Khushi Thakkar
What is your favourite optometry textbook?
I'd have to say Kanski's Clinical Ophthalmology - being particularly interested in the hospital side of Optometry, I am so fascinated at how one (albeit huge) book can have EVERY eye condition in; even the most complex and unthinkable ones!
What is your favourite piece of equipment?
VOLK. I still haven't stopped finding it amazing how placing a lens in front of someone's eye can give you a whole, clear view of the retina. Controversial, but I think the fact everything is laterally reversed and inversed makes it even more fascinating.
What is your favourite topic area?
My favourite topic area at the minute is contact lenses and I'm currently studying orthokeratology. New findings and investments into Optometry are constantly exciting me and engaging me to find out more. I think although people are starting to see glasses are a fashion statement, contact lenses for high myopes/hyperopes are paving their way forward, especially coloured ones with the latest trends and social media 'hypes'.
What is your favourite College resource?
Definitely the 'latest news' tab on the website. Life gets so busy being an optometry student and it can be hard to balance time to research all the latest news whilst also having time for lectures and deadlines. Being able to just access the College website and having all the (incredibly interesting) latest news in one place makes everything so much easier and they're so fun to read and very layman-friendly.
What inspired you to become an optometrist?
The fact you can’t see the retina with the naked eye made it more interesting for me at a young age. I also took part in a fundraising for Vista - a local charity that helps those with sight loss. I met lots of patients, and this inspired me to help other. There is more to eyecare than people think - whether it simply just be the prompting to book a routine sight test, I want to be able to educate people on eyecare as I don't think it's done enough in comparison to things such as dental care.