BLOG: BCLA Student Ambassadors attend the AOP Conference

Hundreds of students attended the AOP Conference, and BCLA member Rebecca Thomas shared her thoughts in this exclusive blog.

“I attended the 3rd year stream, which was extremely useful in terms of what to expect from pre-reg year.

“Day 1 saw a presentation on employment law, given by a legal representative from the AOP legal team. It was very useful as it made us think twice before signing our pre reg contracts! 

“This was followed by Peer Discussion. It was interesting to see how students from other universities would deal with situations and it also highlighted areas where we needed to read over and familiarise ourselves with more.

“We were than split into different groups so all the students from each university were spread out so you could pick up different ways of remembering things. 

“We covered visual fields and the visual pathway, pupils and the afferent/efferent pathway, the perfect contact lens fit routine and Cover test. All really useful as it made you think of why you doing the test and there were college examiners giving you hints on how to conduct a cover test well and asking you questions as if you were being examined during the visits. 

“The keynote lecture was given by Sarah Morgan and the Gala Dinner gave us all a chance to talk to people from other unis and chat to old friends.

“Day two saw us receive tips on how to adapt questions for different people, helpful hints on staying organised and how to achieve competencies. 

“Talks on the future of optometry gave us a chance to see what it is going to be like for us once we qualify. As technology grows and becomes more prominent in everyday life it is important for practices to stay on the ball with the changing world around them. 

“The exhibition was, as usual, amazing, with so many different companies to talk to.

“Overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was really helpful as it put things into perspective and gave us lots of tips for clinics and dealing with real patients. I recommend it to all third years.”