You Need to Know
Halloween contact lenses enhance costumes but pose serious risks, such as infections, allergic reactions, and vision issues, if not used properly and with a prescription.
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Newly Qualified Optometrist? The Advice I Needed on Day One
The moment a newly qualified optometrist walks into their first solo clinic is unforgettable. I remember my moment vividly. It was a potent mix of pride, excitement, and a healthy dose of sheer terror. The safety net of your supervisor is gone. Suddenly, every clinical decision rests squarely on your shoulders. I recall being plagued…
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Optometry Revision: Spotlighting the Skill Centre Resources
It may seem a little in the acdemic year to be considering optometry revision. Concepts are just being introduced and your understanding developing each session. But when it came to starting a clinical session – or preparing for an exam – I always wished that I had revised everything I had learned from the start.…
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Finding a Way: A Personal Reflection on Disability in Optometry
Today, we are honoured to host a guest post from Lucy Pirie-Guy, an optometrist who shares her candid, insightful, and inspiring experience of navigating her career with a limb difference. Her story is a powerful testament to resilience and a vital contribution to the conversation around disability in optometry. An Unseen Presence: The Reality of…
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Seeing Your First Patient: A Student’s Success Guide
I still remember it. The mix of pure excitement and absolute terror. After two years of lectures, labs, and practising on long-suffering friends, the moment had finally arrived: seeing your first patient. It is, without a doubt, the most transformative rite of passage in any optometrist’s career. It’s the moment the theory becomes real, the…
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The Dispensing Optician: Optics’ Best Kept Secret
The role of a dispensing optician is one of the most vital, yet often misunderstood, professions in eye care. They are the experts who turn an optometrist’s prescription into a pair of safe, comfortable, and perfectly fitted spectacles. Today, I am incredibly proud to feature a guest post from someone who champions this profession with…
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AI in Optometry: A Clinician’s Guide to Safe and Ethical Use
When tools like ChatGPT first became widely accessible, I was intrigued. How could we use AI in optometry? The life of an optometrist is a constant juggle of patient interaction, clinical excellence, and commercial awareness. The thought of a tool that could help ease some of that cognitive load was exciting. But then came the…