Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked in partnership with the British and Irish Orthoptic Society to develop an elearning programme that offers an accessible insight into the career in orthoptics.

The learning resource is an alternative to face to face career experiences to enable the learner to gain an understanding of what a career in orthoptics includes and the skills and knowledge required.
The aim of the programme is to bridge the knowledge gap between the rational and emotional benefits of orthoptics and what students can expect to study at university. The interactive content demonstrates the complexity of the course to appeal to those with a strong science background, who may be considering a medical career.
The elearning modules explore 4 specific areas that underpin an orthoptist’s knowledge base to practice as an autonomous clinician:

* Vision function and how this is closely associated to brain development
* Binocular vision
* Eye muscle control and strabismus
* The cranial nerves – and how disease can present as eye symptoms

The programme is aimed at students to demonstrate how science subjects relate to ‘real life’ jobs. Students may wish to access the learning with other career influencers such as career advisors, family and friends. The programme also lends itself as a recruitment tool for mature students, career changers and ex-armed forces and complements other work streams created by the Strategic Interventions in Health Education Disciplines (SIHED) project and Health Education England.

For more information about the elearning programme, including details on how to access, visit the Orthoptics Careers Overview programme page.