Luke Haynes How are you finding your first few months as a pre-reg student?
Ali-Raza Hassam Every day brings its own sort of challenges. I’ve had everything from your basic IT issues to complex patients that I haven’t encountered before, banging on my supervisor’s door every minute and that type of thing... But, I’ve really enjoyed it so far. I feel like I’m learning much more than I was at university.
LH Tell me about the structure of your week.
AH At the moment, I do four days of testing and dispense on the fifth day. But, some of those days are more irregular. So, you can have half a day downstairs dispensing and then half a day upstairs testing. Saturdays are normally the dedicated days for dispensing. I have Tuesdays and Sundays off.
LH What processes are you involved with during the week?
AH My average week consists of up to four to five tests a day, depending on whether I’m on the diary or doing a rolling clinic. The rest of my day consists of being on the shop floor and dispensing. I also sit in on a couple of eye tests with my supervisors, just to get a feel for what it’s like to streamline the test and cut out the bits of information that maybe weren’t necessary.
LH Can you talk us through the process of meeting a new patient?
AH It starts off with me greeting the patient in the waiting room. I explain that I am a pre-student and ask if it’s okay to conduct their eye test. I also explain to them that the test will be fully supervised.
I don’t like to delegate pre-testing stuff. I like to do that myself, so the whole process is fluid throughout and I will tell them that it will be fully supervised and that they are going to receive the best possible care.
LH Do you feel like you have a lot of responsibility within the team?
AH I’m taking more responsibility as the days go by and I’m learning more as every day progresses.
There were a few teething problems at first but I’ve really got to know the team quite well and we work well together. They’ve supported me throughout – work or non-work related.
LH Do you make time to speak with your supervisor each week?
AH We are meant to have monthly meeting, but we keep in touch regularly throughout the day and discuss what we’ve seen. My supervisor shows me a couple of cases and familiarises me with different conditions and we try to diagnose and list the signs of them. We do talk regularly to try and bring my knowledge up to speed.
LH What’s the most challenging part of your week?
AH I have had a certain number of patients where their responses aren’t quite what you expect them to be. When you’re checking their prescription, and asking if it’s better with or without, sometimes there’s not really much of a response from them.
LH What do you need to be aware of going into your pre-reg year?
AH I have found that my record keeping needs to be on point because there is a lot of risk today of litigation. For example, people having incomplete records, not carrying out all the tests required and then patients later coming back to complain that something wasn’t diagnosed. That struck the fear of God in me to a certain degree. So, I’m having to be more thorough than necessary, but it’s good practice for later assessments.