Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I am responsible for seeing both paediatric and adult patients, diagnosing their eye conditions and creating appropriate management plans for them, focusing on nonsurgical options.
As an Orthoptist I am part of the multidisciplinary team including ophthalmologists and optometrists within the eye department.
Orthoptists usually work in a hospital and may be involved in eye care of patients from emergency eye clinic, endocrinology, neurology and maxillofacial departments. Orthoptists may also carry out community clinics in smaller health centres, and others run primary screening in schools.
I am responsible for participating in continued professional development (CPD) which means I have to keep my theoretical and practical knowledge up to date, this could be through attending lectures and courses to develop my practice, reflecting on patients I have seen, learning from colleagues...

In a typical day I may be involved in Orthoptics clinics in the morning, that involve me seeing both adults and children with binocular vision problems. This may include ambylopia (lazy eye) in children and double vision in adults, these patients may be a new referral to the department, or may have been seen for many months, or even years.
At the end of the clinic I am responsible for completing any admin, this may involve writing letters to GPs or dealing with telephone enquiries.
After a break for lunch, I may be involved in a joint paediatric refraction (child's glasses test) clinic in the afternoon. Orthoptists carry out vision testing and find out how well the patient's eyes are working together, and the optometrist is responsible for finding the strength of glasses lenses that the patient requires. Clinic will then be followed by admin, sorting out patient's notes, and then preparing for the next day.

I really enjoy the mixture of patients and the variety of the conditions that they present with, no two days are the same!

As a new graduate there are so many options for me to specialise in that it makes it difficult to choose until I've gained more experience.

I was interested in and really enjoyed Biology at school, and was also seen by an Orthoptist as a patient when I Was a child. I researched the career and liked the fact that Orthoptics is varied and there's lots of opportunities to progress within extended roles (e.g. glasses tests, working with stroke patients, or specialising in a certain condition such as Thyroid Eye Disease).

Knowledge from my degree as well as communication skills.

Graduated in July 2017, starting my first job as an Orthoptist in September 2017.

I am currently being trained to be able to complete children's glasses tests which is not something Orthoptists have traditionally been able to do.
I am interested in becoming a clinical tutor, which would mean I can teach Orthoptic students when they are on placement.

Try and gain some work experience before starting university within an Orthoptics department so you have an idea about what the career might be like before starting the course!