Optometrist Kavneet provides care to patients from our state of the art clinic in Cardiff, conducting everything from refractive consultations to routine sight tests and contact lens fittings. Receiving day-to-day support from our renowned ophthalmic surgeons and expert optometrists, she is able to tap into the knowledge of some of the country’s leading specialists in clinical eye care, helping her realise her own potential as an optometrist.
“The support at Optical Express is immense, I didn’t realise how much support I would be given when I started. We have a Clinical Services team who are there all the time. This is a group of very intelligent optometrists who have been doing this for a very long time. All you need to do is call them or send them an email and they will be there for you,” she explains. Besides receiving guidance and support from some of the industry’s leading optometrists, Kavneet also gets to work alongside world-renowned surgeons, helping her gain advanced clinical skills and knowledge: “The surgeons are amazing, I can’t say enough about them. You email them if you need any help and they’ll get right back to you. There’s nowhere else where you would be able to be so close to these surgeons.”
Not only does Kavneet benefit from the wealth of expertise and knowledge available within Optical Express, she also has access to advanced technologies from industry leaders such as Johnson & Johnson Vision and Carl Zeiss. From Pentacams to IOL Masters and iDesign, over £500 million has been invested in our clinics to ensure that optometrists can deliver the best possible clinical outcomes and detect possible eye conditions early on. “I’d never used any of those before, never been exposed to them before either. So coming in the company and learning about these state-of-the-art technologies, you will not find it anywhere else,” she says.
As an Optometrist, Kavneet supports our surgeons in delivering life-changing visual outcomes to patients, conducting refractive consultations to assess their suitability for corrective treatment. Receiving laser eye surgery herself as part of Optical Express’ ‘free laser eye surgery’ employee benefit, she loves how her own journey towards visual freedom has helped her connect with and relate to her patients. “I enjoy when patients come back to me the next day and the first thing they say is “Wow, I can see. Why did I not get this done sooner?”. And I completely relate because I’ve had my surgery done and it’s just a beautiful experience, and I relay that to my patients and they get even more excited,” she comments.
Kavneet has found that these daily interactions with her patients make her role both enjoyable and rewarding. “I enjoy listening to my patients, I enjoy telling them about surgery and how it’s going to change their lives, especially when it’s changed my own life so much,” she says. “I feel like they really enjoy my storytelling, and when they come back the next day they say ‘Oh, yes, you were right, I felt that, I knew that’,” she continues. Dealing with a wide variety of patients and hearing each of their unique stories means that no two days are ever the same, which sets it apart from roles at high street opticians: “It’s not like any other normal job where you’re just doing sight tests and contact lenses all day. I walk into a completely different day, every single day, and I look forward to it every single day.”
So, what is Kavneet’s advice to those considering a career at Optical Express? “Take the plunge, honestly, take the plunge. It’s the most steep learning curve, I have learned things that I never would have learned at university or at other opticians. I work so closely with the surgeons and where else would you ever be able to have that relationship with them? So, take the plunge, do it, you will learn so much,” she says. Are you ready to take on a new challenge? From working alongside some of the country’s leading specialists in clinical eye care to being able to help change lives on a daily basis, you’ll find a career at Optical Express more satisfying than you ever imagined. View our latest vacancies now and develop your career with the UK’s leading refractive surgery provider.
