Back to work

It can also bring with it a range of emotions, from excitement to apprehension.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, around 90,000 people in the UK take some form of a career break every year, while a LinkedIn survey of nearly 23,000 workers and 7000 hiring managers found that 62% of employees have taken a break at some point in their professional career.

The GOC’s 2023 Registrant Workforce Survey found that locums were more likely to indicate plans to take a career break compared with those who did not work as a locum (8% compared to 5% respectively).

The AOP will host a special event on 4 November, From Break to Brilliance: clinical skills workshops for returning optometrists, dedicated to those are currently, or have recently been on, a career break.

Taking place in Birmingham, the one day event will be delivered in partnership with the Vision Team at Johnson & Johnson.

Discussing the event, Byki Huntjens, AOP education lead, told OT: “The event is designed for optometrists seeking to enhance their clinical skills and patient care techniques in a controlled, supportive environment.”

The day will include a communication lecture, a peer discussion, and 4.5 hours of hands-on experience performing a comprehensive routine eye examination in a timed setting.

“Participants will rotate through roles, practising both as clinicians and patients, covering the key components of a standard eye examination, including history and symptoms, refraction, ocular health screening, and providing clear communication and advice,” Huntjens said.

 

Johnson & Johnson will support with contact lens and anterior eye examinations.

AOP members would be insured for practical aspects of this training, however, non-AOP members would not be covered.

Huntjens pointed out that the AOP has membership grades which are suitable for those on a career break.

The course will have 20 places available, with 12.5 CPD points on offer.

Starting a family, moving home, and childcare logistics: “It’s important to have those conversations”

Optometrist Prinal Patel returned to locuming part-time six months after having her first child.

Patel had established a good relationship with local independent practices, sharing: “It meant that I could say that I could start working at nine but needed to leave by 4.30 or 5pm for the nursery pick-up.”

“After my first pregnancy, returning to work was a streamlined process especially as the nursery was close by and I had family locally to help in the event of late-running clinics, or if my child needed picking up earlier,” she said.

In the time between their first and second child, Patel and her husband moved houses, and found that being in a new location, without the same network of connections to local practices, logistics became more of a challenge.

“Where I live, it takes me half an hour to drive to the nursery in the morning because of the traffic, although it should only be an eight-minute drive normally,” Patel shared.

“This limited my radius of work, especially as my husband works the longer hours and is unable to do the nursery run,” she shared.

On returning to work, Patel also found that many companies have moved to locum apps for scheduling bookings.

“Whereas in the past it was very easy to message an agency staff member and ask them to put the word out that you were available on Thursdays, or talk to a practice and ask if it’s possible to pro-rata the rate for a shift around nursery times, it’s very difficult to have those conversations now because it’s through an app,” Patel explained.

Have discussions, look at your options, and have a plan

Patel now works part-time as a resident optometrist in an independent practice, is undertaking an independent prescribing qualification, and continues to locum part-time.

Discussing what locum optometrists planning on starting a family might want to consider, Patel shared: “I think it’s important to have those conversations with your partner and family regarding the logistics of childcare, financial planning, what happens if you are at work and your child needs picking up.”

“I knew we wouldn’t have any family local to us so my plan was to have my little one in nursery three-days a week once they were six months old, which is what we did,” she shared.

Financial planning is necessary due to the costs of childcare, Patel said, adding: “It becomes even more important to determine your rate, radius of work, and hours.”

She suggested: “Have discussions, look at your options, and have a plan. Forge those relationships with your local practices and talk to them about the kinds of hours you could offer.”

Patel added that post-pandemic, changes have taken place in flexible and remote working, with more of these roles available within optometry, suggesting it is important to explore the different areas available within the profession.

 

Professional goals, preparation, and parenting: “Returning to the profession required meticulous planning”

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Aaminah Khan was promoted to the role of senior optometrist and quickly focused on supporting the recovery of the practice after the series of lockdowns.

“My goals were ambitious. I aimed to support local hospitals by implementing post-op cataract schemes, introducing remote care for contact lenses, and mentoring pre-registration optometrists to ensure future succession,” Khan shared.

Khan also worked as a clinical service consultant supporting a pre-reg programme, as an AOP mentor, and sat on her local optical committee.

The exposure to management roles meant owning a practice felt like a “natural progression,” Khan said: “I was hoping to use that platform to mentor and coach the next generation of optics professionals.”

“However, as I was delving into business plans and financial projections, I discovered I was pregnant. Although I always wanted to start a family, the timing was unexpected during an upward career trajectory,” she said.

After taking time away on maternity leave, Khan shared: “Returning to the profession required meticulous planning.”

“When considering the sleep deprivation, separation anxiety, breastfeeding, and childcare arrangements, I really needed to find a pattern of work where there was flexibility to manage the challenges of a new mum whilst still committing to the practice, the profession, and most importantly, my patients,” she said.

Returning to clinical practice felt scary

Considering a few different roles, Khan opted to move into locuming.

“This role enabled me to conserve my energy for the clinic days and fully immerse myself in the work in practice,” she said.

Sharing the emotional side of returning to work, Khan said: “Returning to clinical practice felt scary. Questions swirled in my mind: ‘Do I still possess ophthalmoscopy skills? Can I manage appointments times effectively? How will I adapt to record-keeping, having previously worked with only one system?’”

It was not long before her confidence re-surfaced, she said. To ease the transition, Khan would arrive 15 to 20 minutes early in order to meet staff working on the shop floor and fellow clinicians.

“This camaraderie proved invaluable, especially if I fell a little behind or faced moments of indecision. Knowing I had the support of colleagues, with whom I had already established a connection, made all the difference,” she said. 

When it came to record-keeping, Khan eased the pressure of learning new systems by requesting tutorials from the companies behind the systems she would be using in practice.

“I took proactive steps by visiting practices before my scheduled clinic days, sometimes even with my little one in tow to get an idea of the store layout, consulting rooms, and phoropters (if any),” Khan said, adding that she also checked the optical coherence tomography machines and visual field machines available.

“It just meant one less stressor on clinic days, allowing me to focus more fully on patient care,” she said.

Asked about the support available as she made the shift, Khan reflected on the examples she had already witnessed through her career.

“I am grateful for the career I achieved before becoming a mother. These milestones afforded me the opportunity to connect with successful women who had navigated both motherhood and professional success, with some even having children who are also optometrists,” she said.

She continued: “The ability to just pick up the phone and discuss practical concerns, such as organising breastfeeding within the clinic and balancing career aspirations, was immensely comforting, especially during a time of rapid change in our profession.”

Discussing the experience of navigating maternity leave and professional aspirations, Khan reflected on the shift from “the clinician who operates in a controlled, strategic, and logical environment, to now the maternity patient where nothing is predictable – there is no recipe or strategy for parenting, and the loss of control over one’s recovery.”

She said: “The truth is that I felt very lost and restrained. It was like receiving OSCE results again; the joy followed with the confronting and unsettling ‘what now?’ feeling. I had always been goal-oriented, achieving career milestones with a clear path ahead. Suddenly, I had no plan and felt restrained in pursuing certain opportunities.”

Conversations with other new mothers with successful careers in various industries led Khan to realise: “I wasn’t restrained at all. I now had the opportunity to be selective and optometry gave me that luxury. I could choose the environment I wanted to work in and the type of work I wanted to engage with, giving me the freedom to take control of my own career progression.”

On returning to the profession, Khan shared how she created variety in her work: “I ventured into fitting contact lenses for film production and began working in laser refractive clinics – both of which I hope to do more of, all while continuing to be part of primary care.

“This variety has been refreshing, offering a new perspective on my career and professional growth,” she added.

In June this year, Khan was named a runner-up in the Scope Independent Prescriber Bursary Awards.

The awards provide a bursary towards the IP course fees of optometrists.

Commenting on her achievement at the time, Khan spoke of the challenges of managing professional growth with family commitments, and her excitement at reintegrating into the profession with IP.

Telling OT about her decision to pursue an IP qualification, she said: “I realised that investing in myself was essential to becoming a better clinician for my patients and also the next generation of optometrists as a supervisor.”

“The scope bursary came at the perfect time, providing support and alleviating the sense of loneliness that can sometimes accompany locuming,” she continued.

The learning won’t stop there, however, as Khan has plenty of professional development plans including a higher certificate in glaucoma, which forms part of the credit accumulation programme for a Master’s.

“Although I have learned and grown from my diverse experiences, both challenging and rewarding, I am now yearning for more,” she said.

Khan shared: “My goal is to work towards completing my full MSc because I am deeply passionate about what optometry has to offer. Quite frankly, optometry is addictive.”