Transcript of BMSA Presents: Career Catalyst Episode 3: BMSc to Optometrist Assistant
Maria (interviewer) (M): Hello and welcome to Career Catalyst: BMSA’s Pathways in Science where we interview past Medical Sciences students in various Science-related careers. My name is Maria and today we are joined by the lovely Zainab. So firstly, do you want to tell us a little bit about yourself, what your module was, and what your current career is?
Zainab (Z): Very so, my name is Zainab, and just this past June I graduated from the BMSc program, I was in the interdisciplinary Medical Sciences or IMS module, and I guess one thing about me is I'm actually used to being on the other side of this. I've done podcasts but I'm used to interviewing instead of being interviewed so it's definitely weird to be here, but I think it's a good experience for sure. And right now I'm working as an optometric assistant at a local optometry clinic and I'm planning to pursue optometry in the future so I'm applying right now for next September, so God willing that's that'll be my next step.
M: Nice! And then just following up with that, tell us a little bit about your path leading up to your current career.
Z: Yeah, so it wasn't a clear one. It wasn't something that I chose from day one. I went to into the BMSc program wanting to go to Med school like a lot of students do, and then that changed to public health, and then optometry, and then maybe dentistry, and then back to optometry. So it's definitely been a journey. A joke that my friends and family says is they told me to do the LSAT because that's the only standardized test that I haven't taken yet for a professional school. So it hasn't been a clear one but I think it was certain experiences I had in undergrad and outside of undergrad that made me realize aspects that I want to be a part of my future career. That kept pushing me to optometry. In the summer before my fourth year, I decided to shadow an optometrist and that kind of solidified everything and it gave me a feel of the environment and what the career is like. So ever since I've been diving deeper into it.
M: Just following up with that, what were those experiences in your undergraduate studies that led you to kind of change your perspective about what you wanted to do?
Z: Yeah so, I would say the first thing was my experience being a soph, I think that was one of the most meaningful experiences. I was on the off campus team in 3rd year, and I think those one-on-one interactions with the first-year students were just so meaningful that I knew I wanted back to be part of my future career. So that was the first thing. Then in the summer before my 4th year, I worked with Visual Loss Rehabilitation Canada and that gave me kind of an insight into vision loss and its effect on people's quality of life, people's independence. And that's an area that I took particular interest in my 4th year, I took a lot of one-health courses and that taught us a lot about you know prevention of diseases and things like that. So I saw that intersection between optometry and public health, and that made me dive even deeper into it.
M: I know that you said you were a soph, how would you say this experience and leadership opportunity prepared you for your career? Were there any transferable skills that you gained that you would say are applicable to your nowaday life in your current career?
Z: Oh absolutely, I think the biggest part of optometry is those one-on-one interactions with your patients that's what you spend the bulk of your time on. The same skills that you would use when you're interacting with even other sophs or first-year students, those interpersonal communication skills, patience, organization, and being able to think on the spot and problem-solve as you go. These are really the same skills that you would apply to sophing and then optometry as well.
M: Nice, and then just about your current career, what do you enjoy about it? Then I guess also when you were in the BMSc undergraduate program what were some things that you enjoyed about it and what are some things that you didn't really enjoy that much about the program?
Z: I'll start with my current position right now; what I would say I enjoy most is definitely the interactions with people and the range of ages we get. I think that's what was especially - we get people from toddlers to 90-plus-year-old seniors. I think that range really kind of makes you see what the outside world is. I think as students we're still confined to interacting with people you know within our age, but when you go out there, I think that's been the most meaningful thing. We have a lot of moments, small things like kids putting on glasses for the first time and seeing and their reaction to that is always so sweet. So these are definitely my favourite things, and being able to problem solve and just get something that works best for the patients. What I don't enjoy about the BMSc program I would say maybe that it’s we didn't get a lot of flexibility in the first two years. I know it was good to get our basis in science, but I enjoyed my fourth year the most out of my program and I just wished we had more of that. [It was] more project-based, we had a lot of presentations, we got to create our own projects and all of that. Rather than the usual tests and midterms in first and second year, and also the smaller class size. I know it's a big program, but when we got smaller class sizes in fourth year, I think I learned way more, and I remember what I learned. Whereas in first and second year, I feel like I don't remember a lot of it.
M: Being in the BMSc program for 3rd and 4th year you do get more of the flexibility to choose what courses you want to do. How important would you say it was for you to be able to choose those courses that you were interested and passionate about?
Z: So, we got a lot of choice in 3rd year, and I think even when you don't end up liking what you choose when you know that it's something you chose because you thought you might be interested in it I think that's a help in itself. Because if you don't like it then you know what you don't like which is also valuable. But I think going into my fourth year I really liked the prevention aspect of diseases and working upstream rather than the downstream treatments. So more of public awareness, managing diseases at early stages, detecting diseases at early stages, that kind of thing. So that's where I dived into one health to the one health 3300 I think, it was the intro to one health, and then the 4800 which was special topics in one help. I think these are definitely one of the most memorable courses I took in undergrad, I guess shout out to Dr. Stephanie Frisbee for that, she was definitely a huge part in making me realize what area I want to work in the future. When I saw that intersection with optometry, I really saw myself getting involved in that, so that was kind of one thing. I also took a lot of courses in 3rd and 4th year that made me realize what I don't want to do. I took pharm courses and things like that that made me realize that research and that kind of - I wouldn't say detail - but that depth is not what I really like, [I like] more big picture kind of things rather than the details.
M: Amazing. So what does a typical day in your life look like for your career? Also what are some challenges that you've had to deal with while on the job?
Z: Yeah, so we start at a different time every day, we don't really have consistent hours but it's more so like different every day. I would say the first thing is getting set up and getting the machines on, seeing what the schedules are like for the day, and then taking on the first patient. I do all the testing part of it, so if you've gone to an optometrist’s office you do that pre-testing with the farmhouse or the hot air balloon picture that comes in and out of focus, and then I do the retinal photos which is a picture of the back of your eye, and I take the prescription off of you know someone's wearing glasses. If needed, then I send them to the doctor, and if any more testing is needed such as visual field testing if we're concerned about peripheral vision things, I do that there is OCT testing which is more about the layers of the back of the eye, so I do all the testing but as the optometrist, she sees the patients and assesses everything. I don't know a whole lot about that but that's kind of what I want to go on to do and that's what I do right now. It's a lot of interaction with patients, it's a lot of things that come up on the spot - the machine is not working, so a lot of problem-solving that happens on the spot. I guess you said challenges?
M: Yeah, I guess you just think quickly on your feet, especially with those technological problems.
Z: I mean I only started in the summer, but you get to learn so much when your there every day. It surprises me, I was talking to my coworkers the other day and I didn't even realize it's been almost 10 months since I started. It goes by so fast. I would say one of the challenges of it is the customer service part of it because there's definitely - they purchased the glasses from us too, so adjusting that, making sure their satisfied with that. It's easier with some people than others so having that patience and having that ability to communicate with them in the best way that you can.
M: Being patient is a skill that is really transferable for anything, and I think going back to your leadership role for a soph, I feel like you have to be quite patient for that as well. So moving on to our next question what are some essential qualities that you think are important to have especially for someone who is interested in pursuing optometry
Z: I guess we talked about patience and interpersonal communication, but I would also mention emotional intelligence and being able to read the room and cater to different people. I think different people take different modes of communication and different kind of ways to deliver something best to them, so I think being able to assess that and cater to people is a really important thing. I would also think, patient flow, I'm not sure if this is this a skill, but being on top of everything and knowing what the schedule is. Being organized and knowing which patient is where and who to take next. Then seeing what amount of time you have so it's really problem solving and being organized together.
M: For sure, what is one piece of advice you would give to your past self if you could travel back in time?
Z: Yeah so I would say if it's in undergrad, asking for help. I feel like that's something that - I don't know if it's just me - but I tried to figure so many things out on my own when it would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of stress to ask people that have gone through similar things to let me know. What I keep reminding myself of, is when people come to me for help I never think it's a bother, it's always something that I'm happy to do and it makes me happy when people reach out. So why would I think that other people wouldn't be willing to do that? A really big thing for me is just asking for help when you need that and not trying to do everything on your own. Because even when you graduate you never really do things on your own. You have to rely on people here and there, so trying to be too independent can be something that really costs you a lot of time and a lot of stress.
M: Yeah, for sure, I think that piece of advice is super useful not only for me but all of our listeners as well. I know I'm always scared to ask for help because I don't want to bother or annoy anyone, and I know some people are definitely scared to ask for help because they have impostor syndrome. If they do ask for help, they feel like they're somehow less intelligent or they don't fit in with the rest of the Medical Science program when you mentioned like that's not really the case. Especially when – like you said – people especially in the BMC community are actually willing to provide that support without judgment and actually offer advice with open arms. And I think that's something that's - as you mentioned - applicable even after our undergraduate studies, such as in professional work settings. Because there's always going to be times where you don't know something, or you need help with something and having that ability to actually ask for help is something I believe is so important and I believe a lot of people will really use that piece of advice. Touching back to a previous question, was there anything that you did in your undergraduate studies that further motivated you to pursue optometry? Especially since you mentioned that you really enjoyed the patient interaction side of your work.
Z: So, we mentioned the sophing, and I think that's what we made me realize about the interactions with people. I think I got a lot of sense of meaning and purpose out of it that I you know I knew that's something I want to be a part of my future career. I always bold so apart of the ASA which is the Arab Student Association for a couple of years. That made me realize the importance of community and that really pushed me more towards that community health and public health side of things. Even though it's very different, but I think it made me realize really as a community helping each other. And really the preventing diseases instead of letting it go for so on that impacts your quality of life and costs you more than it has to. Then, going forward I did podcasting with Humans of Western and the Peer Support Centre in fourth year. Those things also made me really passionate about community outreach and public education and that side of things. That kind of made me focus on that. Knowing that intersection of optometry in public health because I see myself getting involved with the patient side of it and then also with the public outreach and public education part of it too.
M: Just another question regarding your current career, what would you say are some of the opportunities or things you find yourself learning even on a day-to-day basis?
Z: I’m definitely learning a lot every day, especially in the beginning, it was a big learning curve because it was all these new machines, a different world that I had to get caught up to. But I guess some of the things I’m still learning about now are about glasses and lenses. You can do so much with it. Some people have two prescriptions in one and trying to adjust and play with the height of where the first one ends, and the second one begins. It’s a lot of listening to what the patient needs and trying to cater based on that. I think that is something that I’m really trying to work on. Besides that, also the technical part of that, understanding those lenses, the materials, what are we measuring when we take those heights, things like that. So that would be more on the glasses side of it. And then with the testing part of it, I’m learning a lot about how the machines work and how to navigate when things go wrong. And also, a bit more about the results of it, so when I'm doing visual field tests, I used to just take it to the doctor right away to tell me if I need to repeat anything or if this test is good enough or not. But now I’m able to more assess myself if it is a good test, or if are there a lot of false negatives and false positives, should I repeat that? Was the patient distracted a little bit? Did I see that they weren’t doing their best, and we could give them a better try? I think assessing that situation and assessing the results of the test to see if it’s a good one or not is something I’m getting more comfortable with. And the same thing goes for the retinal pictures, I can see if there is a smudge on the lens or if it is actually in their eye, I think I’m getting better at that. So it’s really things like that I think.
M: Nice, and then to any listeners right now who might be interested in pursuing optometry, do you have any advice to help them decide whether this is the right career for them?
Z: Yeah, I think the biggest thing you can do, you can read a lot about it and you can do all your research and that teaches you a lot but it can only take you so far. I would say the biggest thing is taking time to shadow an optometrist and really be in that environment and see how the flow is with, what the day-to day is like. Be able to ask the optometrist questions because you know from all the optometrists I've interacted to I've never gotten one that's not so eager to help and so eager to answer your questions. I think that's a really valuable thing to do because you know optometry is a four year program. So you're committing to another four years of school and it's not something you want to take lightly. So, it's good to have a feel of the profession first before diving into it. I think taking the time to shadow an optometrist really gives you that feel and answers a lot of questions that you might not be able to answer by reading and doing all that. One other thing is there's a podcast, again I'm a podcast person, it's the 2020 podcast by Dr. Harbir Sian that gives you a lot about the future of optometry, specific fields within optometry, and all of that, so I think that's a good one to listen to and to check out as well.
M: What are some final words you have to say to the BMSc students listening who may be going through some confusion during this whole process, including figuring out what they want to do after their undergraduate studies?
Z: Yeah, I think taken at your own pace, don't rush things, and in some ways, it's good to be confused because that means you're thinking about what you want to be and what you want to do next. That means you want it to be intentional and purposeful. So, I think that it’s a good thing to be confused instead of doing anything just for the sake of doing it. I think embracing that and also taking your time to do it. I think one of the main things I've learned this year not being a student for the first time in my life is that no one cares if you're 22 or 26 going to school. That is something that I feel like as students we set for ourselves, it's a timeline that we put for ourselves, but it doesn't mean much outside of our own student bubble. So don't rush yourself, take your time to think about that. When opportunities come to you, even if it's not something you thought you'd be interested in, keep an open mind because even if it's not directly something that you want to do, it might make you realize things and different little aspects that you want to be a part of your future career. So you might be a little bit closer to it, right? So take on different experiences, be open to what comes your way and definitely no need to rush it. You don't need to look at what other people are doing and compare yourself to that timeline. Cause you’re on your own journey they're on their own so it's not something that you have to compare or do the same as other people.
M: Yeah, for sure, I think there is a lot of key takeaways and key lessons in what you just said. Especially in the BMSc program, sometimes people feel the need to compete with others or compare themselves to others. When in reality, every person is different and they're going to have their own unique life and you should structure it according to what you're passionate about instead of comparing yourself. And being like this person's doing this so I also have to do this.
Z: Yeah, you should build it in the way like how you want to and if you're taking a year off of school that doesn't mean you're not learning anything in that year, or developing in another way. So, it's not wasting [time].
M: And then, looking back, is there anything you would have done differently during your BMSc studies or early career?
Z: I don't think so, I think there is a lot of things honestly that didn't go well during undergrad or that I wasn't super happy with, whether it's courses or grades or experiences. But I don't think I would go back and change it. Because I think I learned from those bad experiences too, and I think at the end of the day it brought me to where I am now which I'm very happy and grateful for. So, definitely I don't want to change it and I think it's those bad experiences that are more memorable and really teach you a lot even if you don't see it in the moment. I think later on when you look back at it, one you don't care that it was a bad experience because it's just so small in the grand scheme of things, and the second thing is you really see that you got something out of it that's really important. So, I wouldn't change anything, even if it wasn't the best.
M: Yeah, that's a really good piece of advice. Especially because I know a lot of the listeners can probably relate to it, because I can relate to it too. I think especially in the BMSc program students often beat themselves up or get discouraged when they don't meet their own expectations. But what you said is true about how even the bad experiences make you a stronger person. We’ve heard the saying, you learn the most from your mistakes, but I think it's just such an important point to reiterate and remind ourselves of. Because as students we constantly put this pressure on ourselves to achieve excellence when in reality we don't always have to be perfect, just as long as we are learning from the mistakes we make along the way. With that, I would like to extend a big thank you to Zainab for coming and taking the time to speak about your experience and also share so many great pieces of advice that I know will be especially useful to our listeners and those in the BMSc program, myself included. This was the BMSA podcast for Zainab. Check back on our website and social media platforms for episodes of other career paths of fellow medical science students. Thank you all for listening and we hope this has been helpful.