We are presenting a story of a third-year undergraduate
optometry student who has interchangeably worked in the practice as well as
domiciliary.
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| Luke McRoy posing with his service car while still a student |
"When I was growing up, my parents both worked in the optical
industry, working for Specsavers initially. Domiciliary optometry isn’t
unfamiliar to me and at one point, my father managed a domiciliary provider in
South Wales. I have fond memories of spending my time off from school going to
work with him and visiting care homes."- Luke McRoy Jones
Fourteen
years on and as a third-year optometry student, I’ve been working for
Specsavers between two stores, in Plymouth and South Wales, for most of my
degree. At the start of my third year, the opportunity arose to join
Specsavers’ home service at weekends and I saw this as a brilliant opportunity
to expand my skill set and learn more about the domiciliary sector.
So alongside the final year of my studies (optical assistant) at the University
of Plymouth, my weekends have been spent working for Specsavers as a
domiciliary optical assistant.
Inside domiciliary optometry
Specsavers’ home service for the
South West is based at Specsavers’ Plymouth practice, with the team covering
Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire.
My job role consists mainly of fittings, with some dispensing, repairs and
problem-solving mixed in. Typically, I will see anywhere between seven and 15
patients per day, depending on which area I am allocated to. As the area is
vast geographically, I can cover up to 300 miles in a normal working day.
A large number of patients are seen in their own homes, but I also visit
residential care homes and, occasionally, hospitals. The patient base is
diverse and I see patients with a variety of physical and mental conditions, of
a varying age.
I am thoroughly enjoying the role to date. I’ve met some interesting patients
and visited places I wouldn’t have otherwise visited. The experience has been
invaluable in showing me a different side to the profession and the optical
industry. As a result, it has informed the way that I work in the practice
environment and at university.
The most
unique part of domiciliary optometry is that you see and understand the
patient’s day-to-day environment and how they will habitually use their
spectacles, depending on the visual needs for that environment. I thrive on the
problem-solving element of finding the best spectacles to meet each patient’s
needs, which has enhanced the visual task analysis that I routinely perform
when dispensing spectacles in practice, or during an eye examination.
One of the most refreshing aspects of home visits is seeing what a difference a
pair of spectacles can make. As an optometrist, prescribing spectacles is
fairly straightforward and is something we routinely do. However, for a
housebound patient, they can improve their quality of life drastically.
I remember during one of my first home visits, I met an elderly gentleman who
was housebound. He had terminal cancer and was waiting on new spectacles so
that he could read his books and watch television. When I fitted his
spectacles, he was incredibly grateful and said how he could achieve so much
more now. It’s moments like these that highlight the incredible nature of what
we do as a profession.
Skill enhancing
Working
in domiciliary has improved my interpersonal skills as a practitioner. The
patients have a variety of physical and mental conditions and, as a result,
excellent communication skills are vital. Adaptability is also important and
occasionally I will have to communicate with patients in non-conventional ways
such as through text-to-speech or by them lip-reading. At an early stage of my
career, working in the domiciliary sector has further shaped me as a clinician
by providing me with greater exposure to patients, alongside seeing them in the
university clinic.
“At an early stage of my career, working in the domiciliary
sector has further shaped me as a clinician by providing me with greater
exposure to patients, alongside seeing them in the university clinic”
Working in
domiciliary, my career goals as an optometrist have been further informed. Once
I’m qualified, I’d love to complete a low vision qualification and register
with the Low Vision Service Wales. While I thoroughly enjoy low vision practice
at university, working with patients in a home-based environment has fuelled my
interest in this area. It has also opened my mind to the variety of options
that optometrists have in the way they practise – perhaps combining High Street
optometry with part-time domiciliary work is something I can do in the future.
Domiciliary eye care is an area of optometry that I feel is often overlooked at
the earlier stages of an optometrists’ career, with few opportunities for
students to gain this experience at university and during the pre-reg year.
However, I believe that experiencing the domiciliary setting is something that
every practitioner should do at some point in their career. Not only does it
open doors and widen your perspective of the profession, but it provides a refreshing
insight into the difference you can make as an optometrist. I know that I will
carry forward my domiciliary experience with Specsavers into the remainder of
my student years and my career as I strive to be the best optometrist I can be.
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