Placements with MOptom Optometry

An exciting opportunity to engage with your future profession and put your learning into a real-world context

We introduce you to working with patients and encourage you to start thinking like a healthcare professional right from the start. Practice placements in the first, second and fourth year, and hospital experience in the third and fourth year provide you with insight into your chosen career.
Together with the hands-on clinical experience you gain at our Centre for Eyecare Excellence (CEE) throughout the third year, your placement experience helps to ensure that you develop the clinical ability and confidence required to be a successful, capable clinician. 
Your placements are generally over 5 days, Monday-Friday, and will take place throughout the South West.
To enable us to offer a wide range of placement providers, you may be allocated a placement requiring travel away from Plymouth. 
Students are invited to put forward their preferred locations, and the team aim to fairly distribute placement locations throughout the programme, dependent on availability.
Please note: Additional travel / accommodation costs incurred during your placement are self-funded, although a hardship fund which can be accessed via studentfunding@plymouth.ac.uk.
Student checking a mans eyes
Girl trying on glasses

Year 1

1 week placement
You'll build confidence in communicating with colleagues and patients and gain an awareness of how an optometry practice is run. We encourage you to participate in reflective learning to get the most out of your time, and you will have a placement workbook to guide you through your experience.

Year 2

1 week placement
This week will be mainly spent with a fully qualified optometrist working in practice. With the opportunity to observe the full patient journey and learn about optometric management of a range of cases.

Year 3

Ongoing clinical practice at CEE
Our Centre for Eyecare Excellence (CEE) is a fully functioning optometric practice. Members of the public are offered eye examinations and contact-lens appointments with our third-year student optometrists under the direct supervision of qualified staff.
You will build confidence in translating theory into practice and demonstrating the range of skills needed to work as an optometrist. You’ll focus on a range of clinical specialities, such as contact lenses, low vision, myopia control and paediatrics, whilst learning how to effectively manage and dispense each of these groups. 
Hospital placement
You will also have a 1- or 2-day hospital placement during third year, where you will see the management and treatment of a range of pathology and observe various hospital procedures.

Year 4

In your fourth and final year you will undertake a 44 week Clinical Learning in Practice (CLiP) placement where you will have the opportunity to hone your clinical skills. During this year you will work in clinical practice under the supervision of a Registered Optometrist.
This year of study and the CLiP replace the previous BSc Optometry Pre-Registration scheme. 

“I went to a Specsavers for my placement week, and I really enjoyed my time there. I got to see first-hand how the optometry practice worked and by sitting in with optometrists I was able to see cataracts on a real patient, problems such as macular degeneration and even some special emergency cases. Everyone was so welcoming and friendly, and it allowed me to see how different professions work together within the practice to provide the best quality care for the patients. Doing it in the first year was very useful as it allowed me to gain a deeper insight into optometry.”

Samia, MOptom (Hons) Optometry Student
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