We recently spoke with Claire Milne, our Optometry Development Manager based at our state of the art Head Office in Glasgow, on her career development with Optical Express.
As our Optometry Development Manager, Claire enjoys a varied role involving a multitude of tasks such as assessing patient’s pre and post-surgery, checking their suitability for refractive procedures and playing a key role in the training and development of Optometrists within her region, ensuring that they adhere to best clinical practices. As well as this, Claire also supports our Surgery Support Team, where she assists the Ophthalmic Surgeons by preparing patients for their laser eye, cataract and lens replacement surgery. This means Claire follows the patient journey from their initial consultation to post-operative checks, giving her a tremendous amount of job satisfaction, “I would say that my favourite part of my role at Optical Express is being able to provide life-changing procedures for patients.”
When joining Optical Express all of our Optometrists are provided with industry leading refractive training that is not taught through university courses. This means optometrists have the unique chance to visit one of our advanced surgery centres where they follow an extensive training programme in order to further their clinical knowledge and gain insight into the refractive side of optometry. Claire feels that this is a fantastic opportunity for all of our Optometrists to undertake and assures anyone interested that, “There is always support on hand. We have a network of Ophthalmic Surgeons who are at your disposal, for advice, which sets us apart from other providers.”
Starting her career at Optical Express as an Optical Advisor whilst she was still a student in 2007, Claire went on to complete her pre-registration year with us after graduation before becoming a fully qualified Optical Express Optometrist. Claire has spent her entire Optometry career with Optical Express and tells us “I am incredibly proud of the work we do at Optical Express. I go home each night and can say I’ve made a difference.” Even since becoming a mother, she has nothing but positive things to say about her work/life balance and the support and flexibility she has been provided with by Optical Express. Claire urges anyone thinking about joining Optical Express to go for it by saying “I would encourage anyone who is considering a career with Optical Express to get in touch, and find out how we can help you develop your career.”
