My name is Lucy and I have recently qualified as an optometrist and work in the South Wales Valleys.
Lucy Davies
Prior to qualifying, I studied optometry for three years at Cardiff University and then completed my pre-registration year in a busy independent practice. The pre-registration year consists of working, under supervision, in practice and taking several exams.
I qualified in October 2021 and have completed further training since which allows me to carry out emergency eye care and additional testing of patients, should it be required.
The first four months as a fully qualified optometrist have been a very steep learning curve but I am really enjoying my new role.
Sight is important to us all, and it often isn’t until something goes wrong with our eyes that we realise how much we rely on them! I find it so rewarding that my job allows me to provide care for patients who are having problems with their eyes.
Optometry is a very exciting profession to be in at the moment.
There are so many opportunities to carry out further training and achieve extra qualifications in areas such as glaucoma, paediatrics and low vision. Optometrists are also now able to carry out an additional qualification which allows them to prescribe certain medications only previously prescribed by doctors. This therefore increases their scope of practice and the amount of conditions that can be treated in practice. I hope to carry out several of these additional qualifications over my career.
Being an optometrist is a very interesting and exciting career and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in a career in the medical field. It is a job that carries a lot of responsibility but also a lot of reward as you have the capacity to make a really positive impact in your patient’s lives.
To find out more about what it’s like to work in optometry check out my ‘working as an optometrist’ blog.