Hi! Nice to meet you. I’m Aneeka, a first year student of Optometry at the University of Manchester. In optometry, gaining practical experience alongside the degree is essential for building a well-rounded skill set and preparing for a successful career. I feel I'm doing this with my current part time job as an Optical Assistant (OA) at Specsavers.

I have been working with Specsavers for four months, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I work with an amazing team full of other OAs, a DO (dispensing optician), and optometrists. My role as an OA with Specsavers is to be a part of the patient’s journey, from the booking in and pre-testing of patients before the appointment, to the dispensing of glasses after the appointment where I have to balance the patient’s needs and preferences with the recommendations made by the optometrist. I've developed confidence in my ability to dispense basic SV (single vision) spectacles and I am undergoing training to dispense more complex prescriptions (eg bifocals/varifocals).

One of the most rewarding things I’ve done so far was teaching a child to put in some contact lenses for the first time, and their reaction to potentially not needing to wear glasses full time was truly rewarding. This patient had a few teaching sessions beforehand and got frustrated when they couldn’t put the contact lenses in, but after reassuring them and recounting my own experience with contact lenses they carried on and managed to put them in!

One of the most rewarding things I’ve done so far was teaching a child to put in some contact lenses for the first time, and their reaction to potentially not needing to wear glasses full time was truly rewarding. This patient had a few teaching sessions beforehand and got frustrated when they couldn’t put the contact lenses in, but after reassuring them and recounting my own experience with contact lenses they carried on and managed to put them in!

One of the benefits of working in practice whilst doing the degree is seeing how what we are learning in university, works in practice. For example, we are learning about the OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) scan in our Physical Optics unit, and one of the pre-tests that I do on patients is the OCT scan, so seeing it in practice is really interesting. Learning about dispensing in university, whilst also learning how to dispense in work shows the parallels and gives a glimpse into the future of life as a pre-reg optometrist where we will be required to conduct dispenses on our own patients.

I think that working at Specsavers has most importantly offered me opportunities for my own professional growth. By interacting with experienced optometrists, dispensing opticians, and others, I get to see diverse perspectives of working in practice. I also get to see a wide variety of conditions via CUES (Community Urgent Eyecare Service). Whilst writing this blog, I spoke to one of my friends who like me is a student working part time at Specsavers as an OA, and she said the following: ”The best part of working for me so far was a triage which turned out to be a retinal detachment and knowing that I may have helped save someone from potentially going blind was really rewarding” - Mahima Basith

To balance work at Specsavers with my university studies, I work one day a week (with extra shifts during the holidays or weeks when I know there is less going on at university). On other days, I dedicate time to catch up on university and ensure I'm up to date with lectures. Luckily, my store is very accommodating, especially during exam season when they encourage me to focus on studying by allowing time off for revision.

In conclusion, if you are currently a student of optometry and you’re debating about whether to work in practice, I would definitely do it! It’ll make you get a glimpse of what your future could potentially look like, and motivate you to get there.