Requirements for becoming eyecare providers in the UK

[Joann Raytar]

Optispares, Tim Hunter, John R and Richard Naisbitt have all been very kind in answering my questions in the NHS Vouchers??? thread and in Lee Prewitt's What is your favorite progressive? thread.

I was wondering if I could ask all of you for a little information on one other topic. Tim Hunter defined the different roles of ophthalmic professionals in England; what are the requirements for working in those fields? In other words what education, certification and licensing requirements must you obtain to become an Ophthalmic Optician (Optometrist), a Dispensing Optician, a Mechanical Optician or an Opthalmologist? I understand that Maria is at University to obtain the degree that she requires; although, I am not positive which category she will actually fall into.

Also, must optical establishments register themselves with the government?

Thank you in advance for any responses. I have already learned a great deal from all of you.

[Tim Hunter]

Jo said:

I was wondering if I could ask all of you for a little information on one other topic. Tim Hunter defined the different roles of ophthalmic professionals in England; what are the requirements for working in those fields? In other words what education, certification and licensing requirements must you obtain to become an Ophthalmic Optician (Optometrist), a Dispensing Optician, a Mechanical Optician or an Opthalmologist? I understand that Maria is at University to obtain the degree that she requires; although, I am not positive which category she will actually fall into.

Also, must optical establishments register themselves with the government?

Optometrist 3/4 A levels (Advanced qualifcations gained at school/College age 17-18) usually in sciences. 3/4 year degree course in optometry, 1 year post graduate supervision and passing Professional Qualifying exams (10 in all). If Maria is doing a degree she's propably studying to be an optometrist.

Dispensing Optician, varied career pathways, usually some good GCSE's (General Certificate of Secondary Education, gained at 16)can work in a practice and do day release at College, Correspondence course or a two year full time course resulting in a Diploma at College (may need some A levels for that).There are now degrees being set up usually with a management component for dispensing opticians, which is why I couldn't say with certainty which Maria is.

Not sure about a "mechanical Optician" but many glazing technicians learn on the job, although there are some courses available.

Ophthalmologist is a medical doctor, 3/4 very good science A levels, 5 year medical degree, 1 year of hell generalising as a house officer, 3 years specialising in ophthalmology as a Senior House Offcier, 5 years as a registrar, then you become a Consultant (assuming you've passed all the exams, gained the experience, done a year out, research etc.and not beeen stymied in your career progression!)at whcih point you can set up your own private practice as well as working in the NHS.

Optical establishments must register themselves and have their facilities checked if they intend to provide a GOS service, this is part of their contract with the NHS. If they only provide a private service and see no "NHS" patients I don't think they need to be checked by anyone.

Phew!

[Joann Raytar]

Anyone have any idea what the US equivalent of the 3/4 year degree would be? An Associates degree perhaps?

Can Dispensing Opticians practice with only on the job training or must they have some form of advanced education under their belt?

Does the UK only have national guidlines regulating the optical industry or are their variances in law from region to region?

[Maria]

Maria is on the DO course :)

The US optometery degree is roughly the same as ours, although US optoms can treat certain conditions, and also have the title 'doctor', although it should be noted they haven't been though med school. :)

Unqualified (trainee) DOs can work supervised in a registered practice. But they have to pass written exams to qualify.

I think the laws are nationwide, but I'm not 100% sure about Scotland.

[sarahr]

Just another small point about practising requirements on this side of the pond.All optometrists and dispensing opticians must be registered with the General Opticl Council (G.O.C) which is the regulatory body for Optics in the UK. We are now in situation where continuing education and training (CET) is waiting in the wings to become compulsory for registration retention but many opticians are gaining CET points voluntarily right now and have been for the last couple of years.:)

[irfaan]

Just to try and clarify the differing education levels between the US and UK, please feel to correct me if I mix things up.

UK GCSE's (age 16) allow you to take the SATS? to enter for degrees in the US. In the UK you have to take further exams A Levels, or equivalent (age 18) to enter a university degree course. (BTW the entry requirements for medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and optometry are all pretty similar, vets however have it tougher :)

In US you have to take a first degree (BSc 2 to 3 yrs) to then take the OD (4 yrs), after which you can take the state exam boards.

This side of the pond after A levels you go straight into the BSc Optometry (3yrs england/wales, scotland's got a different system again and their degree's 4 yrs). Then the pre-reg training to year to become an optometrist, after which you can register with the GOC to practice. In one university there are limited places for MOptom which integrates the 4 years within the university course with 6 months in private practice and 6 months in a hospital. You still have the pass the same professional exams though.

Once qualified you can if interested take diplomas to specialise in orthoptics, contact lenses, ocular conditions (glaucoma and diabetes shared care etc...) and ocular therapeutics (though the law still limits Optoms to what they can use. Diagnostics + one useful antibiotic. No glaucoma drugs/ Steroids). You can work in orthoptics and contact lenses without taking these diplomas.

Private practice can vary a lot, mostly refraction, contact lenses and screening for disease. Some optoms out there refuse to do contact lenses or see kids, while in wales they are using optometrists as the first point of contact for eye related problems (and paying for it :)

The dispensing optician route has already been covered above. You don't have to have it to supply glasses, except to children under16, hospital Rxs, complex >10d Rx or registered partially sighted/blind. There are quite a few opticians out there without a DO on site which means when the optom isn't there you could be served by someone who knows what they are doing with 30 years under their belt, or more likely someone who started last week
Some DO's go on to do one more supervised year to allow them to either work with low vision aids (usually hospital based) or more commonly fit contact lenses.

There's also an SMCTech available to certify you know what you are talking about when it comes to making lenses but anyone can do that and you don't have to have it to work in the field.

Ophthalmologist (surgical) is covered above, but there are also ophthalmic medical practitioners OMP's. Again qualified doctors, but non surgical (for the eyes at least as they may be general practitioners or specialists in a another area). They can register to test sight under the GOS (NHS service provided at an opticians) as well.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the 7000 or so Orthoptists. They do a 3 year degree BSc. Most of them work in hospital though many are branching out of their traditional role of dealing with just binocular vision related problems.

Some companies are registered with the GOC but you don't have to be to set up an opticians.

Hope that helped
Irfaan

[Joann Raytar]

Some optoms out there refuse to do contact lenses

I couldn't see that happening here. Most of our contact lens business is handled by Optometrists.

Orthoptists! :) Professionals both the UK and the US have in common and they both preform the same function, I think.

• http://www.orthoptics.org/

I have been trying to figure out the US equivalents to some of the education requirements in the above posts. The only reason some of the levels are confusing is because of the ages that are listed. Typically teenagers here complete high school, grades 9 - 12, around age 18. High school educations vary from technical courses to college prepratory courses. Normally, children go off to college or trade school and complete a 2 year Associates Degree or a 4 year Bachelors Degree. If the individual were going to persue their education further, this would normally be followed by a Masters Degree and then a Doctorate. This is not always the normal schedule; it varies depending on the field somone is in. MD's for example have it a bit more complicated.

Does anyone know the history of how everyone came about being in these fields? Did some of these fields split off of a main profession to hold their own? In the US the field of Optometry grew out of Opticianry. Now, each is its own extremely seperated entity.

:) PS -
sarahr and irfaan,

Welcome to OptiBoard and thank you for joining in on the discussion! I appreciate all of the answers to my questions. Believe it or not I think I am starting to understand the Optical Industry in England a little more.

[Tim Hunter]

irfaan said:
The dispensing optician route has already been covered above. You don't have to have it to supply glasses, except to children under16, hospital Rxs, complex >10d Rx or registered partially sighted/blind.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the 7000 or so Orthoptists. They do a 3 year degree BSc. Most of them work in hospital though many are branching out of their traditional role of dealing with just binocular vision related problems.

Irfaan you don't need to be a registered DO or optom to dispense any prescription other than that to a child under 16 or a patient registered blind/partially sighted. Hospital Rxs are no different to GOS prescriptions in that regard.

Didn't forget the orthoptists, but certainly in the UK they tend to be almost purely Hospital employees, very little private work available.

[ioconnell]

What are the entry requirements for British Colleges to study in this field?

Thanks in advance

[John R]

Ian, if you are looking at a DO course try This Link to Bradford Collage. This is the course Maria is doing at present.

[ioconnell]

Thanks John, Maybe Maria would like to explain about her course;)

[sarahr]

Ian, why not visit ABDO website, it has all the latest info on their courses and the methods of study.

abdo.org.uk

[John R]

Seems this site Here also lets you do the cource online.. Its a Uk based site as well.
Shame about the cost otherwise i would have enroled to do it myself.

[ioconnell]

Thanks heaps! Does anybody have any info on Aston Uni. in Birmingham. A response before Wednesday would be greatly appreciated

[John R]

Do you mean like This

I dont know a young lad like you and you have us oldies running round after you...:finger: You going to go a long way lad....;)

[ioconnell]

Well this is a site with optical professionals, some of which happen to be from Britain. I was hoping that someone might have knowledge that is more descriptive than the site I have already seen.

If thou is lost, ask a local


Thanks for the link :bbg:

[ankh.t]

i am currently doing my pre-reg at the moment, but I was at Aston university.

I would be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.

[ioconnell]

Thanks for the offer:cheers:

I got this link of someone and it contained the info I needed

http://www.vs.aston.ac.uk/UGAdmit.html

[shimsham]

i am an unqualified dispenser, i have detailed knowledge about dispensing, i know everything a qualified dispenser would use every day (although i would never claim to know all a dispenser has learned.) i would say that i have met many bad dispensers who are qualified, who have much less product knowledge than me who's interpersonel skills are limited and who have a lot to learn about customer service. i haven't qualified because it wasn't offered to me in my first job and before i knew it i was at management level and i wasn't allowed. since then i have been a locum and you have to be working in a practice so you can be supervised to join the course. i know many dispensers in my predicament who are excellent dispensers but in this country we are lumped together with the 16 yr old school leavers who don't know the difference between + or - rx. if you ever read the professional magazines such as "the optician" you will see their opinion of my like.

[Joann Raytar]

shimsham,

Now you have gone and created a new set of questions. ;)

What is a "qualified" dispenser? Is there some type of certification involved? Why aren't you allowed to become qualified as a manager? Can you tell us a little bit about the "course?" Lastly, what is a locum? (I've probably asked that before but I don't recall the answer :) )

PS - Although it's a bit late, welcome to OptiBoard! It is good to see you posting again!

[John R]

Ah Jo, To be a "Qualified dispenser" You have to pass the exams on the "ABDO" course which is 2 or 3 years.

taken from Bradford Collage website.

Course Content
Year 1: Ophthalmic Lenses and Frames; General Anatomy, Physiology and Disease; Geometrical Optics; Optics Practical; Visual Optics; Introduction to Management and one designated elective module.
Year 2: Ophthalmic Lenses and Dispensing; Ocular Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology; Physiological Optics and Binocular Vision; Wave Optics; Biochemistry; Operations Management; Finance for Managers. One module will be spent on practice placement.
Year 3: (Degree only) Delegated Optometric Functions; Contact Lenses; Low Vision Management; Ocular Pathology; Operations Management; Strategic Management, together with two designated and four free electives.

I guess anybody being employed as a manager would be expected to know enough not to be sent on such a course.

A Locum is someone who does not work for one employer. They will work for anyone who needs them. Many opticains use locams so they dont have to work everyday, or to cover for holiday or sickness. It is usually short term employment.

[shimsham]

thanks jo,
i think john r covered pretty much everything.
being a locum is like working freelance. in the medical industries over here freelance workers are called locums.
the reason i wasn't allowed to qualify as a manager is that my employers at the time though it would be too much of a drain on my time and energy and they didn't want to let me have a day off per week to go to london for the day release course or even for the one day a month (or whatever it is)of the correspondence course.
needless to say there were a soulless short sighted national company or multiple as we call them. i think the worst one over here. i think all the uk posters will know who i am talking about. i lasted a year and will always refer to it as my year of hell!
i am going to open my own practice in a month or so and may do it then.

[Joann Raytar]

Thank you folks!

Is there any type of financial aid available to people who wish to earn an ABDO or must the education come totally out of pocket? Here, we have student loans that will help with formal education; some companies also have grant programs if courses are business or optical related.

[John R]

Jo said:
Thank you folks!

Is there any type of financial aid available to people who wish to earn and ABDO

I believe some companies will put their staff through the course and pay the bills, Lets face it its in the companies benefit to do this. Maria will be able to comfirm this i think. I think you may also be able to qualify for some support if you are on a low income as well, but i'm not too sure on this.
Shimsham, not too sure which one of the 4 you mean there.

[sarahr]

In reply to Shimshams experiences I feel I must say that I have no idea which of the multiples he is referring to. I have worked as both employed and locum, for 2 of the biggest multiples and have had nothing but support, both financial and personal, for any training which I feel is of benefit. I am currently being sponsored through the LVA Honours course because it has always been my aim to work with severely visually impaired people. There is little financial benefit to the practice, more than another service being offered and perhaps families of my clients who then follow them into the branch. A lot of the multiples here are run as framchises, so to tar everyone with the same brush is uncalled for, in my experience, the practices I have had the priveledge to work for are run as family businesses in the traditional way.

PS What is an unqualified DO? (Sorry, my pet hate!) Before I qualified I was referred to as a dispenser or trainee DO when I was studying. I am not denigraating unqualified dispensers as I work with several brilliant dispensers who are unqualified and they are every bit as dedicated, accurate and have immense product knowledge, as well as more experience than me, but I have this little pet hate. I think Shimsham does himself down by referring to himself as an unqualified DO ( may have been in another thread) be proud of what you do and refer to yourself as what you are, not what you aren't. A 'highly skilled dispenser 'sounds better than an 'unqualified' anything.

That's me down off my soapbox. Sorree:cheers: