Charlotte Wisdom, lead optometrist at Specsavers Ringwood, is currently supervising her third pre-registration optometrist – and enjoys it so much that she works between two stores to continue her mentoring role.
She qualified in 2013 and was offered a permanent position at Ringwood. But by spring 2015, her once supervisor Bruce Fitzgerald asked if she would like to be a secondary supervisor when a pre-reg started in the autumn, Wisdom was delighted to accept and mentored one or two days a week.
She says: ‘I knew exactly what was going on because I was only recently out of the process myself. But I did ask Bruce how much I should be checking on the trainee, as I didn’t want to go over the top. I had meetings with both the trainee and Bruce, and I also had meetings just with Bruce, to check that we were both on the same page.’
The following year, in September 2016, Wisdom became primary supervisor to another pre-reg.
‘I had sole responsibility for her,’ she says. ‘When she passed I felt absolutely ecstatic – just as good as when I qualified as you share the journey with them.’
Wisdom was keen to continue mentoring. But as the Ringwood store did not take on a pre-reg in 2017, she arranged to work at Specsavers’ Poole store one day a week so she could act as secondary supervisor to a pre-reg there.
‘I try to be open and approachable,’ she says. ‘I spend time with them whenever I see they need help. And I always say to them, “Whatever it is, always ask” – which is exactly what Bruce used to say to me.’
She believes her supervision has improved with experience. She says: ‘The three pre-regs I’ve supervised have totally different personalities, confidence levels and styles of learning, so I’ve had to adapt my supervision style accordingly. I’m getting better at knowing how to lead them on the right path.’
She feels that being mentored opened up opportunities for her. ‘I told Bruce that I’d be interested in working in a hospital, and he encouraged me,’ she says. ‘I now work one day a week at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where I do a paediatric clinic and a glaucoma clinic.
‘Following that, he asked if I’d be interested in working as an assessor for Wopec’s glaucoma and Mecs accreditation, and I’ve done that since late 2016.’
Wisdom says she plans to stay with Specsavers as she appreciates the flexibility and variety of her career. Going forward, she would like to become an assessor with the College of Optometrists.
She also plans to continue mentoring. ‘I really enjoy teaching people, so for me mentoring is perfect,’ she says. ‘As well as the teaching side of it, I enjoy discussing cases. I also like the pathology side, seeing if the pre-regs are ready for their assessments, and watching them progress and develop.
‘Also, helping other people means that you learn and develop as well.’
Meanwhile, Sanjay Patel, ophthalmic director at Specsavers Maidstone, says taking on multiple pre-regs has worked well for his practice.
Sanjay Patel
He says: ‘In the past we usually just took one pre-reg every year but we relocated in September 2016 and we now have 14 optical testing rooms, so we can take more people.’
This year Specsavers Maidstone had four optometry graduates working in their pre-reg year. One lives locally, one relocated from Northern Ireland after graduating from Ulster University, plus a husband and wife team who did the one-year conversion course for dispensing opticians at the University of Bradford.
This is comparable to Worthing and Eastbourne Specsavers stores which also have four pre-regs. Patel notes the advantages of taking more than one pre-reg.
He says: ‘They tend to do the same assessments at the same time. It helps that they’re developing at the same pace. If you take on two, you have more chance of one staying longer-term. We’ve got a big need for employed optometrists and the best way is via the pre-reg route. Also, a lot of people of my age are looking at succession planning. If you develop the pre-reg and give them a development pathway, eventually they could become a partner.
‘I supervise one pre-reg a year. It’s my choice to do so, but there are only a certain number of optometrists in a store who can do it, so it’s normally partners in most stores. As the group gets larger, however, and employs more lead optometrists more people supervise. It’s really enjoyable. It’s great developing the optometrist teams to the standard you want them to work to. The supervisor’s role is crucial and your effort gets repaid in loyalty; if they’re comfortable and go on to flourish in your store, they won’t want to leave.’
He adds trainees often come from university with little practical experience, but after the first few months they become really productive and make a good contribution to the store.
‘Be prepared to work really hard and be organised with your log book and record keeping. Have a plan for which OSCEs you want to get to and when you’re going to do your assessments. Also, maintain a really close relationship with your supervisor, because that’s crucial to your development,’ adds Patel.