We’re all going on a summer placement

More than 500 undergraduates are completing Specsavers’ summer student placement initiative this year.

The scheme, which is now in its seventh year, will see 510 optometry students who are between their second and third years of study join a branch of the multiple for a six-week period.

The placement is designed to help students put their theoretical knowledge into practice and prepare them for their pre-registration year.

Before beginning the placement, students attended a two-hour development session at their university which focused on team building and communication skills.

Commenting on the placement scheme, Specsavers’ director of professional recruitment and retention, Nimesh Popat, said: “Our scheme is a staple part of the student experience now and is popular as it gives a great insight into how our stores function.”

Aston optometry student, Lizzy Alport (pictured), is currently two weeks into her six-week placement at Specsavers in Richmond, North Yorkshire. Sharing insight into the experience, she said: it’s both exciting and challenging and it’s great to be able to put theory into practice.”

She added: “I’ve done a few stereopsis and colour vision tests under supervision and am hoping to do some dispensing and pre-testing too. When there’s something interesting, the optometrist lets me have a look with the slit lamp – I’ve seen someone with cataracts, and in one eye they’d had the cataract removed, so I could see the difference between a fake lens and a developed cataract. It has also been interesting to see children’s eye tests.”