CAREERS
Career: Optometrist
The eyes have it – meet a far-seeing, short-sighted optometrist, Mark Daly
Mark Daly, Optician
Mark Daly loves working as an optometrist, yet he became one almost by accident.
“I wasn’t terribly interested in science, although I did do Biology for the Leaving Certificate. My parents were doctors but I didn’t want to do medicine. When I went for an eye test the year before I sat the Leaving Cert., however, I was really impressed by what I saw and I thought I’d give it a try.” Little did he realise that his decision would launch him on a career path that would take him to the top of his profession - Mark is now president of the Association of Optometrists of Ireland (AOI).
Why I like my job
“I really like the idea of helping people to see better and sometimes I even help to save someone’s eyesight. I love it when people leave here telling me, ‘You’ve taken a load off my mind’, or when someone puts on spectacles for the first time and says, ‘Gosh, that’s great, I can see now’.”
In training
After school at Belvedere College in Dublin city centre, Mark studied Optometry at DIT Kevin Street, the only optometry course in the Irish Republic. “It’s one of those courses where you go straight into the profession once you’ve graduated, so I’ve been working ever since.” You can also study optometry at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.
A few optometrists specialise – some in contact lenses, for instance – but most stay in general practice. Mark Daly and his business partner Kevin Manning run their joint private practice in Dublin city. “Our practice is general and the work is very varied. And there is the added challenge of running your own business.” But if you don’t want to run a business, you don’t have to. There are plenty of openings in independent practices and in high street ‘chains’, all of which employ optometrists.
My typical day
“I know nearly all my customers, so each appointment usually starts with a chat, and then we discuss their symptoms and why they’ve come to see me. Then we go through a ‘refraction’ [eye test], and work out whether they need glasses. Not everyone who comes in actually needs glasses - they might be having problems because of poor lighting or glare in their office.”
The most important thing, Mark says, is to have good personal skills. “It’s like being a doctor; you need to have a good bedside manner, especially if someone is worried that they might be going blind.”
Over the last 20 years Mark has seen big changes in how lenses for spectacles are made. With the arrival of new materials such as plastics and glasses with a high refractive index, lenses can be made thinner and lighter than ever before. It’s a small scientific achievement that everyone who wears glasses can appreciate!
Starting salary
A graduate fresh out of an Optometry course can hope for a starting salary of €27-30,000, according to the AOI.