LEARNING AND ADVANCING

I’m the sort of person who likes to know how things work. It keeps me up at night when I have a problem I can’t solve, and there’s not much I like doing more than taking something apart, fixing it, and putting it back together.

Right now, on my work bench I have a set of bike pedals stripped to their individual pieces that I sort of regret unscrewing – more pieces than I was expecting fell out. However, the consequences of that are minimal – I’ve read the manual, so with some time and patience they should be back in full working order. Perfection can be the enemy of good in that scenario – perhaps all they needed was to be cleaned and lubricated. In my clinical practice though, what I’ve described isn’t an appropriate way to work – the consequences of getting something wrong could be significant, so trying things you’re not experienced in isn’t safe.

I qualified as an IP optometrist over a decade ago, and in that time the way I treat eye conditions has changed – but that doesn’t mean I know everything, and it is still important for me to reflect on treatments provided – especially when it hasn’t gone as expected.

I have seen a few patients recently where the treatment required had to be changed after a few days. I struggle to say that those treatments were a ‘failure’ – but it is important to know what you don’t know and seek advice if you’re not sure. Sometimes, with hindsight, I would have initiated that treatment sooner, but sometimes it was just the natural course of the condition when what was reasonable treatment, using my experience and guidance, needed to be escalated. It isn’t appropriate to just ‘have a go,’ but reflecting on your practice and using that to improve is part of being a professional. One benefit of experience is being able to tell patients what to expect because I’ve seen it before (and I write that down). That way you can modify the treatment at an early stage if required – and you’re also telling the patient that the future can be difficult to predict, but this is how we’ll manage any issues. I hope that I spend the rest of my career, not making mistakes, but reflecting on the treatment I provide and using that learning to improve what I do.