ABDO College response to new GOC survey

Responding to the General Optical Council (GOC) research findings that only 26 per cent of newly qualified dispensing opticians felt as though the clinical experience received during their studies was insufficient, compared to 60 per cent of newly qualified optometrists, Jo Underwod, Principal of ABDO College, says:

“It is good to read that 74% of newly qualified dispensing opticians were satisfied with the level of clinical experience they receive during training and well prepared for life as a qualified dispensing optician. In comparison only 40% of newly qualified optometrists were satisfied.”

ABDO College is a leading provider of optical training in the UK, and 49% of respondents to the GOC survey trained with the college, significantly more than any other college providing training in dispensing optics. Jo Underwood continues, “The survey results reflect well on the nature of our blended learning programmes at ABDO College, which integrate continuous study with employment in practice and block attendance. This gives the students access to real and unselected patients throughout their study.” She adds, “It would be interesting to interrogate these results in more detail to determine if there are differences in response for students studying by full time, day release and blended learning modes.”

The team at ABDO College continually strives to improve their training offer, and Jo Underwood says, “At ABDO College we are currently attempting to increase the consistency of the practical experience by producing more supervisor guidance on line.”

Further to this finding, the survey also uncovered that 14% of optometrists felt that their time during the entire period of education and training was too short compared to 1% of dispensing opticians.