It’s very rare I find myself disagreeing with the sentiment of anything in Moneo’s columns, but this week’s thoughts on optometry apprenticeships raised one eyebrow too many.
Now, it might be sensible at this stage to turn to digest Moneo’s musings, and then come back here to pick up where you left off. I’m not too much of a prima donna to wait.
Welcome back. As you’ll have read, Moneo touches upon commercial and retail influence within optometry, but it’s here where I believe some fundamental flaws rest. Cast your minds back to the days when the idea of an optometry apprenticeship was first suggested.
The trailblazer group of backers and apprenticeship developers, by and large, came from the corporate and retail parts of optometry. There was some ‘independent’ group representation, but whether this constitutes genuine independence is a topic for another day.
To me, this rang some alarm bells. Why would corporate optometry want to develop its own apprenticeship qualification? Is it because there’s a shortage of optometrists or is it because there’s a shortage of the type of optometrist corporate optometry wants to employ to fit its needs?
As Moneo points out, the commercial nature of optometry has changed significantly over the years, or at least in the corporate sector, where throughput is crucial. I’m not sure the basic business model for independent optometry has seen such a significant shift, just significant improvements.
Moneo’s comparison with other medical professions having apprenticeships only serves to highlight how nuanced modern optometry really is.
For example, while there may be business or referral relationships between practitioners and suppliers or the private care sector, other medical professions aren’t letting those companies drive qualifications.
I concede that the industry may be missing out on some lateral thinkers put off by traditional routes to qualification, but optics is an industry where there are many ways in. Those that are meant to be here will find their own way.
