Congratulations on your Certificate of Merit for the 2023 Contact Lens Distance Learning course with ABDO. What was your background and experience prior to the course?
Thank you so much, it was a real honour to accept the award at the ABDO graduation!
I started my journey in 2010 as a trainee optical assistant and quickly realised I had a real passion for optics and wanted to learn more. This lead to me studying Ophthalmic Dispensing course at ABDO College and I qualified as a Dispensing Optician in 2017.
What made you want to embark on the CL course?
I have always had interest in contact lenses as a wearer myself and really enjoyed the contact lens module of my Ophthalmic Dispensing course, so when I was offered the chance to study on the contact lens certificate at Bradford College, I jumped at the chance! I love the clinical aspect of being a student contact lens optician and also problem solving day to day within clinic.
What was the structure of distance learning like?
I studied at Bradford College which is a day release programme, visiting college one day per week where you undertake lectures and also practical training. This learning is then implemented whilst working with your supervisor in practice. I found this way of studying superb as there was continuity in studying and I was able to build up my knowledge and put it into practice.
What was one of the most valuable things you learnt from the course?
One of the most important things I have learnt through the course is how much my confidence in my own clinical skills has grown. My teachers and mentors really helped the leap from classroom to clinic feel like a natural transition and gave me the foundations to further build my knowledge on, making sure I was 100% ready to manage my own clinic in practice.
What was the biggest challenge?
For me, one of the biggest challenges was learning the Visual Optics and the maths that comes along with it. However, I had fabulous teachers who I cannot thank enough – they really made it engaging and easy to understand which helped massively when it came to planning revision for my theory examinations.
What have you been doing since you finished the course?
Since finishing the contact lens certificate course I have been building on my clinical skills within practice, gaining confidence and getting myself ready to sit my practical examinations, which I hope to do very soon.
If you had one piece of advice for peers interested in specialising in contact lenses, what would it be?
I would absolutely recommend specialising in contact lenses to any Dispensing Optician who is interested in doing so. Being a Dispensing Optician is such a rewarding job and studying contact lenses in more depth has helped me further my knowledge and build my confidence clinically.
What’s your favourite fun fact about eyes?
My fun fact about eyes is that each individual iris has approximately 250 unique characteristics, making it more distinctive than a fingerprint.