Orthoptists in Research Careers

Not all Orthoptists will have a purely clinical career.  Research is vital to our profession, ensuring we have a current understanding of how eye conditions can effect a population and how to treat our patients effectively.

Helen is an early career research orthoptist and this is her journey so far...

"I studied for a BMedSci (Hons) Orthoptics at The University of Sheffield, graduating in July 2016 with a first-class honours. I was subsequently offered a post at the University of Leicester as a research orthoptist in August 2016. I am also working on a part time PhD at the University of Leicester looking at phenotype-genotype relationships with the use of hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) and eye movement recordings.

We are working on many exciting projects in Leicester, however my current job role is focussed on working with a wider team at the university and IIIT (India) to introduce the application of artificial intelligence into paediatric ophthalmology with the use of OCT. I was grateful to be given the opportunity to present this work at BIPOSA conference 2019.

There is a fantastic variety of work associated with my post as a research orthoptist, ranging from working in theatres examining paediatric patients under general anaesthesia, to analysing clinical and genetic information, to writing up papers with the intention of publishing. I also work in a clinical post, therefore I usually have one day a week where I will examine paediatric and adult patients in a hospital setting. There are also plenty of great opportunities to develop your skills with various courses including statistics workshops and high performance computing training.

As an orthoptist, I also have the opportunity to teach a diverse range of individuals from international medical students to ophthalmologists in teaching environments such as clinics, lectures, small group workshops and one-to-one teaching. With my teaching experiences, I was subsequently awarded an Associate Fellowship of the HEA in 2019.

Following the completion of my PhD, I aspire to undertake a post-doctoral fellowship and develop my career towards becoming an academic clinician. Furthermore, I am interested to continue my involvement in a variety of teaching environments."