Case studies: Orthoptist: Tom Lomas

Tom has a degree in orthoptics from the University of Liverpool and works as an orthoptist in a hospital...

I originally started studying for a degree in physics, but after a year I decided it wasn't for me and that I wanted to pursuit something more practical. I looked at the different degrees available in the healthcare professions available at the University of Liverpool  and orthoptics stood out as being interesting and academically challenging, as well as much more vocational.

I found the course to be very engaging and progressive. The theory and clinical skills I learnt would build from the previous term and then from the previous year, and so forth. The teaching took the form of lectures and tutorials at the university; this was then put into practice on clinical placements. We also attended inter-professional learning seminars with students from other health professions, which I found to be very worthwhile.

There were three placements each year, up to a month long, located in different departments all around the country. You were usually told where you would be placed, although requests were taken into account.

Orthoptics has excellent job prospects after graduation. I was interviewed and got a job as an orthoptist in a hospital within a month of graduating. As two of the three degree programmes are located in the North of England relatively close together, this is the most competitive area in terms of jobs, but if you are prepared to move, at least to begin with, then there are plenty of job opportunities out there.

As an orthoptist, I see patients with ocular motility problems. This involves patients who have strabismus (misalignment of the eyes) and also those who have other eye movement problems.

The majority of patients that I see are children, who I assess and treat for eyesight problems such as the need for glasses, amblyopia (often called 'lazy eye') and strabismus, which may be disrupting their visual development.

I also see a wide variety of adult patients with acquired eye motility problems. This is usually due to a disruption of the nervous system resulting in them having double vision. The majority of these cases are caused by problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, or from a traumatic injury. However, it can also occur because of more serious problems such as a brain tumour or aneurysm.

I work closely with consultants, doctors and optometrists in the management of our patients, which gives me the opportunity to see and learn a lot about ophthalmology as a whole, especially in specific clinics such as neurology and endocrinology.

As an orthoptist I take real pride in the knowledge that I can really make a difference to people's lives, whether it is improving a child's vision so they are able to read and work better in school, or resolving an adult's symptoms of double vision. It's a very rewarding job and there are also many opportunities for specialisation within the profession, for example working as part of a stroke team, or an extended role as a glaucoma practitioner.

In the future I hope to work more with children with special needs. As neonatal care has improved, more children are being born with complex needs and, as such, have complex eye care problems. Therefore, anything that I can do to improve their quality of life is extremely worthwhile.