Why be an Orthoptist?

Clear eyesight offers humans a priceless window to the world. If you’re looking for a rewarding healthcare profession, that can vastly improve peoples’ quality of life, you won’t get much past restoring the gift of sight.

Whether you devote yourself to in-clinic patient care, manage a clinic and its staff, develop the field through research, educate the community, or teach new students, orthoptics has a lot to offer. Here are a few of the top reasons to enter this field:

Excellent job prospects

Demand for orthoptists in Australia is growing due to the ageing population and increased diabetes and age-related macular degeneration etc. According to the Australian Government, the number of orthoptists grew strongly between 2014 and 2018 and will continue to grow strongly until at least 2023. Your chance of professional employment soon after graduating is highly likely.

Multiple pathways

The breadth of specialisations within orthoptics is substantial and you might, for example, decide to focus on glaucoma, retinal disorders or paediatric care. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to continue as a generalist working across all areas of the field, that’s possible too.

Work locally or globally

There are plentiful job opportunities throughout urban and rural Australia. Or if you have globe-trotting ambitions, orthoptists with an Australian qualification are often eligible to practice internationally.

A variety of workplace options

Orthoptists work in public and private practice, hospitals, low vision agencies, eye research centres and a wide variety of healthcare facilities including geriatrics, neonatal care, rehabilitation, paediatrics, neurological impairment and community services.

A rewarding people-centred profession

By putting the patient at the centre of everything they do, and working closely with the whole multidisciplinary healthcare team, orthoptics is a people-centred profession that comes with enormous job satisfaction.

Diversity of experience

Every day will be different. Full of challenges, rewards and different ways to harness your skills to provide the best outcome for your clients.

Flexibility

Orthoptics is a very flexible profession and you will often be able to negotiate work times and arrangements that suit you and your family.

Transferrable skills

You’ll develop specific and versatile skills in eye health, but you’ll also gain a wide range of valuable transferrable personal and professional skills. These include problem-solving and communicating effectively within a multidisciplinary team.

Life-long learning

Healthcare technology is fast-evolving, and the profession is on the cutting edge of new technologies and treatments making it an exciting and dynamic area to be involved in. You’ll find ongoing opportunities to broaden your experience or specialise in your key areas of interest.