As the latest group of successful A level students are congratulated on achieving a place in an optometry department one wonders whether or not they will think that their expectations have been fulfilled when they graduate.
Although there is an acknowledged oversupply of graduates, their hopes of finding a pre-registration post are better than expected. Two things are certain thanks to the work of the GOC and the College their chances of passing the final assessment at the first attempt have increased significantly, and, less happily, their salary expectations are considerably less than those of their colleagues several years ago.
Despite attempts to create a career pathway for optometrists there has been little or no change in opportunities to develop and use their wide range of clinical skills. Instead the vast majority seem destined to a life of mostly routine NHS eye examinations. This lack of opportunity is underlined by the apparent lack of interest in obtaining higher qualifications. Ironically it is only the hospital eye service, which used to be the Cinderella of the profession, that now provides real clinical career development opportunities.
In most healthcare professions one sees a progression from membership to fellowship of their professional body by a substantial number. Indeed this is often a requirement of career progression and is combined with a healthy interest in postgraduate degree courses. Sadly there is little evidence of this in optometry. A handful of College higher diplomas and fellowships are awarded each year and universities either do not offer Master's degrees or their uptake is limited. Even the hype that has surrounded the introduction of therapeutic qualifications seems to be waning. Most people taking postgraduate qualifications will be investing in their future and balancing the cost in time and money against increased rewards both in job satisfaction and income. Sadly this is not the case for optometrists.
It is against this background that the announcement of the establishment of two Doctor of Optometry courses is surprising. Clinically related doctorates are relatively new in this country and should not be confused with the professional doctorates in the USA. There are some UK optometrists who misguidedly covet the use of the title 'doctor' and use our American cousins as their model. Apart from therapeutics I have seen nothing to suggest that there is a substantial difference between UK and US qualifications, it is simply a difference in educational culture. The UK proposal is for a degree that should be intellectually at the same level as a PhD and indeed will have a large clinical research component. Given the high cost both in time and fees it is unlikely that there will be much take up except for the small minority who place excellence above career progression and its attached financial rewards.