Congratulations go to Mr Dirosan Yogasivapalan, a pre-registration optometrist who has just passed his professional qualifying exams in April. Having studied for a three year degree in Optometry at City University London where he graduated in 2019 having gained a BSc (Hons) 2:1 Optometry, Dirosan gained valuable experience during the summer months working at Specsavers Hounslow, where he was supervised by the team. This enabled him to gain invaluable work experience over a period of three years and provided him with the opportunity to put his academic theory into practice.

Specsavers Hounslow offers ophthalmic graduates a ‘fourth year’ of training, or a pre-registration year, so Dirosan was able to formalise his clinical and patient experience. This training year involves testing patients under supervision and being regularly assessed by the College of Optometrists, who run the professional examinations. Dirosan also had to complete 16 Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OCSE) style station exams during the pre-registration year, whereby he was presented with typical clinical scenarios.

The pre-registration training offered by Specsavers Hounslow takes place within a structured environment, with the support of a dedicated team and optometry supervisor Mrs Rekha Rudra. This onsite mentoring provided Dirosan with first-hand experience of working directly with the public whilst carrying out clinical duties.

Dirosan Yogasivapalan, Specsavers Hounslow Optometrist commented; ‘I really appreciate the support and mentoring offered by Specsavers Hounslow. They provided me with the opportunity to qualify in my chosen field of optometry, through their robust mentoring graduate scheme. This enabled me to gain clinical patient experience, which was particularly valuable during the last year with the pandemic situation and the ensuring difficulties.’

Ranna Rai, Specsavers Hounslow Optometrist Director said; `I am extremely proud of Dirosan who has managed to qualify during these very difficult times because of the Covid-19 pandemic. He is the forty third member of our team that we have helped to pass their professional qualification examinations. This is a testament to the entire store team and particularly our optometry supervisor, Mrs Rekha Rudra.

Mr Rai continued; ‘Dirosan was also incredibly flexible over the last year, turning his hand to any requirement we had in-store. Specsavers Hounslow has supported the training of twenty nine Optometrists, one Contact Lens Optician and thirteen Dispensing Opticians. Our store team is incredibly proud of this achievement and the career opportunities this affords those individuals. We all wish Dirosan every success with his career.’