Optometrist

By Emily Hanson · Jan 25th 2023

Have you ever wondered how the human eye works, its abilities and how it adapts to glasses and contact lenses? If so, becoming a doctor for eyes could be the thing for you!

Optometrists specialise in examining the eyes. They check for overall health, vision problems, and can spot serious health conditions.

An optometrist focuses on one of the essential senses humans have. It’s much more than fitting glasses and advising customers on contact lenses, it's about patient care, providing responsible and helpful treatment and the use of specialist eye equipment.

An optometrist is often confused with an ophthalmologist or an orthoptist. While an optometrist is a routine eye care professional, who is a specialist in eyes, orthoptists are eye specialists who generally have a more research-based optician career, whereas an ophthalmologist is an eye specialist doctor who will carry out medical procedures.

What is an optometrist?

An optometrist will examine, assess and prescribe relevant visual aids for a patient’s eyes. Their work involves routine eye care, checking a patient’s vision, and spotting disorders and diseases.

The training you’ll need to practice will be covered as part of your optometry degree and stage two placements.

Optometrists work in a number of areas. They may work as part of a wider eyecare chain, as part an independent opticians, or work visiting vulnerable individuals in their homes, such as the elderly, those with mobility problems or learning disabilities that affect their ability to attend services.

Responsibilities

An optometrist’s responsibilities depend on their level of experience, and the setting they work in. Usual responsibilities can include:

Advising on aftercare for eyes.
Offer support and advice in deciding on the best visual support devices,as well as what kind of lenses are best suited to their needs.
Recognising any eye related medical conditions,especially if they have any vision related conditions.
Supporting patients in fitting visual devices,assessing any prescription requirements and sharing these with the patient.
Take detailed notes on a patient’s medical history,and signposting patients to the relevant doctor or healthcare practitioner for treatment.
Taking routine eye examinations for patients,such as glaucoma,such as information on administering eye drops.
Training up and supporting junior staff members.
Working alongside sales teams within an opticians,such as patients choosing between contact lenses and glasses,such as promoting particular eyewear products for relevant patients.,such as teaching patients on the best way to fit contact lenses.

Salary

An optometrist salary varies depending on the setting you work in. If you work within the NHS, your pay will be dictated by the Agenda for Change pay scale. As a trainee optician, you’ll begin on £23,949 - £26,282. Once qualified, you’re likely to be on band 6, earning £33,706 - £40,588. Senior or specialist optometrist jobs in the NHS can reach bands 7 to 8b (£41,659 - £65,262). Optometrists working in chain or high street settings can usually expect to earn around the £30,000 mark^[1].. This can be higher or lower depending on location and level of seniority in practice.

Qualifications

You’ll need an optometry degree approved by the General Optical Council (GOC) in order to become an optometrist. To apply, you’ll need a minimum of 3 A levels at grades AAB, including two science subjects. This is considered ‘stage one’ of optometry training.

Following completion of your degree, you’ll need to complete ‘stage two’, which involves a year to 18 months spent observing a registered optometrist. You could carry this out within the NHS, or in a private practice. Once you have completed both stages of the qualification process, you’ll join the GOC opticians register to practice and apply for registered optometrist jobs.

Training and development

The training you’ll need to practice will be covered as part of your optometry degree and stage two placements. You’ll also learn a great deal on the job once you’re in practice.

It’s a good idea to gain some work experience in an optometry setting prior to applying for an optometry degree.

As part of your registration with the GOC, you’ll need to undertake regular continuing professional development (CPD). This is in order to retain your status as a registrant. This can include shadowing other optometrists, attending conferences and webinars with the GOC, and taking on additional training to enhance your role. You could also apply for membership with The College of Optometrists and attend various opportunities for online learning.

Skills

Your skills as an optometrist combine a robust knowledge of the eye with providing a great patient experience. These include:

An excellent knowledge of the eye, as well as relevant visual problems and disorders.
An ability to keep up to date with the latest advancements in optometry.
Good social skills, both for patient facing activities and your work as part of a wider team within an opticians or NHS practice.
Good teamworking skills - you’ll need to work well with non clinical and clinical colleagues across a large team.
Understanding of sales and/or marketing, especially if you are working with a private or high street practice.
Strong ability in using technological optometrist equipment for examinations and diagnosis.
Confidence in working with members of the public from various ages, abilities and backgrounds.
Ability to liaise well with other clinical colleagues, signposting patients that require follow up treatment.

Work Experience

It’s a good idea to gain some work experience in an optometry setting prior to applying for an optometry degree. Places are often competitive, so this can help you stand out from other applicants, especially when it comes to writing your optometry personal statement. You can contact local NHS optometry departments to ask to shadow their practitioners, or you could reach out directly to high street opticians.

Once you’re studying, you could apply for sales roles or non clinical roles within high street opticians. This will give you a well rounded experience of the overall workings and opticians, especially if you’re given the chance to shadow registered optometrists.

Career Prospects

Your career prospects as an optometrist are generally good, with optometry sitting between both NHS and private healthcare.

You may choose to work your way up through the NHS bands, moving into specialist optometry and consultant optometrist positions within outpatient and inpatient care. Alternatively, you could focus your work on private practice, eventually running your own opticians or owning a franchised eyecare chain.

If you particularly enjoy the academic side of your work, you could also aim towards teaching in higher education on optometry degree courses. You could work your way towards becoming a senior or principal lecturer.