L-R: Host and comedian Russell Kane, Clinical Leader of the Future Award winner Kishan Devraj, MP Marsha de Cordova and editor-in-chief Chris Bennett
Using technology to progress eye care is what drives Kishan Devraj, the first winner of the Clinical Leader of the Future Award. He will shortly be discussing that topic in the Houses of Parliament as a direct result of winning his Optician Award.
His invitation comes direct from the member of Parliament for Battersea, Marsha de Cordova, the chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment and that tie up shows the strength and profile the Optician Awards carries in driving the profession on.
This novel new category was devised by Optician in partnership with Specsavers to identify the young people who will lead optometry into the future. Devraj proved a popular choice within the judging panel with his ideas and grasp of technology.
His early work as an optometrist was with homeless people and this has since led to a role as optometrist and research fellow at Moorfields Eye Hospital. The frustration he saw among patients and the profession were the starting points for Devraj to work on changing optometry.
This eventually led to the development of Oversight, a smartphone based, artificial intelligence (AI) driven chatbot, which helps patients understand genetic eye disease and collects data for clinicians. This innovation generated a lot of interest and won NHS Clinical Entrepreneur funding for Devraj.
Fittingly, Devraj heard about the Optician Awards through social media and, after some encouragement from colleagues, he decided to enter. He says he was not surprised to see this category as: ‘The profession is changing and I am seeing more young optometrists participating in driving that change.’
Despite this, many young optometrists struggled to get their ideas across in this category. Entrants had to submit a short video and this demonstrated Devraj’s passion and clarity for how technology can be used. ‘Being a clinical leader is not just about participating or speaking out regarding changes you’d like to see,’ he says.
‘It’s about having a vision, leading the way to make it a reality and inspiring other people to be a part of that vision. That is not easy to do, especially early in your career. I have been lucky to have great people around me and to be at the right place at the right time.’
He wanted to get across the idea that digital health can solve our most pressing challenges and provide us with more opportunities rather than making us fearful of the future of our work.
‘As eye care professionals we constantly hear of the challenges faced by patients who suffer from sight loss. This results from late or poor diagnosis, long waiting times for treatment or screening, clinician burnout, clinician bias, an ageing population and much more.
'AI and other digital tools have the potential to offer the highest quality eye care that can be more accessible to everyone and at lower costs. For clinicians, automating most of our existing work provides us with opportunities to focus on patients that need more personalised care and treating conditions only ophthalmologists currently treat.
'However, it all requires a change in attitude among clinicians, the public and regulators along with a focus on issues such as security, privacy concerns and responsible use of data. My work involves creating that change by building technology, getting results with it and collaborating with government and other institutions.’
Devraj wants to see the profession embrace new ways of working, where optometrists use advanced technology to triage, diagnose and monitor patients while having a more active role in treating and guiding a patient’s overall health journey, reducing the burden in
ophthalmology.
For law makers and leaders that means understanding that optometry is an evolving profession, he says. ‘What worked for patients 10 years ago won’t work now because people’s needs and challenges are changing.’
Optometrists are becoming more skilled and using more tools to help their patients. More advanced digital tools currently being researched have the potential to transform the industry and offer better quality eye care and reduce the burden on ophthalmology if all stakeholders can work together.
Devraj found the whole experience enjoyable and productive thanks to the meeting with the presenter of the Award, Marsha de Cordova MP. ‘My first impression was that I had never seen so many optical professionals in one room. There was a large audience and it was organised well with great food and entertainment,’ he says.
Despite being overjoyed at winning, Devraj did not expect to win but says entering for an Optician Award is always worth a go. ‘With most things in life I always take a shot, even if it seems like a long shot, and I’m not afraid to lose. I have lost more than I’ve won, however, the odd wins are always worth it in the end.
‘More than anything I was extremely grateful because I knew it would open doors for me. I also felt a sense of responsibility because I was selected as winner from a panel of experts.’
As a result of winning the award Devraj has been able to grow his network and connect with other professionals, especially influential people in the industry. ‘I was recently invited to speak at the NCC conference in the Nether-lands to discuss digital tools to help educators and optical businesses as well as the future of optometry and ophthalmology with AI.’
That has led to more offers. After the win Devraj was straight back to work and leveraging the Optician Awards win to take his work forward and would encourage others to do the same.
‘I am quite active on social media, predominantly LinkedIn. I used the opportunity not just to share my win but also my story. I would encourage optical professionals to think outside the box and use their skills to find new ways to improve their communities and the profession as a whole. Getting involved in the process of being nominated opens up doors of opportunities to achieve your goals.’