Jessica Tame

I have lived in Sydney Australia my whole life with my older brother and parents. I had the privilege of attending Loreto Kirribilli and then went on to study Medical Sciences. Whilst growing up, I was a scout and later went on to gain leadership qualifications. I used this to lead the Killara Scout troop as well as a disabilities Scout troop.

I decided to pursue Orthoptics after a memorable experience at an eye clinic. A few years ago, I had a consultation with a lady who did some tests on my eyes. I found what she was doing extremely interesting and I asked what her role was. She told me she was an Orthoptist. I was near the end of my Medical science degree and knew I wanted to stay within the health industry and interact with patients directly. I investigated pathways to becoming an orthoptist and found the UTS Master of Orthoptics. I applied straight away. The Orthoptics profession appealed to me because it appeared to allow me to combine patient interaction with opportunity for further research.

I chose to study at UTS because of its location, reputation and facilities. The facilities at UTS allow us to practice performing diagnostic tasks whist in tutorials, ultimately enabling us to feel more at ease once on placement with real patients. The cohort size is small compared to undergraduate studies and you become great friends seeing your classmates every day. The teachers are leading figures in the profession and are also very approachable and interactive, which really helps you engage further with the course.

The most rewarding aspect of the course is knowing that what I am learning will one day help a patient restore, improve or maintain their vision and improve their quality of life. This makes me want to take every opportunity I can to learn whilst here at UTS.

I have definitely changed and developed during my studies. I believe this course has really allowed me to uncover my professional passion. I really enjoy learning about ocular conditions and I’m so excited to start putting it all into action when I graduate. This passion has made me more dedicated towards my studies. I’m always proactively finding new ways I can improve and learn.

The assessments are complimentary to what is happening in class. They typically take a case study approach, aiming to apply the theoretical content taught in class to real life situations.

One of our subjects - Therapy, Management and Rehabilitation - introduces us to people who are vision impaired. They talk to us about how the ocular disorder they have affects their quality of life, what their major challenges are and what forms of rehabilitation helps them. These guests are so helpful in allowing us to understand the burden they are experiencing from their visual impairment and understand that management goes beyond what happens in clinic.  

Both lecturers and tutors are only a phone call away and available everyday if you ever have an issue. They are never too busy and always willing to talk you through a concept or query you have. Additionally, as the cohort is so small, you tend to do everything together, helping one another to work through problems. UTS also offers university wide programs such as HELPS that can assist those looking for extra help in academic literacy.

This degree has opened my eyes to the opportunities available in Orthoptics and the importance of the profession. I have had the opportunity to be placed all around Sydney so I’ve learnt from a diverse range of clinicians. I will also get the opportunity to partake in an international or rural placement later this year.

I am currently writing a children’s picture book with friends to raise awareness about the sight-threatening disease Amblyopia. The book is still in its infancy, but the aim is to improve compliance among children undergoing amblyopia treatment. The book project also aims to tackle issues such as bullying towards children who use an eyepatch. By raising awareness, we hope that children feel less stigmatised and more compliant in their disease management (i.e. it will encourage the child to leave the eye patch on at school).

Next year when I graduate I hope to work in the eye clinic of a public hospital or a general private clinic so I can see patients with a variety of eye conditions. In the future, I would love to work in London and strengthen my skills in pure orthoptic work. That would be the dream.

My advice for future students: just keep swimming! This course does have a full work load but is extremely interesting and rewarding to say the least.