Supervising a trainee optometrist gives you the chance to support the next generation of optometrists, contribute to the development of the profession and boost your own career.
“The role provided me with a great sense of responsibility and personal satisfaction. I was able to quickly develop my interpersonal, mentoring and leadership skills within the practice where I worked.”
Vinay Najran, Director, Specsavers
“I get enjoyment out of it as it’s very fulfilling. I build long-term friendships, and my pre-regs contact me years later asking for advice.”
Raqia Hanif MCOptom, Director, Boots Opticians
Director, Boots Opticians, Swindon and Walton-on-Thames
“I get enjoyment out of it as it’s very fulfilling. I build long-term friendships, and my pre-regs contact me years later asking for advice. And you’re leaving a little bit of your legacy: how you’ve moulded that pre-reg to be a professional, caring team player will benefit any future interactions in optics for them.”
Director, Gwynns
“I enjoy passing on my experience but also learning from the students, because they’re coming in with knowledge from university that I haven’t thought about in years. Even in the hardest weeks of supervision, they always come out with something interesting or have caught on to something, so there’s constant reinforcement of my own knowledge”
A good supervisor:
You can practise and develop a range of useful skills during your time as a supervisor. We do not expect you to have all the expertise in place on day one.
Successful supervision is about guiding and developing skills within your trainee that will allow them to recognise and work within their level of competence, to reflect on and action any areas that need development. This ultimately leads to a professional optometrist who is then safe enough to be able to work without the need for supervision.
Director, Gwynns
“Being patient, understanding and flexible. Having the higher qualifications [in low vision and glaucoma and IP] helped me; it allowed me to show my pre-regs a whole varied learning experience because I see a more varied patient load. For myself, I am learning the best way to present information when someone does something that isn’t right so that the student is not discouraged.”
“You have to be patient with pre-reg trainees. Practice is completely different to a textbook. Be kind to them. Be willing to put time and effort into being a supervisor. Your supervision will mould their career and help them make future professional decisions.”
Director, Gwynns
“You’ll be able to use your knowledge more effectively and pass it on to the future workforce, benefiting the profession. It’s not only rewarding but also helps you stay on top of your skills, which ultimately benefits our patients.”