Newly qualified

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In focus

Five factors shaping practice

New AOP Councillors identify the drivers of change in their areas of representation

AOP

06 Aug 10 min read

An older man smiles while speaking with a younger clinician

Early career digest

Lessons between generations

Career development

26 Jul

A group of professional colleagues chat outside over lunch

Early career digest

Early career professionals on forming connections in their first job

Career development

25 Jul 5 min read

Female with blonde curly hair looking in a mirror with a contact lens on her finger preparing to put the contact lens in

Early career digest

Keeping them comfortable

Career development

27 Apr

A male clinician wearing scrubs and glasses laughs

Early career digest

Developing good habits as an early career optometrist

Career development

27 Apr 7 min read

A patient receives an eye test

Early career digest

Binocular vision tips for newly qualified optometrists

Career development

26 Apr 6 min read

Roma is stood outside wearing a black suit jacket, in front of a lake

Life as a locum

Keeping up with technology and prioritising peer support as a locum optometrist

Locuming

10 Apr 7 min read 7 mins

100% Optical

Priya Kakkad in the Optical Academy at 100% Optical delivering her CPD session

Effective communication in practice

Practice team

09 Mar

Man putting in a contact lens

Early career digest

Habits equal happiness

Career development

03 Feb

A young child sits on their mother’s lap while an optometrist conducts an eye examination

Early career digest

Testing children as a newly-qualified optometrist

Career development

02 Feb 5 min read

An illustration of a man’s head connected by an electrical cord to a lightbulb

Early career digest

Lessons from my first year qualified

Career development

31 Jan 6 min read

A young man sits on the floor of the living room looking contemplative

New network to tackle isolation among optometrists

Health and wellbeing

16 Jan

Contact lens on a finger

Early career digest

Confidence with low astigmatism correction

Career development

08 Dec 2025 6 min read 6 mins

An illustration in grayscale on an orange background of a person climbing an arrow that points upwards in stages. On each plateau is a stack of books.

Early career digest

“A career in optometry can take you in many different directions”

Career development

08 Dec 2025 2 mins

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Early career digest

Explore, reflect, be curious, and keep learning: tips for early career optometrists

Career development

06 Dec 2025 6 min read 1

Gavin Rebello standing outside of a practice

Opinion

“Curiosity and self-awareness are powerful drivers”

Practitioner stories

05 Dec 2025 4 mins

Lecturer pointing into the distance as his students listen

Where can optometry take you? Academia

Students and pre-regs

27 Nov 2025 2

Rachel Warrington is pictured with her award for early career excellence and Specsavers founders Doug and Dame Mary Perkins

Macclesfield optometrist receives Judy Lea Award for Early Career Excellence

Practitioner stories

27 Oct 2025

An optometrist talking to the patient in the testing room

Early career digest

Comfort conversations

Career development

22 Sep 2025 6 min read 6 mins

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Early career digest

Beyond the consulting room

Career development

20 Sep 2025 8 min read

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I could not live without…

My optometry community

Career development

29 Aug 2025 6 min read

Optometrist performing a sight test

One year qualified

Students and pre-regs

23 Aug 2025 8 min read

Rebecca has blonde hair and a black top and stands inside a practice

20 years at Leightons: “You learn a lot when things don’t go according to plan”

Career development

13 Aug 2025 10 min read 1

On a background split in half between yellow and navy is an illustration of a clock.

Early career digest

My 5–9 after the 9–5

Career development

16 Jun 2025 9 min read

Woman having a sight test talking to a male optometrist

Early career digest

The lifestyle conversation 101

Career development

14 Jun 2025 5 min read 5 mins

Bonnie laughs during an AOP Council meeting

AOP appoints new Councillors

AOP

08 May 2025

Illustration of a person holding a contact lens

Early career digest

“What started as a skill I was trying to perfect, has now become one of my favourite aspects of optometry”

Career development

02 Apr 2025 6 min read

Silhouette of two heads, one is grey, the other is orange

Early career digest

Advice to my newly-qualified self

Practitioner stories

01 Apr 2025 8 min read

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Most popular across OT

A woman smiles while wearing solar eclipse glasses

Moorfields Eye Hospital surgeon gives tips on staying safe during the solar eclipse

Patients

10 Aug 1

Harper poses outside of a hospital

An optometrist saved my life

“We will always be grateful that Charlotte recognised the signs when she did”

Patients

26 Jun 5 min read 1

A female optometrist performs a sight test with a slit lamp for a male patient

OFNC advises profession against committing to “unfunded” ERS until negotiations complete

Government and regulation

24 Jun 1

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June/July 2026

The Practice resilience edition

05 Jun

Most popular across Newly-qualified

An illustration in an abstract watercolour style of silhouettes of people, with speech bubbles in muticoloured shapes

In focus

Five factors shaping practice

AOP

06 Aug 10 min read

A group of professional colleagues chat outside over lunch

Early career digest

Early career professionals on forming connections in their first job

Career development

25 Jul 5 min read

An older man smiles while speaking with a younger clinician

Early career digest

Lessons between generations

Career development

26 Jul

Chosen for you

A woman smiles while wearing solar eclipse glasses

Moorfields Eye Hospital surgeon gives tips on staying safe during the solar eclipse

Patients

10 Aug 1

A child plays with a toy astronaut and rocket

NICE consults on draft low-dose atropine guidance

NHS and health

13 Aug

Optometrist, Andrew Gillies, in front of Clark Optometrists on Orkney Island

Orkney Island optometry practice recruits new optometrist

Practitioner stories

19 Aug

An illustration in tones of blue in which a woman stands in front of a crossroads that points in many directions. Her posture indicates confusion

A Level results day: “Failing wasn’t the end of my story”

Students and pre-regs

11 Aug 7 min read

Opening an independent optometry practice from scratch

Business and practice management

18 Aug 6 min read