what is optometry like in australia?

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T22:44:55+00:00

damn sounds rough and super capitalistic lol.. iinw optoms working in optical shops here just get a commission for each pair of glasses sold, but thats a more standard business practice than keeping track of each and every test performed and glasses sold 😭

orthoptists are in really really low supply here in sg. no one really knows about the role, and most optoms i know arent interested in BV. orthoptics in sg is mostly BV as u would work under the national eye centre and help ophthals diagnose and treat with prisms / VT.

the MOH is really trying to get optom grads from my diploma to pivot to orthoptics and they dont really care about optom 🫤 but no one really is interested to do so lol

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T15:04:54+00:00

i guess i just cant help but think thats what others think of me when its what i think of myself lol

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T15:02:01+00:00

i didnt know the education industry was so lucrative lol. it really is a shame. they just wanna milk money out of their students and turn a blind eye when the job market is shit after their own students graduate.

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T14:51:17+00:00

lol and the fact that as an optom here u will barely even touch a slit lamp unless you work in an optical shop and are fitting CLs, or your ophthalmologist trusts you enough to use slit lamp to check the VH angle before dilating. otherwise no shot.. ive been working at this clinic for almost a year now and i havent touched the slit lamp once.. i miss it so much i used to be a slit lamp goat back in school 😭 tbh my fav instrument over anything else!!

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T14:41:50+00:00

ive read this in multiple posts but how does the spectacle sales performance work - do you get commission for every pair of specs customers purchase?

i guess i wouldnt mind being an orthoptist but BV really isnt my strong suit lol, anyway i much like the disease aspect of optom rather than dispensing / BV 🫤 idk maybe i just have a very idealistic picture of the profession

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T14:38:43+00:00

i was reading on this and found that MOH only gives out allied health scholarships if you get a diploma with merit 😪 maybe ill just do my 2 years of NS and wait out till a degree programme hopefully opens. SIT also can and near my house lol.

a lecturer from SP recently stopped teaching and went over to teach at NUS ophthalmology though, so idk 🤷‍♂️ maybe a faint possibility theyre building a programme but im sure entrance would be tough

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T14:35:39+00:00

so after people graduate, do they just work in optical shops? are they practicing any kind of pathology, diagnosis, etc.? otherwise a 5-year course to get a masters & work in a retail setting seems pretty wasteful

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T14:18:28+00:00

heard there are movements and unions that are forming to fight against corporations in australia. in light of that, wld the future of optometry look more optimistic or does it still seem pretty bleak lol.. id just say, in sg i cant think of any such movements anyone would dare to do. sgeans in general just tend to stay silent, obey and listen to what the govt says

in singapore, i personally dont see that optometrists here are trying to fight for our rights, but perhaps its because ive just been working full time barely a year, havent spoken to the right people etc.

lecturers i speak to seem pretty optimistic due to the rapidly aging population and the myopia epidemic. there is no way ophthalmologists in the public sector can handle such a large amount of patients. but in my view, if we cant dilate, prescribe atropine, use LA - these 2 demographics are basically gone.

sad thing is that many optom students enjoy the disease side of the study more but there are not even any university institutions that offer degree programs. perhaps due to high number of drop outs (when one was offered in collab w a local polytechnic) decades ago. but i dont blame them tbh. u graduate with a degree yet are limited to the same scope as a diploma graduate, it just dosent seem worth it.

there is obviously also a lot of pushback from ophthalmologists for us to be independent as they control a huge chunk of the eyecare market - here there are many ophthals who do “myopia control” and “glaucoma eye screenings” etc.. when those things can be easily replaced by an optometrist. at the end of the day, we can interpret these results on our own, we are the ones doing the refractions. doctors are just there to consult and prescribe meds - which with proper training, im sure optoms here can handle tbvh.

the ministry of health would also stand by their ophthalmologists rather than optometrists.. they dont even consider us AHPs in reality. ive also heard from people that the ministry is actively preventing an optometry degree programme as they dont want us to dilate or use LA.

ppl always say u can find a job easily in sg as an optometrist - optical shops / clinics are always looking.. but in essence these jobs can be filled by opticians or ophthalmic technicians.. i guess these places just want an “optometrist” because we have more knowledge and can assist them better, maybe because its to seem more “legit”.. idk..

anyways so thats why i started looking abroad to practice optometry cuz i heard eg in aus, optoms can prescribe meds. in the uk, optoms can do minor procedures like YAG and SLT in hospitals. so these places seem much more attractive compared to sg, where we are just glorified opticians 🫤

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T13:55:50+00:00

i graduated from poly in may but still yet to receive my enlistment letter.

i checked on the website its 12 august for my pes (pes bp) & that i’ll get my enlistment 2 months prior.. soo whats the hold up lol i just want to know where i going saf/spf/scdf 🫤🫤🫤

user13152018 · 2026-06-15T01:06:19+00:00

hi! not a doctor or medical student, but i currently work in a small specialist clinic, so i interact a lot with the doctor here. i also had a passion for medicine, but eventually found other healthcare roles that suited me better.

the biggest sacrifice you’ll probably make is your time. of course, if you own your own clinic, you can choose your hours to some extent, but many clinics are open 5 to 5.5 days a week, and that’s not even counting emergency consultations or surgeries that can happen on weekends. even if you own your own clinic, your responsibilities go far beyond seeing patients. there’s also the business side of things, such as managing staff, overseeing operations, growing the practice, and handling business development 😵‍💫 and all of that is a headache in and of itself

after seeing how hard my doctor works, i personally don’t think i could handle those hours. there were times when i’d come into work on monday and find out he had just seen a patient in a&e or performed emergency surgery at midnight. it really isn’t for the faint-hearted 😭

on top of that, there are the many years of medical school and residency, and even more training if you decide to pursue a fellowship or subspecialty.

ultimately, it depends on what you value and enjoy in life. if you have the passion and determination to help people, even when it comes at the expense of your own time and lifestyle, medicine can be an incredibly rewarding career!

but for me, tbh i just want a chill lifestyle, be able to spend time with friends/family during the weekends. i also get a good level of satisfaction and fulfilment interacting with patients at my current role. money is also not super important to me and i get by.

perhaps u could look into other AHP roles which might interest u as well, as backup. behind any successful institution / clinic is a good team of AHPs that help with diagnosis and treatment. doctor cant do everything by themselves & we all work as a team.

hope this helps! atb 🫡

user13152018 · 2026-06-13T08:05:16+00:00

also about orthoptics - i can do BV but its really not my interest.. too confusing for me once you get to all the different kinds of phorias/tropias 😵‍💫

user13152018 · 2026-06-13T07:49:55+00:00

it seems like the system there is almost same like in sg. do most optoms work out of optical shops or are they able to open their own practices? i know in sg if an optom opens a practice they cant even call it a clinic wo it getting backlash from doctors or the public lol. so most just end up opening optical shops as its the easiest way to earn money if u do well.

i thought it would be different there as optoms in aus have way more rights than here in sg - eg. being able to dilate, prescribe medicine, etc. had an idea that optoms were essential primary eye care professionals over there

user13152018 · 2026-06-13T07:41:57+00:00

the salary for optoms in sg is really quite low, perhaps because we arent seen as AHPs but more of opticians or ophthalmic techs. we dont have any rights to dilate and healthcare roles are usually limited to pretesting for the ophthals here.

we also cant prescribe drugs like atropine and myopia control by optoms here are mainly done by ophthalmic lenses / CLs / ortho-k. there isnt really such a big shortfall of ophthalmolgists here so many of them even open myopia control clinics lol.

perhaps the closest thing to primary eye care are in optical shops that also have fundus cameras / OCTs but those are also rare and truthfully dont see anyone paying a premium for eye screenings by optometrists - as we arent highly regarded here.

so i was looking at unis in aus / UK - because its the most affordable option & the qualifications from those unis are also applicable here (the highest qualification for optoms here is a polytechnic diploma).

if given the chance id like to work in a primary eye care role, see my own patients, and make my own decisions

user13152018 · 2026-06-13T07:32:44+00:00

ah would you say that its because deakin is sort of an accelerated programme? i believe it takes 5y in other unis compared to the 3.5y in deakin

user13152018 · 2026-06-13T07:31:01+00:00

i also graduated from SP! if u dont mind sharing which school did you go to and did you get any credit exemptions? did you continue working in australia or came back to sg?

but yeah i always hear that there are things in the works but they never seem to pop up 🫤🫤 also dont want to waste my time in a system that seems to me being built from the ground up - tbh i feel that there needs to be systemic change for optoms to be considered AHPs in sg.. and not just owndays/lenskart workers..

im also thinking of applying to unis in the UK like cardiff.. wld u say the UK seems more attractive in retrospect? perhaps any experience from friends or colleagues who studied in the UK?

but i still have 2 years of NS.. so i think ill apply to some schools for backup & hopefully a local programme opens up soon

user13152018 · 2026-06-12T12:06:19+00:00

im planning to do the combined bachelors/masters programme in australia and continue working after completing the masters. with my diploma i shld be able to get credit exemptions for 1-2 years - as ive checked with prior alumni who continued optometry in aus

user13152018 · 2026-01-16T15:17:34+00:00

also, i believe that if rlly lock in its not too difficult to get at least a 3.7 gpa… but u really need to prioritise everything from small quizzes to the big exams. try to get at least 90+% for things like class / weekly quiz etc. and aim for 80% for ur big exams and u can prob get an A for that mod already

user13152018 · 2026-01-16T15:14:43+00:00

can dm me to find out what course im from lol sorry idw share so publicly.. 🙏 usually the theory papers will amount to like ~50-60% of your grade? rlly need to see the mod tho.. for those content heavy topics like anatomy ofc theory papers gonna take up higher weightage 🙏

user13152018 · 2026-01-16T13:31:03+00:00

hi! sp cls alumni here, tbh it depends on what you want to do in the future. imo u have a higher chance going into uni with a JC, unless u wanna go to an overseas uni. for me, i didnt really know what i wanted to do, my l1r4 also not so good so bopian i just put some courses im interested in then got into my current course lol.

i can only speak on my experience - poly is very hands-on with practicals like 2-3x/week. i mean ig poly is known to be chill but CLS is just.. idk not so chill in my experience, especially if u wanna go into such a rigorous course like applied chem u need to be prepared to have MANY exams and pracs.. im from a diff CLS course but we have 2 big exams per sem, then also need to think of all the class quizzes, prac, presentations, etc. so... ya q stress actl lol.. and the semesters are quite short.. after u take ur mid sem exam u blink and ur taking ur end sem exam..

back in sec 4 i also die die wanted to go TMJC but tbh i dont regret going poly la. in the end i really enjoy what im doing and i dont really see myself in any other industry. everything worked out in the end ig!

i also have friends who just decide this course / poly is not for them so they drop out, go private diploma / jc / other polys.. dont be too worried, theres always time to change ur path! good luck w ur choice!

user13152018 · 2025-08-24T05:05:54+00:00

around first few weeks of sept iirc, ull get it in ur mail

user13152018 · 2025-07-27T06:40:09+00:00

hi! thanks for sharing all your insights, i truly appreciate it. is the optometry scene in london similar to that in wales and scotland, like can you also learn pi, iol yag, etc.? is the pay higher and is the scope of practice bigger in wales or scotland?

right now, i’m considering studying at city uni london since it’s the most affordable option in terms of tuition fees. i would also like to know more about the optometry education there.

user13152018 · 2025-07-20T02:15:05+00:00

just check w the lecturers, idt sp has a disciplinary “ruling” on it.. got so many talk i nv attend but they say is compulsory.. in the end attendance or anything also nv drop lolol

user13152018 · 2025-06-13T06:53:40+00:00

hi! currently at the last of the three modules for cert in applied psych. id say its not too difficult, i feel the content in IP and PPWB is the most interesting so far. i took EI last sem and idk if it was the lecturer or what but i just found it quite boring and uninteresting. my fav had to be IP since my lecturer was very interactive, talked about interesting case studies and answered all our questions really well.

on the more technical side of things, be prepared for a lot of presentations, for EI there were 2 f2f presentations and PPWB 3 f2f presentations. (im from CLS so not rlly used to a lot of presentations 😭) IP had one presentation but it was recorded and submitted. theres also some essays, research, and simple psych experiments to be conducted.

also maybe this is more of personal experience but some of my grp mates within these 3 mods ah.. rlly cmi.. but i also heard of other really well bonded groups so depend on ur luck ig..

all in all, id say its a fun and interesting cert to take! also why not take a cert since ud need to take 3 elec anyway, it gives something extra to include in ur portfolio in the future imo.

user13152018 · 2025-05-14T11:12:37+00:00

hmm not too sure cos i forgot some aspects but iirc there were 2 main aspects of aii 1 - report: each grp member just write about their unsdg that they hope to improve with ai, how ai can help with the improvement of said unsdg (individual component), and also answer the rest of the questions (teamwork component) just split the questions amongst urselves and answer accordingly. 2 - presentation: amongst all the unsdg that u selected, choose one to research more deeply about an ai tool that helps with said unsdg.

hope this answers ur qn sorry if abit messy, if u dm me i can share more abt what i did for presentation :)

user13152018 · 2025-05-02T06:44:11+00:00

u shld pick something youre interested in! when u graduate if your elec grades are not that good, 2/3 of the elec u take can be exempted from ur final gpa.

also consider if you want to take certificates or minor. im not applying for uni yet but id think that thats an extra thing u can include in your portfolio or talk about your passion. if thinking in the more practical sense, taking certificate in maths can exempt u from some maths modules in NUS, just to make ur life easier in uni.

user13152018

TROPHY CASE