personal statement for optometry

Student Good Guide

The best UK online resource for students

Optometry Personal Statement

Use this Optometry personal statement example as an inspiration to write your own for the UK university application, if you are applying to study Optometry course.

Finding a profession that both fulfils one’s intellectual interests and provides a sense of purpose is the key to a rewarding career. It would be necessary for me to pursue a career with a solid scientific aspect to work, since I have always been fascinated by the fields of biology and chemistry, with the objective of helping people every day. As a result of my involvement in various work placements within the health sector, I have come to realize that optometry is a profession that allows me to combine both. I have been captivated by human anatomy because of my studies in sciences at school. Studying biology has allowed me to gain a great deal of insight into how the human body develops diseases and how it attempts to fight them – sometimes unsuccessfully. Studying Level Chemistry has reinforced my understanding of biochemistry, which has been of particular interest to me. In school, I have thoroughly enjoyed studying biology and chemistry, and I look forward to applying what I have learned in these subjects to gain a detailed understanding of ocular science.

An extended work placement at a local optician helped me gain a deeper understanding of optometry both as a field of study and a profession. I shadowed different opticians as they performed eye tests and contact lens fittings during the placement. The importance of good communication skills in optometry has become apparent to me. Customers and patients would have a much more difficult time navigating what can often be complex procedures without them. In cases where patients are suffering from vision problems or are distressed by the prospect of undergoing tests, opticians should also act with empathy and patience. In the laboratory, I also had the opportunity to observe – and sometimes participate in – the lens and frame preparation processes during my placement. As a result of this experience, I have a much better understanding of the different types of lenses that are used in glasses, as well as the technical skills involved in making them. Since I found the work placement so rewarding, I have continued to volunteer every Saturday at the same optician.

I have also carried out a work placement at a local pharmacy. This experience encouraged me to develop some of the personal skills that I believe are necessary for working as an optician. During the placement, I had the opportunity to interact with customers. Through this, I learnt how much I enjoy work in which I can offer advice to people, and also felt a gratifying sense of responsibility in response to the fact that the advice I gave them regarding non-prescription medication could play a role in alleviating the symptoms of their health problems.

In my spare time, I have participated in a range of activities that also allow me to be involved in helping people. In Year 12 I mentored a group of Year 7 students; I enjoyed being able to make them feel less apprehensive about starting life in secondary school. I have been involved with several fund-raising initiatives for Afrikids and Cancer Research, such as selling cakes and doing a sponsored walk. These activities gave me a sense of satisfaction by allowing me to work as part of a team with a common goal. My sense of teamwork has also been improved by my involvement in my school’s hockey and netball teams. On a more personal note, I am a highly enthusiastic musician; I play the guitar, and also particularly enjoy traditional Indian music. I have found learning to play an instrument to be both an outlet for self-expression and a way of developing my skills of perseverance. I am also an avid reader of fiction, in particular stories that ignite my sense of adventure, such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland.

Recommended reading:

• Personal Statement Examples
• How to Write a Personal Statement for a PhD
• UCAS Personal Statement: A Writing Guide And Tips For Success
• How to Write a Personal Statement That Stands Out
• Tips for Writing a Personal Statement for the University
• How to Write UCAS Reference Letter

Become an Inspiring Future ODs Ambassador!            LEARN MORE

• futureeyedoc.org
• ASCO Learning Center
• Optometry Admission Test
• Optometry Programs Admissions Directory
• Residency Programs
• ASCOConnect
• Meetings & Events
• Sponsorship Opportunities

Inside OptomCAS Part II: Your Personal Statement for Applying to Optometry School

In the previous post, we zoomed in on the Letters of Evaluation (LOEs) section of the application for optometry school, clarifying requirements and providing some pearls for effectively fulfilling them. This time we turn our attention to another crucial part of the application: the personal statement, a.k.a., the essay.

The LOEs and the personal statement [both of which you’ll manage through the  Optometry Centralized Application Service (OptomCAS)]  are relied upon heavily by the schools and colleges of optometry as they determine whether you’re the type of person who can succeed as a student in their programs and as a future optometrist. Your official instructions for composing the essay are as follows: “Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals. Your essay should be limited to 4500 characters.”

While the instructions have a kind of “just the facts,” flat quality, your essay will need to be the opposite of that in order to provide the admissions office with information they’ll notice and appreciate. According to Michael Bacigalupi, OD, MS, FAAO, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs & Admissions at Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry (NSU), “The personal statement allows me to get to know a student much better than just filling out blank spaces and checking off boxes on an application. It gives me a better sense of who the applicant is. Through the personal statement, students can convey what we’re looking for, which is motivation, dedication and a love of the profession of optometry. Those qualities aren’t measurable by OAT scores and GPAs.” By the way, Dr. Bacigalupi uses the word “love” of the profession on purpose. “I want students to be passionate about becoming an optometrist,” he says. “Like in any health profession, the rewards can be substantial, but the road to success is not easy, so you have to love it.”

Like some other schools and colleges of optometry, NSU requires applicants to submit an essay in addition to the personal statement. In fact, they ask for two supplemental essays. The two essay questions change from time to time, but for the last application cycle they were: 1) “What specifically are your reasons for choosing to apply to Nova Southeastern University College of Optometry?” and 2) “Professional school is very challenging. What experiences in your life and/or undergraduate career have prepared you for the rigors of optometry school?”

Dr. Bacigalupi says the statements and essays (he reads about 3,000 per year) that catch his attention are the ones that tell a story and talk about a crossroad or a serious decision an applicant made in life that led him or her to optometry as a career. He cites as an example, “Let’s say someone was an at-risk youth but realized that’s not the way he or she wanted to end up so instead took the right path and decided to focus on school. That’s a story that illustrates motivation.” He also recalls an essay from an applicant who had temporarily lost his vision, which led to the realization of how important sight is in daily life and the desire to help safeguard it for others. Don’t worry if your experiences aren’t as dramatic as those, Dr. Bacigalupi says, just be honest while providing insight into who you really are.

Essays that definitely don’t impress are those that seem to be quickly thrown together or are poorly crafted and contain spelling or grammar errors. “What comes across through those things is that the applicant rushed through this step without much care, which may indicate a lack of commitment or that this isn’t that important to him or her,” Dr. Bacigalupi explains. He recommends having another person or people, perhaps with no ties to optometry, read the personal statement with an eye toward content, grammar and readability before it’s submitted. “That gives you insight into whether it’s readable and will be effective,” he says.

Need more inspiration and ideas about what to write about in your personal statement? ASCO points out in its Optometry Career Guide that, in general, optometry schools are looking for students who can demonstrate strong academic commitment as well as exhibit the potential to excel in deductive reasoning, interpersonal communication and empathy. They like to attract well-rounded candidates who have achieved not only in the classroom but also in other areas, such as in leadership ability. A disposition to serve others and a work ethic characterized by dedication and persistence are other desirable qualities. Adds Dr. Bacigalupi, “We want to see in the statement and essays that we’d be admitting teachable students who ultimately will make good colleagues; therefore, the right balance of people skills and academic abilities is very important.”

The 2015-2016  OptomCAS application  cycle opens on July 1, so the time to start working on your essay is right about now. Good luck!

Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry

Postal address: 143 Rollins Ave #2046 Rockville, MD 20847

Tel: (301) 231-5944 Fax: (301) 770-1828 About ASCO / Contact Us

• Professional Development
• Faculty Directory
• Data & Reports
• Optometric Education Leadership Institute
• Committees, Task Forces, SIGs & Groups
• International Optometric Education
• Clinical Preceptors’ Toolkit
• ASCO Policy Guidelines & Reports
• Jobs / Careers
• Graduate Education and Research
• Career Opportunities for Doctors of Optometry in Academia
• Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Practice
• ASCO Inspiring Future ODs Ambassador Program
• Resources for Applicants and Advisors
• ASCO Member Schools and Colleges
• Associate Member Schools
• Speaker Series Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Vision
• Diversity and Inclusion Resources
• Anti-Racism Compiled Resource List
• ASCO Cultural Competence
• Optometry Summer Programs
• Data & Surveys
• Resolutions
• Eye on Optometry Blog
• Additional Resources
• The Journal of Optometric Education
• ASCO Staff Contact Information
• Executive Committee and Board of Directors — page under construction
• Strategic Plan
• ASCO Code of Ethics and Statement of Values
• Thank You Sponsors!

How to Write a Personal Statement For Optometry School

Every year, the new application cycle for optometry schools in the US begins in late June. Students are required to fill out and submit their applications through the Optometry Centralized Application Service (OptomCAS). Within the OptomCAS portal, there are several required documents, such as a personal statement and supplementary essays. A personal statement is a written piece required by optometry schools in the US that demonstrates who the writer is as a person, their personal and academic goals, and why they would be a good fit for the optometry program. The personal statement prompt is as follows:

Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals.

How you choose to answer the prompt is up to you, but you must do so in 4500 characters, which is equal to approximately 750 words. Because of how broad the prompt is, getting started on your personal statement can be a daunting task. You want to be concise yet clearly describe your motivations and reasons for pursuing optometry. If you are struggling to get started or having trouble with the OptomCAS portal, feel free to keep reading or check out our OptomCAS Application Guide . In this article, we will discuss 8 tips to help you write the perfect personal statement .

1️⃣ Start Early

The OptomCAS application cycle begins in late June every year, and this year it opens on June 29 th , 2023. There is no better time to start than now, as maximizing the amount of time spent on your personal statement will allow for more time to reread and revise! Optometry schools in the US also run on a rolling admission basis, meaning that the earlier you submit your completed application, the more seats will be available in each class and the higher your chances of receiving admission. Therefore, you want to give yourself at least 3 months to get a rough draft down so that you can set it aside, revisit what you have written, and enhance it even further.

2️⃣ Find Your Angle

You are given 4500 characters, or around 750 words, for your personal statement. Due to this word limit, it’s important to get your main points across but in an engaging, eloquent way. Instead of simply listing reasons why you are qualified for optometry school or why you think a certain program would best fit you, consider using a narrative to share your story instead. For example, you could write about an experience that sparked your interest in optometry, a personal life obstacle that you had to overcome that made you who you are today, or even a relationship with a family member, mentor or optometrist that inspired you to change your career path.

3️⃣ Focus On Your Values

If you are struggling to get started on your personal statement, reflect on your three main reasons for choosing to pursue optometry and the values you want to uphold as a future healthcare practitioner. With these values in mind, you can then extend your thought process into discussing different work or shadowing experiences in order to showcase what you have learned and how these initiatives have reinforced your passion for optometry. For example, if life-long learning is an important aspect of optometry that drives your passion for the field, and you have seen first-hand how newly developing technology has shaped a patient’s life, you can describe the experience you had in seeing how much the patient was struggling with their condition and how much better they were doing after being treated. This can then be played into how much you value lifelong learning and how you hope not only to continue educating yourself but your patients as well.

4️⃣ Do Not Summarize Your Resume

As mentioned earlier, do not use your personal statement to simply list off your accomplishments. This includes your GPA, standardized testing scores (such as your OAT or GRE scores), and basic tasks that you performed at an optometry clinic. Instead, take this time to reflect and describe how you grew and what you learned from interacting with patients and doctors during your clinical experiences. The same idea also applies to listing off qualities of your personality that you believe set you apart from other applicants and make you suitable for the field. For instance, simply stating that you have excellent communication skills and work ethic will not support your personal statement and application very strongly if you do not provide any examples to demonstrate those characteristics.

5️⃣ Be Specific

Adding onto the last tip, you can describe your experiences through short personal anecdotes. Instead of writing a long, elaborate life story, use a short personal narrative that includes specific details like the names of doctors you worked with or certain ocular or health conditions you saw. This will help illustrate important experiences you had or aspects of the field that have facilitated your learning and reinforced your passion for optometry. In other words – show, not tell!

6️⃣ Minimize Negativity

Another point to keep in mind when writing your personal statement is to keep any negative talk to a minimum. Although negative experiences with an optometrist or health care provider may have been the driving force or spark to your interest in pursuing optometry, try to keep the description short so you can move on and discuss what you have learned from the experience instead. Use your writing to focus on how the experience shaped you or changed your outlook for the better. This also applies to negativity such as addressing poor grades or hardships in your life – if you believe mentioning these aspects will do more harm than good, consider not mentioning them at all in your personal statement. With the limited word count, it would be best to focus on the positives instead of accentuating your flaws.

7️⃣ Ask For Feedback

Lastly, make sure to ask for feedback before submitting your personal statement. This goes hand in hand with starting early, as you want to allow yourself enough time to get a rough first draft down and an improved second draft before sending your work out for feedback. Consider sharing your draft with people of different backgrounds and stages of life to get a variety of perspectives – this includes professors, mentors, current optometry students, optometrists, friends of different academic backgrounds, or a pre-health advisor, if possible. Ask specifically for constructive criticism, especially regarding how clearly your piece answers the personal statement prompt and how strongly your experiences support your points.

8️⃣ Read, Review, and Read Again

Once you have asked for feedback, take some time to make any adjustments according to the criticism received. Afterward, step away for a few days before revisiting your personal statement with fresh eyes to make any necessary changes. Set a personal deadline for when you will have all your required documents ready to go. Within the remaining time, go through a few more cycles of editing so that you can better refine your piece before submitting the final copy.

👉 Conclusion

With the OptomCAS cycle up and running, it’s important to get a head start on your personal statement. As discussed, there are many aspects to your personal statement, so starting as early as you can will provide you with enough time to perfect your work and best express yourself through your application. Hopefully these 8 tips have been helpful and will get you on the right track to starting your piece. At the same time, there are also other required documents in your OptomCAS application, such as your Optometry Admission Test (OAT) scores and reference letters. For more information on the OAT and how to ask for a strong reference letter, feel free to read our articles: How to Study for the OAT , How Is the OAT Scored , What Is a Good OAT Score , What to Expect on OAT Exam Day and How to ask for Reference Letters for Optometry School Applications . Good luck!

Explore more useful articles.

How to Write – A Killer Personal Statement Optometry Example

The Personal Statement Optometry Edition

The personal statement for Optometry plays a significant role in the application process for many universities. They provide the admissions team with information on your academia, work experience, and personality, to help them determine whether you’re a good fit for their program.

Personal Statement Format - Optometry

A structured and well-written personal statement will highlight your strengths and demonstrate your transferable skillset. You should include your educational background, work history, volunteering, extracurriculars, hobbies, and aspirations (whether you want to stay in primary care, work in a hospital, or create your own business). If you’ve taken courses related to optometry, be sure to mention those too.

If you’re not too sure what to write about, ask yourself these questions:

What do I hope to accomplish by applying to optometry?

How have my experiences prepared me for university?

Why should they choose me?

This guide has you covered with keywords, bonus tips, and a successful personal statement optometry example.

If you’re applying through UCAS, then you’re limited to 4000 characters (including spaces) and up to 47 lines. Check your length by pasting your draft here , you may need to remove the spaces between paragraphs- this is normal and you will not be penalised for that. 

Table of Contents

• Step 1 – Scope of Practice
• Step 2 – Keywords
• Step 3 – Mentor/Editing Service
• Killer Personal Statement Optometry Example
• Overview of the statement

Step 1: Understand an Optometrist's Scope of Practice

An optometrist’s  Scope of Practice simply means what their roles are, what they’re allowed to do, and day-to-day roles. 

Roles – Research the difference between roles of dispensing opticians, optometrists, ophthalmologists, and

– this will show off your background research and understanding.

If you have shadowed an optometrist, mention their roles in educating, advocating, and treating patients. This isn’t somewhere to list roles but suggests how you hope to make a difference through these roles.

Standards of Practice – Look into the General Optical Council Standards – These are 19 standards each optical professional must abide by. Integrate some of these in your personal statement optometry.

e.g., Standard 5: Keep your knowledge and skills up to date – Show your ability to research outside of your currciculum, mention an article, or research that you read. Show that you’re aware that learning extends beyond university!

Step 2: Keywords

• Collaboration- an ability to work closely with others
• Educator- willingness to teach others, educate patients on their vision health
• Advocate- care and support those with visual conditions, impairments & vulnerable patients
• Leader- handle the business side of optometry, manage a clinic, and mentor juniors
• Empathy- work with a diverse community, care for the young, elderly, those with disabilities etc…
• Communication- an ability to speak coherently, clearly, jargon-free, and alter your tone

Purchase the full guide with 3 successful examples, keywords, insider knowledge, top tips, full structure breakdown, and more...

Step 3: mentor/editing service.

Find a Mentor

Most applicants resort to their career adviser for help with their optometry personal statement. Make sure your career adviser has a track record of successful students who have previously applied and helped with a personal statement optometry application.

Optometry is a unique field, focusing on the eyes and a part of healthcare. It’s competitive, meaning you want to use each paragraph to add value rather than repeating what’s already on your UCAS application.

The universities will have your academic records, predicted grades, and final results- so they know you’re hard working and can handle the workload. They want to know how you are as a person, your work experience, knowledge beyond the A Level curriculum, and evidence of your caring nature.

Professional Mentor – a personal statement editor or advisor is someone who helps applicants for a living. They should have had experience with optometry and the application process. My services include editing, rewriting, content addition or budget services which include proofreading, review, and grammar corrections .

Optometrist – if you’ve shadowed an optometrist you might be able to ask them to read through your personal statement for optometry. They can highlight any technical errors or fact-check to make sure the content is correct

Personal Statement Optometry Example

“As an avid photographer, I grew passionate about learning the different camera lenses, apertures, and their impact on focus. This intertwined with my anatomical interests, which stemmed from biology, where I dissected an eye. Visualising the ciliary muscles and learning their function alongside the zonular fibres helped me to understand their function on the lens. A simple contraction causes tension enabling us to focus on near objects. This significant but small muscle carries out an essential function, if impaired, our vision would be hugely affected. Researching this inspired me to understand ocular anatomy and age-related conditions. My research and the dissection tutorial sparked my fascination for vision health. As a teenager, I was always drawn to healthcare, but I was now drawn to this fascinating sector of healthcare. Following my research on age-related conditions, I came across cataracts which are prevalent within the geriatric population. I oversaw the impact cataracts had on elderly patients while volunteering weekly at a residential home. Many residents lacked independence due to their visual impairments and mobility issues. I recognised that many required visual aids, glasses, or regular medication and appointments. To understand the impact this had on their quality of life, I spoke to many who were happy to share their stories. I empathised with their struggles and understood how vision is essential. I also learned how residents coped with their deteriorating vision by improving their room lighting, colour-coded medication, and asking for help. I was able to help with tasks like clipping nails, meal times, and cleaning. I found the team to be very helpful, and we worked closely to make sure everyone was cared for. This work was undoubtedly rewarding, but it made me wonder how those in developing countries or of a lower income are able to access or afford such care. This made me grateful for the cataract surgeries and extensive care the NHS provides for all ages. I hope to use this experience to understand my future patients and educate them on coping methods while they await surgery. I found myself using a more gentle and slower speech when communicating with elderly patients; some suffered from hearing issues and additionally required me to write things down or speak facing them while accentuating my words. I now bear this in mind and am more patient and empathetic toward others. To understand what optometry entails, I shadowed my optometrist for two weeks. I oversaw consultations, eye health checks, diabetic checks, and the use of OCT scans. Being eager to learn, I curiously asked the optometrist to explain the purpose behind each check. I’m grateful that she was kind enough to explain the procedures and the various conditions that can arise. We spoke about retinal detachment, symptoms, and the risk of sudden vision loss. I recognised how crucial it is to care for those in the chair, whether it be elderly patients or those with limited English. Each required a thorough check and an explanation that they could understand. In order to gain a comprehensive experience, I learned about the administrative side of optometry, what is involved in running a clinic, and ensuring referrals are followed up. I had a chance to respond to phone calls and book appointments. This improved my communication skills and ability to empathise with those who were distressed by their symptoms, I could relate as I had recently suffered from allergies, which caused a great deal of irritation and itchiness. Overall, I believe my shadowing, rooted interests in anatomy, and willingness to work in a patient-centred profession have drawn me to optometry. I, therefore, wish to learn, develop, and treat those who are in my care by providing a quality service that will continue beyond university.”

Remember- Scope of Practice, use keywords, and get help with your Personal Statement Optometry

Sentence structure, flow, spelling, and grammar are equally important. Without flow and good transitional sentences, it becomes difficult to read, losing the admission tutor’s interest.

Therefore, I strongly advise getting professional help with the draft once it is written. Invest in your future now to maximise your chances of getting into your dream 0ptometry course.

Get help from an experienced writer Volunteering in your local area Top 3 Dental Personal Statements  

• Personal Statement
• Personal Statement Examples
• Uncategorized

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Personal Statement Example

Excellent Optometry Personal Statement Example

Optometry personal statement online for all.

Optometry personal statement the same as geography personal statement is arranged well through our service for all. This statement will be written by our experts in order to make it strong and quality rich. This kind of best personal statement is always successful in attracting the admission for you.

We are perfect and best for writing your personal statement for pharmacy school or optometry. Our personal statement writing service online is reliable and economical as well too. We write personal statements very regularly for the students all over the world and all our clients are always happy with our services too. It is your turn now to try our services for availing your personal statement.

Optometry Personal Statement Example

My knowledge with various subjects in my school helped me well to excel well at academic front so far. Especially, my command and knowledge acquired in subjects like mathematics, economics and chemistry requires special mentioning here. Knowledge in mathematics helped me to improve my analytical skills and problem resolving skills to a great extent. Reasoning and investigation is also added additional skills for me through command over mathematics. Similarly, chemistry subject knowledge allowed me to understand well molecular level ideas and improved as well my manipulative skills too. My economics subject knowledge made more adaptive for the any kind of situation. Definitely, these three subjects knowledge instilled special qualities and skills in me until now. I find myself as apt to take optometry degree keeping in mind my acquired skills and knowledge. It has been my greatest desire and goal now to complete optometry degree in your prestigious college. I knew it well the opted degree program demands more commitment from me and my acquired skills are definitely going to be a greatest support for this purpose too. This career prospective degree program helps me build my career in a better way to excel well at optical work field. Mainly, correcting vision of the people something that I could able to offer in return to my country through completing this degree program. I regularly participate in many volunteering activities in order to find out others around us and to understand their opinions and ideas from their perspective. It offered me a chance to understand the world and it gave me chance to understand, what is that I could able to offer to this world in return. My acquired academic exposure and experience through volunteering made me decide towards acquiring degree in optometry and applied to your institute along with my application and all other credentials. I am seriously interested in pursuing this program with utmost devotion and determination. My devotion and determination will help me well to do well with the program and to build my future too. I am sincerely requesting you to consider my application through going through my candidature. The chance given will help me to prove about myself and to be a part of world as real help in improving the vision of the public. I will be waiting to hear your acceptance.

This  nurse personal statement is available for everyone all over the world and is used to get useful information and assistance.

Be sure that this optometry personal statement example written by our professionals will be a great help in your future!

• ← Great Geography Personal Statement Example
• Example of Personal Statement for Midwifery →

• AI Content Shield
• AI KW Research
• AI Assistant
• SEO Optimizer
• AI KW Clustering
• Customer reviews
• The NLO Revolution
• Press Center
• Help Center
• Content Resources
• Facebook Group

Basic Guide: OPTOMCAS Personal Statement Example

Table of Contents

A great OPTOMCAS personal statement is a time capsule of your experiences, perspectives, and what you want to offer. This guide provides an OPTOMCAS personal statement example to help you write a winning personal statement.

It also dissects how to write a tremendous OPTOMCAS personal statement that stands out from others. Read on!

What Is an OPTOMCAS Personal Statement?

An OPTOMCAS personal statement is a document you submit with your optometry school application. Your statement allows you to introduce yourself to the admissions committee .

It should highlight your academic and professional achievements and why you are interested in pursuing optometry as a career.

The best way to write this statement is to discuss how much you care about optics with great examples that show your passion.

How to Write a Captivating OPTOMCAS Personal Statement

The best way to create a captivating personal statement for OPTOMCAS is by focusing on your story. Also, ensure that your tone of voice is professional and polished. Other important points to note are:

• Be sure to capture the reader’s attention with an engaging introduction.
• Provide information about yourself that showcases your unique qualifications and experiences.
• Demonstrate your passion for optometry by sharing examples of how you’ve used this field to help others.
• Make it clear why you are interested in optometry school and what you hope to gain from the experience.
• Share how you became interested in optometry and why you want to pursue this career.
• Remember to highlight your academic achievements, volunteer work, and other relevant experience.
• Finally, close with a firm conclusion that leaves the reader eager to learn more about you.

OPTOMCAS Personal Statement Example

A personal statement like the one below is essential when applying to optometry school. It allows admissions staff to see your qualifications and get insight into who you are as an individual .

As an optometry student, you must possess excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In my academic experience, I have honed these skills by working closely with professors and classmates on various projects.

For example, while completing my undergraduate degree in biology at the University of California, Los Angeles, I conducted research specializing in eye health. This opportunity allowed me to develop strong analytical abilities and understand how different scientific findings can impact clinical care.

Additionally, as a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society at UCLA, I worked on team projects that required creativity and precision. Through this involvement, I learned how to communicate ideas effectively within a group setting and work toward a common goal.

My background positions me well to thrive in the optometry program at your school. The rigorous coursework and hands-on experience will allow me to expand my knowledge base and become an effective clinician.

Furthermore, being part of a diverse classroom community will challenge me academically while providing opportunities for collaboration outside of class time.

Final Words

The OPTOMCAS personal statement example above aims to show a successful strategy for writing a captivating personal statement.

It details what to include in your statement and how to organize the information. Make the most of your opportunity to market yourself in your statements.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

Explore All Write Personal Statement Articles

How to draft meaningful length of law school personal statement.

Are you confused on how to write a law school personal statement? One of the essential elements of your application…

• Write Personal Statement

Effective History and International Relations Personal Statement to Try

Are you considering studying history and international relations? Or you may be curious about what a degree in this field…

Guide to Quality Global Management Personal Statement

Are you applying for a global management program and want to stand out from the crowd? A well-written personal statement…

How to Draft Better Examples of Personal Statements for Residency

Achieving a residency can be a massive accomplishment for any aspiring medical professional. To secure your spot in one of…

Tips for Drafting a Free Example of Personal History Statement

A personal history statement can be crucial to many applications, from university admissions to job search processes. This blog will…

Writing Compelling Dietetic Internship Personal Statement

Applying for a dietetic internship is a rigorous process and requires submitting a personal statement, which is an essential part…

Health Professions Advising

• Health Professions Resources

Personal Statements

Health Professions Advising CBB 203/205 (Second Floor) E: [email protected]

Schedule a Health Professions Advising Appointment

Mailing Address: University of Houston ATTN: Health Professions Advising Center University Classroom & Business Building Room 215 4242 Martin Luther King Boulevard Houston, TX 77204 Google Maps

Although most applicants focus on GPA and test-scores, the personal statement is a very important component of your application and should be carefully composed. This is your opportunity to highlight things about yourself that may not be mentioned in other sections of your application and to distinguish yourself from other applicants.

You should have several different people objectively read your personal statement and provide constructive feedback. In addition to the Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC) , your letter writers are often a great option. There are also resources on campus that can assist you, such as the UH Writing Center , University Career Services , and your major advisor. Consider the feedback you receive carefully, but be sure that the personal statement is still written in your voice!

Below we have outlined some advice and general guidelines to consider while writing your personal statement. Keep in mind that these recommendations are not restricted to medical/dental applications, but can be applied while writing essays for any healthcare professional program.

• See also UH University Career Services Personal Statement Tips
• Sign up for the UH Writing Center Personal Statement Workshops

Types of Prompts

Before beginning your personal statement, it is important you carefully review the specific question (or prompt) that is being asked and the character-limit, as there can be distinct differences between the application services.

TMDSAS ( 5000 characters ):

• Explain your motivation to seek a career in medicine. You are asked to include the value of your experiences that prepare you to be a physician.
• Explain your motivation to seek a career in dentistry. You are asked to discuss your philosophy of the dental profession and indicate your goals relevant to the profession.
• Personal Characteristics Essay - Learning from others is enhanced in educational settings that include individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Please describe your personal characteristics (background, talents, skills, etc.) or experiences that would add to the educational experience of others. The personal characteristics essay is required to all applicants and limited to 2500 characters, including spaces.
• Optional Essay – The optional essay is an opportunity to provide the admissions committee(s) with a broader picture of who you are as an applicant. The essay is optional, however, you are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. Consider briefly discussing any unique circumstances or life experiences that are relevant to your application which have not previously been presented. Optional Essay is limited to 2500 characters, including spaces.

AMCAS ( 5300 characters ):

• Why have you selected the field of medicine?
• What motivates you to learn more about medicine?
• What do you want medical schools to know about you that has not been disclosed in other sections of the application?

AACOMAS ( 5300 characters ):

• What motivates you to learn more about osteopathic medicine?

AADSAS ( 4500 characters ):

• Explain a defining moment that helped steer you toward a career in dentistry. Consider using that moment as the focal point of your essay.
• Be colorful, positive, imaginative and personal when discussing why you are a good candidate for dental school. Ask yourself—in a pile of 100 applications, would I enjoy reading my statement? Be sure to convey your passion for dentistry in your statement.
• Be yourself.  Don’t use jargon, clichés or big phrases that you would not use in daily conversation. Remember, dental schools want to know about the real you.
• Be original and thoughtful: Discuss how you would contribute to the profession and patient care, all of which will help you stand out from other applicants.

AACPMAS (4500 characters):

• State below why you are interested in becoming a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine. Provide information about your development for a career in Podiatric Medicine

CASPA (5000 characters):

• In the space provided write a brief statement expressing your motivation or desire to become a physician assistant.

OptomCAS (4500 characters) :

Essays can be customized for each individual Optometry program.  Most Optometry schools include this as their main essay question:

• Please describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career.

OTCAS (no character limit):

• Your Personal Statement should address why you selected OT as a career and how an Occupational Therapy degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. Describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals.

PTCAS (4500 characters):

• Prompt: Every person has a story that has led them to a career. Since there are a variety of health professions that "help" others, please go beyond your initial interaction or experiences with physical therapy and share the deeper story that has confirmed your decision to specifically pursue physical therapy as your career.

PharmCAS (4500 characters):

• Your Personal Essay should address why you selected pharmacy as a career. How the Doctor of Pharmacy degree relates to your immediate and long-term professional goals. You should describe how your personal, educational, and professional background will help you achieve your goals.

VMCAS (1000 characters):

• There are many career choices within the veterinary What are your future career goals and why?
• In what ways do veterinarians contribute to society and what do you hope to contribute?
• Consider the breadth of society which veterinarians What attributes do you believe are essential to be successful within the veterinary profession? Of these attributes, which do you possess and how have you demonstrated these in the past?

When should I start writing?

You should begin working on your personal statement early in the spring semester prior to your intended application year and submitting your application materials to HPAC (if applicable).  Remember that the people who are helping you with your statement will need time to review it and you will need time to work through multiple drafts before submission.  In addition, some of your letter writers may want to see a copy of your personal statement before they write your letter, so you should strive to have a competent draft by mid-March.

What should be included?

It is important to treat the personal statement as an answer to a question (i.e., the prompt), rather than the opportunity to flex your creative writing muscles. Indeed, most applicants are STEM majors without much experience in creative writing; therefore, it is recommended that you avoid using the essay to practice your creative writing skills and stick to simply addressing the prompt in a direct, concise way. Some questions you may want to consider while planning your essay are:

• Why have you selected the field of medicine, dentistry, or other health profession?
• What motivates you to learn more about medicine, dentistry, or other health profession?
• How have you demonstrated your interest and commitment to your decision?
• What experiences have allowed you to develop the skills necessary to be successful in this program and to become an effective physician, dentist, PA, etc.?
• Did you have any exposure to role models who influenced your decision? Which of their attributes inspired you?
• Are your perceptions of this profession realistic?
• What are your professional goals?
• Is there anything you wish for your chosen health professional schools to know about you that has not been disclosed in other sections of the application?

Depending on the nature of the prompt, you may also wish to include information such as:

• Unique hardships, challenges, or obstacles that may have influenced your educational pursuits.
• Commentary on significant fluctuations in your academic record that are not explained elsewhere in your application.

What should NOT be included?

• Avoid clichés and over-using/mis-using terms : How many times do you think admissions committees have read the phrase, “I want to become a physician because I like science and I want to help people”? Similarly, words like empathy and passion are, while applicable, can become empty in meaning when overused or misused. Consider exemplifying these terms, rather than simply stating them.
• Avoid unnecessary drama: While you may feel compelled to "hook" the reader with a dramatic opening to your statement, doing so may detract from the overall purpose (i.e., describing your decision to pursue medicine/dentistry) and may induce many an eye-roll by committee members.
• Avoid being vague : "[Insert experience] was challenging and rewarding." What does that mean? Be specific about what was impactful and how it affected you.
• Avoid brash decision-making :  Your decision to become a doctor/dentist should be the result of a series of thoughtful, conscious, and reflective decisions. NOT an instantaneous realization or epiphany. Similarly, you have not “always known” that you want to be a physician/dentist. No one is "born to be a doctor." Nothing is innate, you have to work for it.
• Avoid excuses :  In general, there are better uses for your personal statement than explaining away and justifying poor grades, incidents of misconduct, etc. Indeed, TMDSAS offers additional essays and opportunities to discuss these issues. However, if you choose to address these subjects, be sure to focus on what you have learned from those incidents and how your experiences have made you a stronger person.  Always accept responsibility and avoid blaming anyone else for your decisions or mistakes.
• Avoid restating your resume or activities section :  Choose ONE or TWO significant and distinguishing experiences to elaborate upon when outline the reasons behind your decision to pursue a career in healthcare. There is no need to narrate completely your 4+ years of college or carefully detail your activities from year to year; indeed, there are other sections in the application where you can detail your experiences and what you learned from each.
• Avoid grandiosity :  Claiming that you plan to cure cancer (or HIV, or healthcare disparities, or anything else) shows a grave lack of understanding of whatever problem you are planning to solve. Similarly, avoid “I know what it is like to be a physician/dentist from [shadowing/clinical volunteer experience].”  No, you do not.  That is precisely why you are hoping to go to medical/dental school.
• Avoid inflammatory or controversial topics :  You do not know the values, beliefs, and background of the committee member reading your essay.  For these reasons, you are advised to avoid making any strong statements regarding politics, religion, and other polarizing topics.  Be extremely cautious to avoid expressing any views that could be construed as derogatory to any group.  Additionally, your beliefs are not the only “correct” beliefs. 
• Do not lie :  Honesty and ethical behavior are the hallmarks of being a healthcare professional. Do not include details anywhere in your application or essay that you are not prepared to talk about or that are simply untrue.

Additional Recommendations

• Use simple formatting : Avoid the use of bullet-points, italics, and symbols.
• Read your statement aloud : As you draft your statement, reading what you have written aloud can help you determine whether your writing "flows" well and is an easy read for a reviewer.

Blog for Optometry Admission Test and Optometry School

Oat cracker blog, applying to optometry school: optomcas personal statement writing.

• 21. Jul. 2014
• Advice , OptomCAS , Optometry School , Pre-Optometry Society , Tips

In case you missed the memo, the OptomCAS aka the big dental school application for next fall is officially opened! The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) uses the OptomCAS aka the Optometry Centralized Application Service as a general application when applying to Optometry schools and it allows you to use one application to apply to multiple of any of the 21 programs in the U.S. If you’re planning to apply for Fall 2015, it’s time to start the process and by the way there is a PERSONAL STATEMENT required **cue the music** Although the essay is about YOU, you still have an agenda: it still needs to be written in a professional manner and highlight your professional skills, experiences, and interests. That doesn’t have to be so scary! Think of it kind of like answering that classic job interview inquiry: “Tell me about yourself.” Oh no. Did I just make it worse? **cue the music again**

Your OptomCAS Personal Statement is a place for you to “describe what inspires your decision for becoming an optometrist, including your preparation for training in this profession, your aptitude and motivation, the basis for your interest in optometry, and your future career goals” oh and do it in under 4,500 characters (including letters, spaces, punctuation (like on twitter)), which is only about a page long. So exactly why are you are seeking a optometry education? You need to articulate that you motivated, academically prepared, plus knowledgeable and passionate about the profession. This can be a little tricky; the key is balance. You want to sell yourself professional while remaining personable. By no means is this a creative writing piece; you want to be clear, concise, and professional. Keep in mind: optometry schools are making first judgments on you based on the OptomCAS application, and the OptomCAS Personal Statement is the ONLY place to make a case for yourself IN YOUR OWN WORDS!

One especially cool thing about the OptomCAS is that your Personal Statement is a school-specific question in the application. This means you can tailor your essay to each program you’re applying to and talk about specifically why this school is the best fit for you!

Remember that you’re selling yourself as a great addition to the profession. This is where you talk about your strengths, passion for the field, and all your extra-curricular hard work you’ve done in preparing for optometry school (and let’s face it also for this particular essay here).

Three key points to hit:

o   Why Optometry? – The lifelong childhood dream is all good and fine really but if that’s not the case be candid and honest and talk about your road to discovery, that’s interesting! Your journey to writing this OptomCAS Personal Statement may be long and winding. How did you land on optometry?

o   Shadowing or Assisting Experience – Talk up your observation hours in a optometry’s office setting and how these times increased your knowledge and understanding of the field. These experiences show you really know what’s like in the real world application of the optometry school.

o   Volunteerism – show your interest in working with/for the community and commitment to helping other. It’s important to include both volunteer activities that are relevant to the field and even some that isn’t. For example, working at an animal shelters shows your well rounded not just in a pre-opt mode all the time. Also include the volunteer work related to the optometry profession that you may have done with a Pre-Opt society (that’s how you work that you were active in the club in the essay too)!

The ole phrase “writing is rewriting” rings true here this case. Have a trusty professor or an optometry professional read it and give you feedback. They know what admissions committees are looking for and have insight on how to relate your experiences to the field. Final piece of advice: you can still upgrade your OAT Cracker account and unlock the all the practice tests for $49 instead of the regular $99 sooooo go do that and you’ll have gleaming OAT scores to match this beautiful essay!

Applying for Optometry School: OptomCAS Opens July 1st!

Oat study motivation, oat crackers.

We specialize in one thing: helping pre-optometry students ace their Optometry Admission Test (OAT) and get into optometry school.

You might also like

Oat 2017: reading comprehension section, applying to optometry school: optomcas 2018 is open, oat 2017: introduction guide to the optometry admission test, career spotlight: vision therapy & rehabilitation.

• Skip to main navigation
• Skip to page content

Pre-Health Advising

• Academic Advising
• Chiropractic
• Mortuary Science
• Naturopathic Medicine
• Physical Therapy
• Physician Assistant
• Occupational Therapy

What is Pre-Optometry?

To be "pre-optometry" means you are embarking on a course of study aimed at preparing you for application to an optometry school. It is not a major.

What are the types of eye care professions?

Optometrists, Ophthalmologists and Opticians are the main types of eye care professions.

Optometrists, also known as doctors of optometry, or ODs, are the main providers of vision care. They examine people's eyes to diagnose vision problems, and ability to focus and coordinate the eyes. Optometrists may prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses, or they may provide other treatments, such as vision therapy or low-vision rehabilitation.

An Ophthalmologist is a Medical Doctor (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.). As a medical doctor, an Ophthalmologist is licensed to practice medicine and perform surgery.

There are two types of opticians, dispensing opticians and manufacturing opticians. While the manufacturing opticians are involved in the actual process of making eyeglasses, contacts, and lenses for other purposes, the dispensing opticians help clients find the best eyeglasses or contacts to fit them and their lifestyles.

  What type of education is required?          

 An undergraduate degree followed by a four-year professional program.

  What should I major in at NDSU, if I want to go to optometry school?

 Please be aware that pre-optometry is not a major. The students are encouraged to select a major based on their area of interest. Most optometry schools seek applicants with a strong foundation in the natural sciences and have completed the pre-requisites for admission. 

Coursework required for most programs*

• 1 year of General Biology - BIOL 150/L, BIOL 151/L
• 1 year of General Chemistry - CHEM 121/L, CHEM 122/L
• 1 semester of Organic Chemistry (minimum) - CHEM 341/L, CHEM 342/L
• 1 year of General Physics - PHYS 211/L, PHYS 212/L
• 1 year of English– ENGL 120+ Upper Division Writing course (ENGL 324)
• 1 semester of Calculus –MATH 146
• 1 semester of Statistics –STATS 330
• 1 semester of Microbiology–MICR 350
• 1 semester of Psychology–PSYC 111

Recommended courses        

• 1 semester of Biochemistry–BIOC 460
• 2 semester of Human Anatomy & Physiology - BIOL 220/L & 221/L
• 1 semester of Immunology- MICR 470

* Although this coursework will meet the requirements for many schools, students should check for additional requirements of the schools to which they hope to apply. Most schools want the applicant to have completed the required courses prior to applying. Also, note that many schools will not accept AP credit in lieu of the required courses (even if accepted by NDSU). The student must then substitute advanced science courses from NDSU for the traditional requirements satisfied with AP credits.

  What do optometry schools look for in applicants?

• ·         Cumulative GPA.
• ·         Optometry Admissions Test (OAT)
• ·         The personal statement and/or interview.
• ·         Letters of recommendation.
• ·         Motivation through experiences

Experiences

Applicants should consider volunteering at a local hospital or eye clinic to gain practical experience in optometry. A well-rounded sampling of extra-curricular activities or work experiences, both related and unrelated to optometry, will help broaden an applicant's knowledge and development. A letter of recommendation from an optometrist is recommended.

Pre-optometry students are encouraged to participate in student organizations at NDSU such as the Pre-Med Club and American Medical Student Association and Allied Health (AMSA). These organizations are run by students with similar career goals and provide an opportunity for others to discuss career plans and gather details about the professions they are interested in.

The Application Process

Through the OptomCAS (Optometry Centralized Application Service), applicants may file one application and send it to multiple optometry programs. All 21 schools and colleges of optometry participate in this service

Here are some helpful websites to learn about the optometry field, the application process and more:

• Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry
• American Academy of Optometry

• Ask a question Ask
• go advanced Search
• Please enter a title
• Please enter a message
• Your discussion will live here... (Start typing, we will pick a forum for you) Please select a forum Change forum View more forums... View less forums... GCSEs A-levels Applications, Clearing and UCAS University Life Student Finance England Part-time and temporary employment Chat Everyday issues Friends, family and work Relationships Health News Student Surveys and Research
• post anonymously
• All study help
• Uni applications
• University and HE colleges
• University help and courses
• University student life

Postgraduate

• Careers and jobs
• Teacher training
• Finance and accountancy
• Relationships
• Sexual health
• Give feedback or report a problem
• University and university courses
• Universities and HE colleges
• Life and style
• Entertainment
• Debate and current affairs
• Careers and Jobs
• Scottish qualifications
• Foreign languages
• GCSE articles
• A-level articles
• Exam and revision articles
• What to do after GCSEs
• What to do after A-levels
• When is A-level results day 2024?
• When is GCSE results day 2024?
• Studying, revision and exam support
• Grow your Grades

Exam results articles and chat

• Exam results homepage
• A guide to GCSE and A-level grade boundaries
• Year 13 chat
• Year 12 chat
• Year 11 chat

A-level results

• Guide to A-level results day
• Get help preparing for results day
• A-level retakes and resits
• Exam reviews and remarks
• Here’s what to expect on A-level results day
• Six ways to help results day nerves
• Understanding your A-level results slip

GCSE results

• Guide to GCSE results day
• How GCSE combined science grades work
• Stressed about GCSE results day?
• Understanding your GCSE results slip

Finding a uni in Clearing

• Clearing articles and chat
• UK university contact details
• Guide to Clearing
• Seven things people get wrong about Clearing
• How to make a great Clearing call
• Finding accommodation after Clearing
• How Clearing can help you prepare for results day
• All universities
• Applying through Ucas
• Student finance
• Personal statement
• Postgraduate study
• Uni accommodation
• University life
• All uni courses
• Apprenticeships
• Arts and humanities courses
• Stem courses
• Social science courses

Universities by region

• North of England
• South of England
• Greater London
• Distance learning
• International study

University guides and articles

• All university articles
• Applying to uni articles
• Personal statements
• Personal statement examples
• University open days
• Studying law at university
• Student life at university
• Careers and jobs discussion
• Apprenticeships discussion
• Part-time and temp jobs
• Career forums by sector
• Armed forces careers
• Consultancy careers
• Finance careers
• Legal careers
• Marketing careers
• Medicine and healthcare careers
• Public sector careers
• Stem careers
• Teaching careers
• General chat
• Relationships chat
• Friends, family and colleagues
• Advice on everyday issues
• General health
• Mental health
• UK and world politics
• Educational debate

Undergraduate

• Postgraduate Master’s Loan
• Postgraduate Doctoral Loan
• Disabled Students’ Allowances
• Taking a break or withdrawing from your course

Further information

• Parents and partners
• Advanced Learner Loan
• Healthcare personal statements

Personal Statement:Optometry 1

Optometry personal statement.

Mathematics, chemistry and economics 'A' levels have provided me with a varied knowledge and a range of skills. Mathematics has helped me excel in my ability to analyse a problem and think of a systematic way of solving it. I have a personality trait of always investigating the reasoning behind a concept and this is why I enjoy mathematics. This is also the basis why I enjoy reading on science so much as it explains reasons and theories on things we come across in everyday situations

Chemistry has enabled me to logically understand these ideas at a molecular level and has improved my manipulative skills. I enjoy using resources such as the internet to obtain background knowledge on scientific news as well as news about the current economy. Economics is a subject that can be adapted and be useful to any situation, understanding how markets are run and how formulae can be used to be able to make analytical judgements from. I have also obtained an AS level in ICT, this was very enjoyable and I obtained a lot from it, some of the knowledge I obtained in ICT is adaptable in any situation and especially in recent times where there has been an upsurge in the applications and usage of information systems

I would like to become an optometrist and in order to meet this aspiration of mine I want to complete a degree in optometry. Research and discussions with university students and pre-registration students have enabled me to reach a fully informed decision on demands and expectations to be an optometrist. I am confident that I have the necessary skills, attributes and commitment to complete this demanding course. The course involves a career prospect which will allow me to build further upon my interests in detailed optical work, I feel that improving patients' quality of life by helping them in correcting their vision will bring me a lot of job satisfaction

I enjoy participating in work in my community, I have helped organise annual fairs within my community as well as raising money for it and other charities by participating in activities such as charity walks, swim-a-thons and a five mile run; which was especially rewarding for me as I achieved thirty third position out of several thousand. I enjoy participating in charity events as I find it gratifying to see a large group of people participating in an activity to raise money for the same objective. I currently have a part time job at a community run Saturday school. I began as a volunteer whereby my duties involved carrying out administrative work as well as being an English and Mathematics support teacher. This meant that I would work alongside a teacher to help students in reaching their full potential. I participated in this 3 hours a week. I developed several skills including administrative and organisational skills. This job is very fulfilling seeing the difference made when knowledge is passed on from one person to another. I feel that I am lucky to be a part of the flowing creativity and the general enthusiasm that this school thrives. I enjoy this as I have the opportunity to work with public. A future goal of mine is to run my own ophthalmic practice, this will combine both interests of being able to work with the public and the interest of the optometry course and this inevitably will form a perfect career for me

I enjoy playing sport and keeping active, every week I attend a community run sports club where I play sports including indoor football, table tennis and badminton which is a favourite sport of mine. I also participate in tournaments with against different teams in these sports. As I enjoy playing sport I decided further my knowledge by taking part in a Junior Sports Leadership Award, this enabled me to increase my communicative skills, sporting skills and refereeing skills

I am a conscientious student and am determined to achieve the best that I can in order to succeed as a student as well as a person. I look forward to the challenges and range of experiences that await me in higher education and university life. I know that the course will be demanding but I know that I can achieve my predicted grades as long as I put in maximum effort; I accept that one has the ability to prosper in life as long as good effort is sustained.

[ edit ]General Comments

Firstly, this personal statement is a bit longer than is permitted, both in terms of the number of characters and the number of lines it takes up.

The structure of this statement is a bit jumbled, with no clear introduction and does not have enough about optometry, the subject being applied for, with only ¼ of the characters available used to talk about this. This statement would benefit from being rebalanced with at least half devoted to optometry. When the applicant is talking about the subjects that they're studying, they need to try and relate them back to optometry and how the skills they've developed in their subjects might be useful for the degree and in the future. Similarly, they mention various skills they've learned from voluntary work (they talk about a lot of different activities, which is good) and need to talk about why they are important for optometry.

SPaG (spelling, punctuation and grammar): there are no full stops at the end of sentences and subjects like 'english' and 'mathematics' don't need capitalising. A lot of the sentences in this statement start with 'I,' more variation in how the sentences are started would help to make the statement 'flow' a lot better.

[ edit ]Comments on the statement

Mathematics, chemistry and economics 'A' levels have provided me with a varied knowledge and a range of skills.  For a start, the applicant does not need to list the subjects they are taking, as this wastes precious space (this information is already on the UCAS form). Secondly, the applicant has not started their statement by talking about why they want to study optometry – while there is no set structure, it is usually inadvisable to start a statement by talking about A levels.  Mathematics has helped me  to  excel in my ability to analyse a problem and think of a systematic way of solving it.  The applicant needs to try and relate this to optometry – instead of just saying that this ability has been improved, they need to talk about why this is important for optometry.  I have a personality trait of always investigating the reasoning behind a concept and this is why I enjoy mathematics.  This sentence doesn't completely make sense, either technically or grammatically and would be better left out entirely.  This is also  the basis  why I enjoy  reading on  science so much as it explains  the  reasons and theories  of   behind  things we come across in everyday situations . (full stop)   This paragraph would work better as an academic paragraph, rather than an introduction.

This should ideally be part of the previous paragraph as it seems like it would follow on.  Chemistry has enabled me to logically understand these ideas at a molecular level and has improved my manipulative skills.  The applicant needs to explain what they mean by manipulative skills here, as it seems very vague. Again, they need to relate their subjects back to optometry.  I enjoy using resources such as the internet to obtain background knowledge on scientific news as well as news about the current economy.  This sentence seems rather irrelevant to the topic and should only be kept in if the applicant makes it relevant to optometry or the subjects they're studying.  Economics is a subject that can be adapted and be useful to any situation  The applicant needs to explain its relation to optometry, if they can think of one – if they can't, then saying it can be adapted and useful to any situation would not be true , understanding how markets are run and how formulae can be used to be able to make analytical judgements from. I have also obtained an AS level in ICT, this was very enjoyable and I obtained a lot from it, some of the knowledge I obtained in ICT is adaptable in any situation and especially in recent times where there has been an upsurge in the applications and usage of information systems . (full stop)   Again, since the applicant is claiming that ICT is adaptable in any situation, they need to relate it to optometry.

I would like to become an optometrist and in order to meet this aspiration of mine I want to complete a degree in optometry.  The applicant needs to talk about exactly why they want to become an optometrist rather than just stating this, as it is a very simplistic sentence which tells you nothing about the applicant.  Research and discussions with university students and pre-registration students have enabled me to reach a fully informed decision on demands and expectations to be an optometrist.  The applicant needs to explain exactly what the demands and expectations are in this case.  I am confident that I have the necessary skills, attributes and commitment to complete this demanding course.  The applicant needs to talk about what the necessary skills and attributes are and why they are important for optometry.  The course involves a career prospect which will allow me to build further upon my interests  what interests?  in detailed optical work, I feel that improving patients' quality of life by helping them in correcting their vision will bring me a lot of job satisfaction  . (full stop)   This paragraph is the only place where the applicant has actually talked about optometry and hasn't actually showed any understanding of what optometry is or even what an optometrist is. As unfair as that may sound, it is a vital part of any healthcare statement and ideally, the applicant should have completed some work experience in the area in order to learn more about what the job involves and the sorts of skills which are necessary for it. Also, the only reason they seem to have given for wanting to do this course is job satisfaction, something that can be gained from a huge number of jobs, not only optometry or even healthcare in general. The applicant should go into a reasonable amount of depth about why they want to be an optometrist.

I enjoy participating in work in my community,  full stop  I have helped organise annual fairs  within my community  as well as raising money for  it and other  charities by participating in activities such as charity walks, swim-a-thons and a five mile run  full stop ; which was especially rewarding for me as I achieved thirty third position out of several thousand.  While the applicant is obviously happy about this achievement, it doesn't really add to the personal statement at all and should only be included if they applicant has included everything else they need to and still have space.  I enjoy participating in charity events as I find it gratifying to see a large group of people participating in an activity to raise money for the same objective.  This sentence seems to be rather irrelevant – again, it adds nothing to the personal statement and just isn't necessary. Instead, the applicant could benefit from talking about what they learned through their community and charity work. Whether they've gained any skills which might be useful for optometry etc.  I currently have a part time job at a community run Saturday school. I began as a volunteer where by  my duties involved carrying out administrative work as well as being an English and Mathematics support teacher. This meant that I would work alongside a teacher to help students in reaching their full potential. I participated in this  3   three (numbers should be written out in full)  hours a week. I developed several skills including administrative and organisational skills.  This group of sentences are a bit stilted and don't flow at all well. The applicant needs to talk about what their role was as a support teacher in particular as well as expanding on the skills they developed – their importance for optometry.  This job  has been  very fulfilling  comma  seeing the difference made when knowledge is passed on from one person to another. I feel that I am lucky to be a part of the flowing creativity and the general enthusiasm that this school thrives  on?  .  This sentence again doesn't completely make sense, and while you get an idea of the applicants enjoyment for the role, this adds little to the overall impression that admissions tutors will gain from reading the statement.  I enjoy this as I have the opportunity to work with public.  This seems slightly repetitive and unnecessary, however, if the applicant were to talk about why they like working with the public, they could link back to optometry here.  A future goal of mine is to run my own ophthalmic practice, this will combine both interests of being able to work with the public and the interest of the optometry course and this inevitably will form a perfect career for me . (full stop)   Talking about future goals would work a lot better in the introduction, and referring to an 'ophthalmic practise' is not the best way to convince someone reading the statement that the applicant understands what an optometrist is. The applicant talks about a 'perfect career' here, which would be fine provided they'd explained why somewhere else in the statement!

I enjoy playing sport and keeping active,  a semi-colon might work better here  every week I attend a community run sports club where I play sports including indoor football, table tennis and badminton  which is a favourite sport of mine . I also participate in tournaments  with  against different teams in these sports. As I enjoy playing sport I decided further my knowledge by taking part in a Junior Sports Leadership Award, this enabled me to increase my communicative skills, sporting skills and refereeing skills . (full stop)   Talking about what you do in your spare time is important in personal statements, however, the applicant would benefit from expanding on the junior leadership award here rather than just listing what they do. They have also given a list of skills at the end of the paragraph, without explaining any of them and why they are relevant for optometry. For one thing, I doubt refereeing skills will be of any use as an optometrist! I also think that the term 'communicative skills' could be expanded on in particular. In my opinion it is quite a vague term, and needs explaining and relating to optometry - why optometrists need to be good communicators.

I am a conscientious student and am determined to achieve the best that I can in order to succeed as a student as well as a person. I look forward to the challenges and range of experiences that await me in higher education and university life.  These two sentences are very generic as PS conclusions go and some added personality would help here.  I know that the course will be demanding  how?  but I know that I can achieve my predicted grades as long as I put in maximum effort; I accept that one has the ability to prosper in life as long as good effort is sustained.  As a conclusion, this is rather lacking. I think that the conclusion is one of the hardest sections of the statement to get right, and in this case, the applicant should have at least made some reference to optometry again.

• Share this story :
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share on Google+
• Share on Pinterest
• Latest Latest
• Trending Trending
• create my feed
• Edit my feed
• 0 new posts
• Started by: lyric-ex-Preside
• Forum: International Qualifications
• Last post: 1 minute ago
• Started by: Amir_gha07
• Forum: BTEC and other vocational qualifications
• Last post: 2 minutes ago
• Forum: A-levels
• Last post: 4 minutes ago
• Started by: esha06
• Forum: University life
• Last post: 6 minutes ago
• Started by: applecyder
• Forum: Medical Schools
• Last post: 11 minutes ago
• Started by: Chloegrax3
• Forum: Medicine
• Last post: 12 minutes ago
• Started by: thegeek888
• Forum: University of Oxford
• Last post: 13 minutes ago
• Started by: illiaqqq
• Forum: Imperial College London
• Replies: 399
• Last post: 15 minutes ago
• Started by: armita1212
• Last post: 17 minutes ago
• Started by: lyca677
• Replies: 21
• Last post: 18 minutes ago
• Started by: TheRealTruthLife
• Forum: Dentistry
• Replies: 35
• Started by: oakmsxmdcddc
• Forum: Accounting and finance
• Last post: 20 minutes ago
• Started by: University of Bradford
• Forum: University of Bradford
• Replies: 244
• Last post: 25 minutes ago
• Started by: sdfj
• Forum: Forum games
• Replies: 4022
• Last post: 26 minutes ago
• Started by: elareare
• Replies: 213
• Last post: 27 minutes ago
• Started by: milktee
• Forum: GCSEs
• Replies: 388
• Started by: Chipemunk
• Forum: Secondary school, sixth form and FE college
• Last post: 28 minutes ago
• Started by: kittykitten12
• Last post: 34 minutes ago
• Started by: matching-bump
• Last post: 41 minutes ago
• Started by: soaring-armor
• Last post: 49 minutes ago
• Started by: Scotland Yard
• Replies: 485
• Last post: 2 hours ago
• Started by: Saracen's Fez
• Forum: UK and World Politics
• Replies: 823
• Last post: 3 hours ago
• Started by: maiarhysdavies
• Forum: King's College London
• Replies: 792
• Last post: 14 hours ago
• Started by: Lazlay
• Forum: Civil service, public sector and public services
• Replies: 817
• Started by: Lc627183
• Replies: 278
• Last post: 17 hours ago
• Started by: Anonymous
• Forum: Advice on everyday issues
• Replies: 188
• Last post: 22 hours ago
• Started by: Sandtrooper
• Forum: Cambridge Postgraduate
• Replies: 8228
• Last post: 1 day ago
• Started by: KA_P
• Replies: 1125
• Started by: MOZSH
• Replies: 496
• Started by: Oatmilklattepls
• Forum: Performing arts and music
• Replies: 2888
• Started by: Miss.fcxxx
• Replies: 297
• Started by: reubenn05
• Replies: 988
• Last post: 2 days ago
• Started by: jambarnzi
• Replies: 73
• Last post: 3 days ago
• Started by: aishaslm
• Forum: Legal careers and training
• Replies: 176
• Started by: asdfjkmel
• Forum: Graduate Schemes
• Replies: 2706
• Started by: shooks
• Started by: Adam Woodbridge
• Forum: Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Replies: 800
• Last post: 4 days ago
• Started by: Chi chi5
• Replies: 928
• Last post: 5 days ago
• Started by: Fiyero
• Replies: 184
• Last post: 1 week ago
• Started by: crimsonrose3205
• Forum: Mature Students
• Replies: 119
• Great! I exceeded my expectations
• Good, I got what I expected
• Not so good, I didn't get everything I expected
• Terrible, I didn't get any of the grades I wanted
• Tell us more about your answer in the thread

The Student Room and The Uni Guide are both part of The Student Room Group.

• Main topics
• GCSE and A-level
• Exam results
• Life and relationships

Get Started

• Today's posts
• Unanswered posts
• Community guidelines
• TSR help centre
• Cookies & online safety
• Terms & conditions
• Privacy notice

Connect with TSR

© Copyright The Student Room 2023 all rights reserved

The Student Room and The Uni Guide are trading names of The Student Room Group Ltd.

Register Number: 04666380 (England and Wales), VAT No. 806 8067 22 Registered Office: Imperial House, 2nd Floor, 40-42 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 3XB

Optometry Admissions Blog

Southern california college of optometry at marshall b. ketchum university, category: personal statement.

Five Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Your Optometry School Application Essay from OptometryStudents.com

Here’s an article from OptometryStudents.com that I endorse.  It is written by Sydni Davis who will be a first year student at UMSL College of Optometry, matriculating Fall 2018. THE DO’S Be specific. You are allowed about 4,500 characters to write your essay. This does not leave much room […]

Optometry: An Inspired Career Choice

As an admissions adviser, I direct applicants to resources that will help them with their applications.  Here is such an article.  It is hosted on ASCO’s blog and features three optometrists with distinctively different careers. Here is inspiration for your own essays when answering the question about why optometry is your choice. Here’s ASCO’s […]

Do’s and Don’ts of Writing a Memorable & Winning Personal Statement

For all optometry school applicants who are in the process of writing their personal statements, this article will help. I highly endorse its wisdom. After Maggie shares tips on how to write a memorable and winning essay, included at the end of this article is the very essay […]

Favorite Personal Essay and Interview Question: “What Will You Bring to the Table?”

“What contribution do you hope to make to our optometry program and to the optometric profession?” is a question you will most likely to be asked during the application process. How do you answer a question like this? More importantly, why do admissions officers ask this question? What […]

Elevator Pitch–You Need One!

You’re kicking back at a BBQ enjoying leisurely time with friends and family. Your uncle sits down next to you and asks, “So, what are you doing with yourself nowadays?” Your mind jolts into high gear and your heart pounds as you think about your busy and stressful […]

Top Posts & Pages

• Do's and Don'ts of Writing a Memorable & Winning Personal Statement
• Online Courses: Buyer Beware!
• Applying Through OptomCAS: Your Application Through Its Stages
• Super Advice from an OAT Test Taker!
• Class Profile
• SCCO Alumni Shadowing Program for Pre-Optometry Students
• Smile, Eye-Contact, Handshake: Essential Ingredients
• Resume/CV for My Application to Optometry School
• Timeline Strategy for Applying with Rolling Admissions
• 889,545 Views

Have Questions? Email us at [email protected]

SCCO Student Ambassadors

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Report this content
• View site in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

• Communities Pre-Med Medical Resident Audiology Dental Optometry Pharmacy Physical Therapy Podiatry Psychology Rehab Sci Veterinary
• What's new Trending New posts Latest activity
• Support Account Help Confidential Advising
• Vision, Values and Policies

• Optometry Communities (OD)
• Pre-Optometry

Optometry Application: Personal Statement (NEED ADVICE)

• Thread starter straightpath
• Start date Jun 18, 2015

straightpath

• Jun 18, 2015

undecisiveone1

Full member.

I am in your situation too. I used to be premed but chanced to preoptometry. However my grades are terrible and I don't want them to think I switched to preoptometry just because of that. Any answers to this post would be great because I am also doing my personal statement :/  

OpticalBlackOut

straightpath said: - I lived with my family during my undergrad, and certain difficulties at home intervened with my studies. Would it be valid to mention this? I don't want the admissions committee to pity me though... - I completed 3 prerequisite courses online at 2 different universities (not through my home university). Would this be a good place in my application to mention why I had done this? - I initially went into university without having Optometry in mind as a career goal. This was obvious in my volunteer activities as well. Would it be good to mention this, and explain that I only realized that I wanted to become an Optometrist after my first university year? But I did poorly that year... so would it sound like I only opted for a "less competitive" career option (although this isn't the case at all, and I believe that it's just as hard to get into as any other health-related field) ? I've improved my GPA since first year, but it still isn't that great. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Click to expand...

OpticalBlackOut said: C. Don't worry- this is extremely common for our profession. The important thing to focus on is how you became passionate about optometry. Show them your shadowing experiences; tell them your life-changing patient stories. Anecdotes that show your compassionate side really help. For me personally, I would prefer an applicant who is realistic about optometry (plenty of uncertainties in the future), as opposed to someone who conveys a 'rainbows & sunshine' approach. Best of luck Click to expand...

• Jun 19, 2015
• Jun 23, 2015
• Jun 24, 2015

undecisiveone1 said: I was actually debating this. Would it be looked down upon if I mentioned something along the lines of I realize the risks of optometry especially with regards to employment? Also is it wrong to assume I would have more family time as an optometrist vs. an ophthalmologist? Click to expand...

• Jun 26, 2015

I'm so glad I posted this thread! I definitely now know what NOT to include, and how to go about this. THANK YOU, you are all so amazing (taking your time to care for a stranger's future). Cheers!  

msrandomheart143

• Aug 13, 2015

OpticalBlackOut said: A. Everyone has their own struggles- whether it's working multiple jobs during undergrad, coping with the loss of loved ones, or professors who were out to get you. That's life. Rather than focus on the reasons you struggled, give the admissions committee your reasons on how you shined. At the end of the day, no one likes to hear excuses. B. Not the best person to answer this since I never took any online courses. (In an old man's voice "Kids these days...") C. Don't worry- this is extremely common for our profession. The important thing to focus on is how you became passionate about optometry. Show them your shadowing experiences; tell them your life-changing patient stories. Anecdotes that show your compassionate side really help. For me personally, I would prefer an applicant who is realistic about optometry (plenty of uncertainties in the future), as opposed to someone who conveys a 'rainbows & sunshine' approach. D. Apply early, get rock solid letters, and a great OAT score can offset a lower GPA. If there's time, retaking courses with poor grades is always a bonus. Best of luck Click to expand...

Snakedoctor1

• Aug 14, 2015

msrandomheart143 said: Everyone keeps advising to apply early... But relatively speaking what does this mean? Within the first month? within the first two months? Click to expand...

• Aug 16, 2015

Snakedoctor1 said: In my opinion, early means before October. Click to expand...

Similar threads

• Student Doctor Network
• Oct 18, 2023
• Oct 4, 2023

• Sep 14, 2023
• Apr 27, 2023
• Jan 28, 2023
• This site uses cookies to help personalize content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies and terms of service . Accept Learn more…

Optometry Australia Site Navigation

Optometry australia issues new position statement on myopia management.

Optometry Australia (OA) has released its comprehensive position statement on myopia management, which supports the World Council of Optometry Standards of Care Guidelines for Myopia Management (2021) , to highlight the critical role optometrists play in addressing this global public health concern.  

With the prevalence of myopia projected to affect 50% of the world’s population and 20 million Australians by 2050 , the statement underscores the importance of evidence-based practices in mitigating and managing myopia.  

‘Myopia is associated with several severe ocular pathologies, including retinal detachment, maculopathy, glaucoma and cataracts. Even low to moderate levels of myopia can significantly increase the risk of visual impairment later in life. The connection between myopia and these serious conditions emphasises the importance of proactive management and prevention strategies,’ said Luke Arundel, Optometry Australia’s Chief Clinical Officer.  

Key points and recommendations for optometrists  

• Optometry Australia supports a significant shift in clinical practice from merely correcting vision to employing strategies that slow myopia progression.  

‘This approach includes educating patients on ways to mitigate the development of myopia and discussing evidence-based management options. By focusing on slowing myopia progression, optometrists can help reduce the risk of sight-threatening complications of myopia.’  

2. Optometry Australia strongly encourages practitioners to provide regular comprehensive eye health and vision examinations to identify patients with myopia, at risk of myopia development, or with myopia-associated ocular pathology.  

‘These examinations should encompass the measurement of refractive error, and ocular biometry whenever feasible, and include dilated fundus examination where appropriate. A thorough examination ensures a detailed understanding of the patient’s eye health, allowing for the early detection and management of potential issues.’  

3. In addition to comprehensive examinations, optometrists should also focus on assessing myopia risk and offering preventive counselling.  

‘This involves evaluating factors that may increase the likelihood of developing myopia and advising patients and their caregivers on strategies to delay myopia onset. Preventive counselling is crucial for mitigating the long-term impact of myopia.’  

4. Upon diagnosing myopia in children, it is imperative that optometrists offer treatment options grounded in the latest research.  

‘Treatments should aim to manage the progression of myopia effectively. Regular follow-up appointments are essential to monitor myopia progression and adjust the treatment plan as necessary, ensuring optimal care and outcomes.’  

5. Optometry Australia’s position statement aims to equip optometrists with the latest knowledge and practices to combat the rising myopia epidemic.  

‘By integrating comprehensive eye health assessments with proactive myopia management strategies, optometrists can significantly contribute to reducing the burden of myopia on individuals and the broader community.’  

The full position statement can be found here .

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation Optometry Australia acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Member Login

• Open access
• Published: 21 August 2024

Understanding barriers, enablers and motivational factors for Australian healthcare educators teaching university students on clinical placement using the validated Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire

• Natalie Ann Watt 1 , 2 ,
• Simon Backhouse 1 , 2 ,
• Saba Ansari 1 , 3 ,
• Karen Maree Dwyer 1 ,
• Janet McLeod 1 ,
• Grant Phelps 1 ,
• Deborah Leach 1 &
• James Andrew Armitage 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  900 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

152 Accesses

Metrics details

In Australia, university clinical programs rely heavily on external healthcare professionals to provide a range of authentic clinical training and professional development opportunities for students. There is, however, a limited understanding of the factors that motivate these professionals to be educators and whether this varies across different healthcare disciplines within Australia. As the demand for clinical placements continues to increase, it is critical for the ongoing success of these programs that universities identify both the barriers associated with teaching and the benefits that enhance job satisfaction.

A two-part questionnaire was emailed to 849 external healthcare educators teaching predominantly in Medicine, Medical Imaging, and Optometry programs at Deakin University. Part-one surveyed the socio-demographics, perceived benefits, and barriers to teaching, plus the utilisation of entitlements offered by the university. Part-two was modelled on Dybowski and Harendza’s validated Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire (PTMQ) and adapted to an Australian audience.

Overall, 776 out of the 849 questionnaires were considered in the final participant pool. The response rate for part-one was 19.7% ( n  = 153/776) and 18.3% ( n  = 142/776) for part-two. Across all professions, altruism was the primary source of motivation for teaching in Deakin University’s healthcare programs. Medical Imaging educators placed a higher value on career-related teaching aspects compared to those in Medicine and Optometry ( p  < 0.003). The resources and benefits associated with teaching were generally perceived to be of minimal importance. External healthcare educators most commonly reported that there were no barriers to teaching (41.3%, n  = 78) however, increased workloads and time constraints were the next most likely factors to affect teaching participation (31.8%, n  = 60).

Our validated adaptation of the PTMQ successfully targeted healthcare professions not focussed on by Dybowski and Harendza. Altruistic motivation was the overarching theme for why Australian external healthcare educators contribute to teaching with some differences in career-driven motivation additionally acknowledged. Despite there being no key benefits or barriers to teaching participation, universities must remain cognisant of the factors that influence the recruitment and retention of external healthcare educators and how to optimise these for the ongoing success and sustainability of their teaching programs.

Peer Review reports

An authentic clinical experience is the centrepiece of all modern healthcare programs. To fulfil this requirement, medical education is increasingly moving away from traditional hospital-based learning and other institutionalised settings to private or community-based healthcare practices [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. As such, external healthcare professionals who are acting as educators (hereafter referred to as external healthcare educators), play a pivotal role in the clinical training and professional development of healthcare students [ 3 , 4 ].

As teaching models evolve and the number of medical and allied health students continues to rise, there is a growing demand for clinical placements. To ensure healthcare programs remain sustainable and successful, it is essential to better understand and cultivate motivating factors that encourage external healthcare educators to engage in teaching. Furthermore, given the primary loyalty of external healthcare educators is to their own clinical practice, gaining a clearer insight into the benefits and barriers associated with teaching may help universities develop strategies that optimise or mitigate these factors. This knowledge has the potential to further strengthen initiatives aimed at improving the recruitment and retention of external healthcare educators teaching in university curriculums.

Over the past decade, several international studies have increased our understanding of the drivers behind clinical teaching participation, with selflessness and altruism emerging as the primary motivators [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Nonetheless, it is important to acknowledge that variations in motivational factors may exist across countries and professions due to cultural diversity, differing training pathways, and teaching styles [ 9 , 10 ]. To the best of our knowledge, clinical teacher motivation in Australia is limited to only a few studies that predominantly focus on the experience of medical educators in hospital settings [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Although the findings of these studies are consistent with the aforementioned international findings of altruism, none of them used a validated questionnaire to compare and contrast motivational factors of external healthcare educators across a range of healthcare professions, especially those primarily based in private or community practice settings where students are increasingly being placed.

Dybowski and Harendza [ 16 ] originally developed the Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire (PTMQ) for hospital-based healthcare practitioners in Germany but suggested that there was a need to validate its generalisability to other allied health professions. With this recognised limitation and the paucity of literature on teacher motivations among Australian healthcare educators, the PTMQ was applied across the three largest clinical courses taught within Deakin University‘s School of Medicine: Bachelor of Vision Science/ Master of Optometry, Doctor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Medical Imaging (diagnostic radiographers).

The success of these three professional degrees largely relies on experienced external healthcare educators teaching and passing on their knowledge to future healthcare graduates. While some of these external healthcare educators have formal educational qualifications and paid fractional appointments, many undertake this work on a casual or adjunct (unpaid members of the university community) basis. Similar to other universities, Deakin University also provides various benefits to their external healthcare educators to increase the value of their teaching contributions including, but not limited to, email accounts, access to university libraries, and research assistance. It is therefore incumbent on universities, including Deakin, to regularly evaluate the benefits and barriers associated with teaching to maintain maximum satisfaction and long-term engagement with external healthcare educators. Therefore, the aims of this study were to:

Understand what motivates external healthcare educators to contribute to university teaching programs.

Understand why they maintain their relationship with Deakin University.

Identify any perceived barriers associated with healthcare teaching.

Identify which benefits external healthcare educators value during their affiliation with the university.

Study design and sampling

This study utilised a cross-sectional survey design, selected for its ability to examine a representative cross-section of the population and generate findings that could be generalised to the entire target population. The total population of healthcare educators registered to supervise Medicine, Medical Imaging or Optometry students from Deakin University were invited to participate via email.

Participants

A total of 849 external healthcare educators, defined in this study as staff appointed to undertake teaching and/or research but whose primary employment is with an organisation external to Deakin University, were invited to participate in an online questionnaire-based survey sent via email from a senior administrative officer in October 2020. All participants primarily taught within Deakin University’s School of Medicine. The email addresses used consisted of a combination of personal and university-provided accounts. Of these 849 participants, 273 were from Medicine, 158 from Medical Imaging, and 418 from Optometry.

Questionnaire

The Qualtrics questionnaire was divided into two parts. Part-one (26 non-forced choice questions), evaluated participants’ socio-demographics, perceived barriers to healthcare teaching, and perceptions of benefits valued and used by external healthcare educators (see Additional file 1 ). Participants were asked to rate their usage and perceived value of the resources and benefits available to them at Deakin University using a 5-point Likert scale. The 5-point Likert scale used for perceived value was 1 = Extremely important, 2 = Very important, 3 = Moderately important, 4 = Slightly important and 5 = Not at all important and for usage, 1 = Daily, 2 = Weekly, 3 = A few times a month, 4 = A few times a year and 5 = Never.

For perceived barriers associated with teaching, participants were able to select more than one barrier. Each barrier was assigned a number to assist in the analysis of the results (no barriers = 1, the requirements of the HR onboarding process = 2, the requirements of ongoing compliance = 3, competing work requirements/time management = 4, income expectations = 5, other = 6 and IT requirements = 7).

Part-two (18 forced-choice items), was based on Dybowski and Harendza’s [ 16 ] PTMQ, a validated multidimensional self-assessment instrument developed to measure teaching motivation within the German medical system. This 18-item questionnaire was grouped into the same six motivational subdomains as the PTMQ: Intrinsic (items 1–4; indicating that they are intrinsically motivated to teach), Identified (items 5–7; professional identity is a motivator), Introjected (items 8–9; motivation is driven by guilt or a sense of duty), Career (items 10–12; there are clear benefits to career progression), External (items 13–15; motivation is driven by a desire to comply with the expectation of others), and Amotivation (items 16–18; teaching is viewed in a negative context). Part-two could only be accessed if part-one was completed.

As the PTMQ survey was developed for the German medical system, the phrasing of some subdomain items was carefully modified to suit Australian language conventions (see Additional file 1 ). Modifications were made to all items except for 2, 11 and 13. Predominantly, one-word synonym changes were made to avoid affecting the validity of the questionnaire. For example, the original PTMQ item 1 ‘ I look forward to my next teaching unit most of the time’, was revised to ‘I look forward to my next teaching session most of the time’. In the ‘Career’ sub-domain, changes were made to stay in line with modern Australian industrial relations terminology. For example, the original PTMQ item 10, ‘I teach because I need the lessons to accomplish my occupational objectives’ was adapted to ‘I teach because it is good for my CV to accomplish my occupational objectives’. The modifications were undertaken by the first and last authors and then circulated to the remaining researchers for review. All researchers agreed on the changes. Language experts were not consulted during this process.

As per the PTMQ, a 5-point Likert scale was used to rate each item (1 = Strongly agree, 2 = Somewhat agree, 3 = Neither agree nor disagree, 4 = Somewhat disagree, 5 = Strongly disagree).

The final version of questionnaire part-one and two were piloted on a selection of healthcare clinicians and educators across Medicine ( n  = 3), Medical Imaging ( n  = 1), and Optometry ( n  = 3) employed at Deakin University to confirm general understandability. These individuals were not included in the participant pool. Following the pilot test, no additional changes were made to the final version of the questionnaire as part-one achieved good face validity based on oral and written feedback from the pilot group.

Data collection

An anonymous link to a Qualtrics questionnaire (a web-based software program version October 2020, Qualtrics, Provo, UT. https://www.qualtrics.com ) was provided in the email. A second round of reminder emails were sent six weeks later. The survey ran for 12 weeks from October to December 2020.

Data preparation

All data from parts one and two of the questionnaire was exported from Qualtrics for statistical analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 26.0. IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). All Likert scales were treated as interval scales. Participants who completed less than 10% of the survey were excluded from the statistical analysis. The Kolmogorov – Smirnov test was applied to the data from part-one and part-two to check for normality which confirmed that the data was non-normal.

Data analysis

Questionnaire part-one.

Descriptive statistics were generated within SPSS to obtain frequency and percentage responses relating to sociodemographic questions.

Questionnaire part-two

As the PTMQ questionnaire was altered to accommodate the Australian language, reliability, and validation analyses were performed using SPSS. A Cronbach’s alpha (α) was applied to each motivational subdomain with α > 0.7 considered to represent an acceptable level, α > 0.8 a good level, and α > 0.9 an excellent level of internal consistency [ 18 ].

To align with Dybowski and Harendza’s [ 16 ] methodology, a classical factor analysis was conducted to establish construct validity. The Rasch measurement model for polytomous responses, using the Rasch Unidimensional Measurement Model (RUMM) 2030 software package [ 19 ], was also used to assess the validity of the PTMQ, looking at unidimensionality and item responses in the full 18-item survey and the identified subdomains [ 20 , 21 ].

A descriptive-analytic strategy was adopted to summarize the PTMQ item responses by percentage, frequency, median, skewness, and kurtosis. A univariate general linear model with Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was used to compare the subdomain and item responses from Medicine, Optometry and Medical Imaging external healthcare educators, with significance set at p  < 0.05.

Ethical considerations

This study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethics approval was granted by Deakin University’s Faculty of Health Human Ethics Advisory Group (HEAG_H 184_2020).

Completion of the survey indicated that participants had read the Plain Language Statement and provided consent to participate. Participants were instructed to close the survey and not proceed if they did not wish to provide consent [ 17 ]. By using an anonymous link, no identifiable information was collected. A unique response ID was automatically created for each participant once the Qualtrics questionnaire was completed.

Response characteristics (Questionnaire part-one and two)

Of the 849 questionnaires emailed, 73 emails were undeliverable resulting in 776 potential participants. Of these 776 potential participants, 153 completed part-one and 142 completed part-two. Fifteen participants (8.9%) completed fewer than 10% of the questions and were excluded from the analysis giving an overall completed response rate of 19.7% ( n  = 153/776) for part-one and 18.3% (142/776) for part-two. The response rates across each profession for part-one were as follows: Medicine (37.9%, n  = 58/153), Medical Imaging (10.5%, n  = 16/153), and Optometry (51.6%, n  = 79/153). For part-two (PTMQ): Medicine (38.7%, n  = 55/142), Medical Imaging (11.3%, n  = 16/142), and Optometry (50.0%, n  = 71/142). Due to these response variations, and several part-one questions allowing for multiple options to be chosen, percentage responses are quoted along with a fraction, in brackets, representing the total number of participants for that particular item.

Questionnaire part-one results

Participant socio-demographics.

Table  1 displays the frequency and percentage distribution of participants’ socio-demographic characteristics. The median age was between 40 and 49 years with more male participants than female. Nearly half of the participants had a Bachelor’s degree as their highest educational qualification, and close to 60% ( n  = 89/153) reported a length of service between one and five years. Half of the participants were involved in teaching Optometry, just over one-third taught in Medicine, and 10% taught in Medical Imaging. The ‘Other’ category included external healthcare educators who were also involved in teaching programs outside of the School of Medicine’s three largest clinical courses such as Paramedicine, Higher Degree Research, and Biomedicine. External healthcare educators’ primary teaching activity was the supervision of students providing clinical care (38.3%, n  = 106/277). A majority (60.1%, n  = 92/153) did not have a paid appointment with Deakin University however, all participants ( n  = 153), held an academic appointment title.

Benefits of teaching

Across all three professions, the most common response on the perceived value of the resources and benefits associated with teaching at Deakin University was ‘not at all important’ (Fig.  1 ). Having a university email account was the least valued, with almost half reporting that they did not use their account (46.4%, n  = 71/153). Although library access was considered slightly more valuable than having an email account, 54.9% ( n  = 84/153) reported having never accessed the library. While most commonly, university assistance with research was not considered important, there was some perceived value in having access to students’ online teaching resources even though only 49.7% ( n  = 76/153) utilised this material.

Continuing professional development, an additional benefit provided by Deakin University, was accessed by 34.6% ( n  = 53/153) of participants, with 27.5% ( n  = 42/153) of those completing only 1–5 h per year.

Perceived usefulness of benefits and resources available to external healthcare educators

Barriers to teaching

Participants were given the option to choose multiple barriers, therefore, the sum total number of responses is greater than n  = 153. Figure  2 shows most commonly (41.3%, n  = 78/189), that there were no barriers to participants maintaining their association with Deakin University. However, 31.8% ( n  = 60/189) felt that competing work requirements and time constraints were potential deterrents. Information and technology (IT) requirements, income expectations, requirements of the onboarding human resources (HR) process, and ongoing university compliance were considered relatively minor barriers. The ‘other’ barrier category included factors such as the location of their practice, an inability to obtain student evaluation feedback, and difficulties with upholding regular communication with the university.

The primary barrier reported by Medicine were competing work requirements and time constraints (46.6%, n  = 27/58), while the majority of participants in Optometry (58.2%, n  = 46/79) and Medical Imaging (62.5%, n  = 10/16), reported that there were no barriers in being able to teach.

Questionnaire part-two results

Ptmq survey items.

The final adapted 18 PTMQ survey items, along with the corresponding median, interquartile range, skewness, and kurtosis values for all participants are displayed in Table  2 . Overall, the subdomain median values were lowest for Identified and highest for Amotivation. A low median value indicated a ‘strongly agree’ response and a high median indicated a ‘strongly disagree’ response.

PTMQ descriptive responses

Overall, the ‘Identified’ subdomain, comprising items 5, 6, and 7, showed the highest level of congruence, with nearly 60% expressing a ‘strongly agree’ response across these three items. Within this subdomain, 73.2% ( n  = 104/142) strongly agreed with item 5: ‘I teach because it’s important for me to make a contribution to students becoming a good healthcare professional in the future’. This also represented the highest percentage response out of all 18 items. Additionally, 42.3% ( n  = 60/142) and the most common response, strongly agreed with feeling like they had a sense of duty to pass on their knowledge to students (item 6).

A majority of participants strongly agreed with the ‘Intrinsic’ subdomain items 2 and 4, ‘I enjoy teaching most of the time’ and ‘I teach because it increases my job satisfaction’ respectively suggesting that altruism plays a strong role in why participants teach healthcare students.

Items 8 and 9 in the ‘Introjected’ subdomain demonstrated higher responses to the negative attitude Likert scale of agreements, supporting the notion that teaching is not typically driven by guilt.

The ‘Career’ subdomain exhibited the largest diversity of responses. For PTMQ ‘Career’ item 12, ‘I teach because it is good for my career progression,’ Medical Imaging participants strongly agreed (25%, n  = 4/16) with this statement compared to Medicine 1.8% ( n  = 1/55) and Optometry 2.8% ( n  = 2/71). The negative attitude Likert responses to the same PTMQ career item, resulted in no Medical Imaging participants strongly disagreeing with this statement whereas 38.2% ( n  = 21/55) of Medicine and 25.4% ( n  = 18/71) of Optometry did. Teaching was viewed as a greater incentive for career progression in Medical Imaging compared to Medicine and Optometry.

In the ‘External’ subdomain, 65.6% ( n  = 93/142) of external healthcare educators strongly disagreed with the assertion that they taught to avoid being performance-managed (item 15). Items 13 and 14 also, most commonly, signalled that participants were not motivated to teach by the prospect of a reward or to avoid punishment.

Approximately 60% strongly disagreed with item 17, ‘I rarely feel like teaching but do it anyway’ and item 18, ‘I teach even though I often perceive it as an annoying chore’, indicating ‘Amotivation’ was not a prevalent trait amongst participants.

PTMQ subdomain and item comparisons across Medicine, Optometry and Medical Imaging

Across the three professions (Medicine, Optometry and Medical Imaging), PTMQ participant responses showed a reasonable level of homogeneity (Table  3 ). The mean values for the ‘Intrinsic’ and ‘Identified’ items were consistently low, indicating that teaching motivations were primarily altruistic. In the ‘Introjected’ subdomain, the mean values suggest that feelings of guilt do not serve as a motivating factor for teaching across all professions.

Significant differences were observed within the ‘Career’ ( p  < 0.003) and ‘External’ ( p  < 0.001) subdomains. Specifically, item 12 in the ‘Career’ subdomain, “I teach because it is good for my career progression” and item 14 in the ‘External’ subdomain, “I mainly teach because it is part of my position description” highlighted this disparity, with Medical Imaging exhibiting a significantly lower mean value than Medicine and Optometry ( p  < 0.001).

The ‘Amotivation’ subdomain displayed similar higher mean values across all three professions, indicating there was no lack of motivation to teach. However, item 16, “I teach even though I feel that teaching is a lower priority than my other occupational activities”, revealed a significantly higher mean value for Medical Imaging compared to Medicine and Optometry ( p  < 0.001).

PTMQ subdomain reliability

A good or acceptable Cronbach’s alpha was obtained for each motivational subdomain (Intrinsic α = 0.87, Identified α = 0.77, Introjected α = 0.86, Career α = 0.81, External α = 0.83 and Amotivation α = 0.83). Removal of a survey item within each subdomain did not increase Cronbach’s alpha except for in the Amotivation subdomain. By removing the first survey item in this subdomain, Cronbach’s alpha increased slightly from 0.83 to 0.85 however, we elected to keep the instrument intact rather than removing this question for a marginal gain.

PTMQ factor analysis

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy was meritorious (0.804) [ 22 ].

Conducting the principal component analysis by fixing six domains as reported by Dybowski [ 16 ] resulted in similar outcomes to the initial validation. Bartlett’s test of sphericity was highly significant (c2 = 1334, df = 153, p  < 0.001). Items had extraction coefficients between 0.685 and 0.873.

PTMQ Rasch analysis

Following the classical factor analysis, a Rasch analysis was undertaken to further validate and confirm the results and to provide additional insight into the survey responses.

A significant likelihood ratio test result (χ 2  = 148.87, df = 50, p  < 0.0001) indicated that partial-credit parameterisation should be used [ 19 ]. Items 8–18 inclusive were reverse coded for the analysis. Overall, the data from the full PTMQ did not fit the Rasch model (Table  4 ), with a significant item-trait Chi-square interaction observed (χ 2  = 80.45, df = 36, p  < 0.0001).

As the PTMQ was originally developed to target specific subdomains, the misfit of the full survey results to the Rasch model was assumed to be the result of multidimensionality in the instrument. This was confirmed by examining residual Principal Component 1 (PC1) (Table  4 ) [ 23 ]. Items 8–15 negatively correlated with PC1, dividing the questionnaire into two main groups (Intrinsic, Identified, and Amotivation subdomains in one ‘Altruistic’ group; Introjected, Career, and External subdomains in the other ‘Career’ group). No new subdomains were identified.

PTMQ Rasch subgroup analysis

Rasch analysis was conducted on the ‘Altruistic’ and ‘Career’ subgroups identified from the PC1 loadings in the full PTMQ. Neither the Altruistic group (Intrinsic, Identified, and Amotivation subdomains; χ 2  = 67.41, p  < 0.0001) nor the Career group (Introjected, Career, and External subdomains; χ 2  = 35.59, p  = 0.003) fit the Rasch model (Table  4 ). (The principal component loading analyses for the two subgroups suggested, as the original PTMQ analyses found [ 16 ], that each of the six subdomains represents a different underlying trait of teacher motivation.

PTMQ Rasch subdomain analysis

The six subdomains were analysed individually with Rasch to confirm they each represented a single underlying trait. All six subdomains fitted the Rasch model, albeit with reduced power of fit due to the smaller number of questions and thresholds (Table  4 ). All items in each subdomain showed good individual item fit residuals (within the expected ± 2.5 logit range) with no significant chi-square values. Many of the items showed disordered thresholds, but investigation of the category frequencies revealed this was mostly due to clustering of responses at one end of the Likert scale, and no collapsing of categories was required.

During the subdomain analysis, each item was examined for the presence of any differential item functioning (DIF) for each of the three person factors included in the model (course, sex, and year in teaching). Only item 15 displayed any DIF, showing a significant difference in item response by sex (F = 8.16, p  = 0.005). Uniform DIF was present, suggesting that male tertiary educators in this cohort were more likely to indicate they taught to avoid being performance managed than expected, while female participants were less worried about this than expected in the model.

Differences in response (average person abilities) across the three person factors were also examined for each of the six subdomains (Table  5 ). Investigation of the mean person abilities showed that educators involved in Medical Imaging were more likely to score higher in the Career and External subdomains than those in Medicine or Optometry, indicating they were more likely to be teaching for the impact it would have on their career progression and the innate requirements of their position expectations.

In Australia, the limited research exploring the motivations of external healthcare educators in teaching has predominantly centred around medical educators, with little attention given to other allied health professions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in Australia to have applied a validated motivation questionnaire across different healthcare disciplines including Medicine, Optometry, and Medical Imaging professions. Our adaptation of Dybowski and Harendza’s PTMQ [ 16 ] did not compromise its application, demonstrating good internal consistency and construct validity.

Across all surveyed professions, altruism emerged as the overarching motivational factor behind why external healthcare educators teach in healthcare disciplines at Deakin University. These educators are motivated by a genuine desire to contribute to the development of future healthcare practitioners by imparting their skills and knowledge. This sense of altruism brings them significant internal satisfaction and fulfilment in their work, providing further motivation for them to continue teaching. These findings are comparable with global research, which commonly cited altruistic elements as healthcare educators’ primary reason for teaching [ 6 ]. Similarly, several Australian studies have also reported that clinical educators predominantly engage in teaching for the enjoyment it provides [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 15 ]. Interestingly, Thomson et al. [ 12 ], suggested that teaching institutions could benefit from marketing this altruistic enjoyment of teaching to recruit new educators. Adopting such a strategy could assist in addressing the growing need for external healthcare educators supervising students.

The majority of our healthcare educators perceived that they had a sense of duty to contribute to their profession and the future of the healthcare system. This finding is also consistent with research undertaken on Australian general practitioners, where 82% ( n  = 69) of participants felt the same ethical responsibility to teach [ 13 ]. As a result, it was not unexpected to find low levels of teaching amotivation within our study. While overall, there were low levels of amotivation, some gender differences were noted, with males slightly more likely to display amotivational tendencies than females.

Although, in general, there were no significant differences in participants’ motivational responses, some educators within the ‘Career and External’ subdomains exhibited additional driving factors independent of the more altruistic motivating aspects. Medical Imaging educators showed a greater inclination to agree with ‘Career and External’ motivation PTMQ items than Optometry and Medicine educators, indicating that they may be more driven to teach for career progression but also, display a greater level of indifference towards meeting others’ teaching expectations compared to Medicine and Optometry. This may be explained, in part, by the structure of the Medical Imaging workforce which is divided between hospital and non-hospital sectors. Many hospital-based positions build into their promotion policies minimum capability duties which, for some levels, include supervision and training of students, potentially increasing Medical Imaging educators’ incentive to mentor and teach [ 24 ]. The majority of the Medical and Optometric workforce surveyed are situated in private practice. Career progression often ceases in these settings, especially in smaller private practices therefore, the supervision and training of healthcare students tends not to be a strong factor for promotion.

To maintain maximum satisfaction and long-term commitment of external healthcare educators, gaining a better understanding of the perceived benefits and barriers associated with teaching could be invaluable. Currently, universities offer a wide variety of benefits and resources to incentivise external healthcare educators to teach. Several studies have found that the benefits perceived as being most valuable vary, but most commonly include the use of academic appointment titles, access to university libraries, and continued professional development (CPD) [ 25 , 26 , 27 ]. While our research found, overall, that the resources and benefits associated with teaching, including holding university email accounts, were not important to participants, having access to the university library was somewhat beneficial. Similarly, Scott and Sazegar [ 28 ] reported that medical educators regarded the provision of email accounts to be of little value; however, in contrast to our findings, their study indicated that library access was deemed unimportant.

Although all of our external healthcare educators are given academic appointment titles, our research did not investigate the perceived benefits of this. Considering, that other studies have shown this to be a major motivation to teach [ 25 , 26 ], it appears worthwhile for universities to continue to offer this benefit.

Continued professional development has also been recognised as an important teaching incentive [ 25 , 26 ]. Given that only a third of our participants engaged in university-provided continuing professional development opportunities, typically for five or fewer hours per year, there is potential for universities, including Deakin, to develop strategies that further incentivise participation. Baldor et al. [ 26 ], additionally found that CPD credits/points for teaching were rated highly important in medical educators’ decision to teach. Since most healthcare professionals/educators in Australia are required to undertake professional development to maintain their registration to practice, universities could consider a system that provides CPD points as a reward for their teaching hours.

There was a discernible difference in the perceived value of university assistance in research endeavours between Medicine and Optometry, with Medicine placing a higher value on this support compared to Optometry. This could be attributed to the fact that many external healthcare educators in Medicine are affiliated with hospitals that potentially include academic pursuits as part of their role whereas the vast majority of surveyed optometrists were based in community and private practice.

While this study revealed, overall, that there were no significant barriers to being a healthcare educator, the main deterrents influencing participants’ decision to be involved in teaching were competing work requirements and time constraints. This was more commonly cited by Medicine educators, than those in Optometry and Medical Imaging. Clinical supervision is widely known to be time-consuming and can negatively impact the number of patients seen in the practice [ 2 , 5 , 12 , 29 ]. Laurence et al. [ 29 ], imply the financial implications of this are more pronounced for the supervision of medical students compared to junior doctors and general practice registrars [ 29 ]. Kirkman et al. [ 2 ], also describe the demands of clinical practice and the responsibility of supervising optometry students to be higher in the early stages of a student’s placement compared to the later stages. This tension between patient care and clinical supervision lessens though as students’ skills improve. Reimbursement, in the form of a teaching stipend or subsidy rate to offset the cost of clinical teaching, has been proposed by several studies [ 27 , 29 ]. While this sounds like a reasonable solution, it may not be a financially viable option for many universities. Nonetheless, universities that continue to explore innovative solutions to address these challenges may help improve the retention rates of external healthcare educators.

Given that a majority of our participants teach without a paid appointment, it was unsurprising that this analysis demonstrated minimal financial barriers to teaching. Kirkman et al. [ 2 ], reported a similar outcome with clinical supervisors in Australian community-based optometric practices but also emphasised that financial incentives would be appreciated by external clinical supervisors to compensate them for their contributions - an aspect that this study did not explore.

Despite these apparent barriers, interest in clinical teaching continues to exist among external healthcare educators, likely driven by their altruistic motivations.

Limitations

We acknowledge that there were several limitations in this study.

Part-one of the questionnaire did not utilise forced responses therefore, not all participants answered every question. This reduced the number of participants whose data could be analysed. However, several studies have shown that forcing responses to avoid missing data may compromise data quality as participants may not want to answer questions truthfully or may drop out before completing the survey [ 30 , 31 ].

The response rate may have generated a non-representative sample potentially affecting the validity of the results. Due to the convenience sampling methodology, those who responded are more likely to be engaged with, and theoretically motivated to contribute to teaching programs, potentially biasing the results. Our response rate was also lower than that reported by Dybowski and Harendza [ 16 ]. Some studies have suggested that falling survey response rates by medical practitioners can be attributed to workload and time pressures [ 32 , 33 ]. It is worth noting that during 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a profound negative impact on the workload and stress levels of Australian healthcare workers [ 34 , 35 ], which possibly contributed to the lower-than-expected response rate.

This single-centred study involved only three healthcare professions, potentially limiting the generalisability of the results. Mitigating this possibility is the fact that all participants are based in geographically disparate areas and from different professions (medical and allied health). We also acknowledge that there may be an institutional bias and that external healthcare educators associated with other universities may respond differently from the participants of this study. Despite a relative overrepresentation of Optometry educators and a relative underrepresentation of Medical Imaging educators, the vast majority of responses exhibited consistent patterns across all professions, again speaking to the generalisability of the results. Nonetheless, even with a smaller number of Medical Imaging participants responding, subtle yet significant differences in teaching motivations between the professions’ were still discernible.

Future research

To validate our findings, broadening the application of the PTMQ to other healthcare disciplines and institutions not targeted in this study would allow for a more diverse sample and greater comparability of teaching motivations amongst external healthcare educators. This could potentially provide additional insights into how universities can tailor their curriculum and incentives to better maintain retention rates among external healthcare educators. Moreover, this study did not capture any information on the geographical location of the participating external healthcare educators. This information would be beneficial because it is vital for rural and regional training programs, such as those at Deakin University, to maximise its external staff uptake in the hopes that graduating students bolster the workforce in these areas. Another worthwhile consideration would be to organise a follow-up focus group discussion on the same sample to further explore the issues raised, such as competing work requirements and time constraints and map any divergence of findings.

This study has demonstrated that the PTMQ exhibits good generalisability when applied across Australian medical and allied health professions. Altruism was the overarching motivational theme for why external healthcare educators contribute to university healthcare programs. However, career motivations differed slightly across the professions, with Medical Imaging educators showing a stronger inclination towards teaching for the promotional benefits associated with their professional award. While there were no key benefits or barriers identified in maintaining teaching relationships with the university, exploring innovative ideas to address time constraints faced by some external healthcare educators is essential to enhancing teaching participation. Moreover, given the rising demand for clinical placements, external healthcare educators will remain pivotal in the provision of authentic clinical experiences and professional development opportunities for healthcare students. Consequently, universities must remain cognisant of the factors that aid in the recruitment and retention of their external healthcare educators and continue to maximise these for the ongoing success and sustainability of their clinical programs.

Data availability

All data generated and/or analysed during this study are included in this published article [and its supplementary information files].

Abbreviations

Differential Item Functioning

Human Resources

Information and Technology

Principal Component 1

Principal Component 2

Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire

Standard Deviation

Self Determination Theory

Worley P, Esterman A, Prideaux D. Cohort study of examination performance of undergraduate medical students learning in community settings. BMJ. 2004;328(7433):207–9.

Article   Google Scholar  

Kirkman JM, Bentley SA, Wood-Bradley RJ, Woods CA, Armitage JA. Supervisor experiences of extended clinical placements in optometry: a mixed methods study. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):854.

Davis K, Doole E, Cheek C, Shires L. How medical students learn in primary care. Clin Teach. 2019;16(5):474–8.

Thistlethwaite JE, Kidd MR, Hudson JN. General practice: a leading provider of medical student education in the 21st century? Med J Aust. 2007;187(2):124–8.

May M, Mand P, Biertz F, Hummers-Pradier E, Kruschinski C. A survey to assess family physicians’ motivation to teach undergraduates in their practices. PLoS ONE. 2012;7(9):e45846.

McCullough B, Marton GE, Ramnanan CJ. How can clinician-educator training programs be optimized to match clinician motivations and concerns? Adv Med Educ Pract. 2015;6:45–54.

Dybowski C, Harendza S. Teaching is like Nightshifts … a Focus Group Study on the teaching motivations of clinicians. Teach Learn Med. 2014;26(4):393–400.

Budden CR, Svechnikova K, White J. Why do surgeons teach? A qualitative analysis of motivation in excellent surgical educators. Med Teach. 2017;39(2):188–94.

Hein V, Ries F, Pires F, Caune A, Heszteráné Ekler J, Emeljanovas A, Valantiniene I. The relationship between teaching styles and motivation to teach among physical education teachers. J Sports Sci Med. 2012;11(1):123–30.

Google Scholar  

Bartle E, Thistlethwaite J. Becoming a medical educator: motivation, socialisation and navigation. BMC Med Educ. 2014;14(1):110.

Dahlstrom J, Dorai-Raj A, McGill D, Owen C, Tymms K, Watson DA. What motivates senior clinicians to teach medical students? BMC Med Educ. 2005;5:27.

Thomson J, Haesler E, Anderson K, Barnard A. What motivates general practitioners to teach. Clin Teach. 2014;11(2):124–30.

Ingham G, O’Meara P, Fry J, Crothers N. GP supervisors–an investigation into their motivations and teaching activities. Aust Fam Physician. 2014;43(11):808–12.

Cochran Ward E, Kwan J, Garlan K, Bassett E, Klein L. To teach or not to teach?’ Factors that motivate and constrain Australian emergency medicine physicians to teach medical students. Emerg Med Australas. 2013;25(4):353–8.

Chapman R, Burgess A, McKenzie S, Mellis C. What motivates junior doctors to teach medical students?2016 2016. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2016.000073

Dybowski C, Harendza S. Validation of the Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire (PTMQ). BMC Med Educ. 2015;15(1):166.

Whitehead LC. Methodological and ethical issues in internet-mediated research in the field of health: an integrated review of the literature. Soc Sci Med. 2007;65(4):782–91.

George D, Mallery P. IBM SPSS statistics 23 step by step: a simple guide and reference. London, UNITED KINGDOM: Routledge; 2016.

Book   Google Scholar  

Andrich D, Sheridan BS, Luo GRUMM. 2030: Rasch Unidimensional measurement models. 9th ed. Perth, Western Australia: RUMM Laboratory; 2015.

Andrich D. A rating formulation for ordered response categories. Psychometrika. 1978;43(4):561–73.

Rasch G. Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests. ERIC; 1993.

Kaiser HF. A second generation little jiffy. Psychometrika. 1970;35(4):401–15.

Linacre J, Tennant A. More about critical eigenvalue sizes in standardized-residual principal components analysis (PCA). Rasch Meas Trans. 2009;23(3):1228.

Allied Health Professionals (Victorian Public Sector). (Single Interest Employers) Enterprise Agreement 2021–20262021 https://vahpa.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/AHP-Vic-Public-Sector-Single-Interest-Employers-EA-2021-26.pdf

Kumar A, Kallen DJ, Mathew T. Volunteer Faculty: what rewards or incentives do they prefer? Teaching and learning in Medicine. 2002;14(2):119–24.

Baldor RA, Brooks WB, Warfield ME, O’Shea K. A survey of primary care physicians’ perceptions and needs regarding the precepting of medical students in their offices. Med Educ. 2001;35(8):789–95.

Graziano SC, McKenzie ML, Abbott JF, Buery-Joyner SD, Craig LB, Dalrymple JL, et al. Barriers and strategies to engaging our community-based preceptors. Teach Learn Med. 2018;30(4):444–50.

Scott I, Sazegar P. Why community physicians teach students (or not): barriers and opportunities for preceptor recruitment. Med Teach. 2006;28(6):563–5.

Laurence CO, Black LE, Karnon J, Briggs NE. To teach or not to teach? A cost–benefit analysis of teaching in private general practice. Med J Aust. 2010;193(10):608–13.

Décieux JP, Mergener A, Neufang K, Sischka P. Implementation of the forced answering option within online surveys: do higher item response rates come at the expense of participation and answer quality? Psihologija. 2015;48:311–26.

Kmetty Z, Stefkovics Á. Assessing the effect of questionnaire design on unit and item-nonresponse: evidence from an online experiment. Int J Soc Res Methodol. 2022;25(5):659–72.

VanGeest JB, Johnson TP, Welch VL. Methodologies for improving response rates in surveys of physicians: a systematic review. Eval Health Prof. 2007;30(4):303–21.

Cunningham CT, Quan H, Hemmelgarn B, Noseworthy T, Beck CA, Dixon E, et al. Exploring physician specialist response rates to web-based surveys. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2015;15(1):32.

Willis K, Ezer P, Lewis S, Bismark M, Smallwood N. Covid just amplified the cracks of the system: Working as a Frontline Health Worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(19):10178.

Smallwood N, Karimi L, Bismark M, Putland M, Johnson D, Dharmage SC, et al. High levels of psychosocial distress among Australian frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey. Gen Psychiatr. 2021;34(5):e100577.

Pondorfer SG, Terheyden JH, Overhoff H, Stasch-Bouws J, Holz FG, Finger RP. Development of the Vision Impairment in Low Luminance Questionnaire. Translational Vis Sci Technol. 2021;10(1):5.

Fisher JW. Reliability statistics. Rasch Meas Trans. 1992;6:238.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge our participants for their time and contributions toward this study.

The authors did not receive financial support from any organisation for the work.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, 3216, Australia

Natalie Ann Watt, Simon Backhouse, Saba Ansari, Karen Maree Dwyer, Janet McLeod, Grant Phelps, Deborah Leach & James Andrew Armitage

School of Medicine (Optometry), Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, 3216, Australia

Natalie Ann Watt, Simon Backhouse & James Andrew Armitage

School of Medicine (Medical Imaging), Faculty of Health, Deakin University, 75 Pigdons Road, Waurn Ponds, 3216, Australia

Saba Ansari

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

NAW made a substantial contribution to the study design, questionnaire piloting, data collection, data analysis, wrote the main manuscript text, prepared figures, and tables. SB made contributions to data analysis, manuscript text and editing. SA made contributions to questionnaire piloting and manuscript editing. KD made contributions to questionnaire piloting and manuscript editing. GP made contributions to questionnaire piloting and manuscript editing. DL made contributions to questionnaire piloting and manuscript editing. JM made contributions to questionnaire piloting and manuscript editing. JAA made contributions to the study design, questionnaire piloting, data collection, data analysis, manuscript text and editing. The author(s) read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Natalie Ann Watt .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

Ethics approval was granted by Deakin University’s Faculty of Health Human Ethics Advisory Group (HEAG_H 184_2020) and all research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Participation in the study was voluntary and after reading the Plain Language Statement, informed consent was provided by all participants by completing the survey.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Watt, N.A., Backhouse, S., Ansari, S. et al. Understanding barriers, enablers and motivational factors for Australian healthcare educators teaching university students on clinical placement using the validated Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire. BMC Med Educ 24 , 900 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05886-1

Download citation

Received : 19 May 2023

Accepted : 09 August 2024

Published : 21 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05886-1

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Teaching motivation
• External healthcare professionals
• External healthcare educators
• Validated questionnaire
• Teaching benefits and barriers

BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

• General enquiries: [email protected]

Get the Reddit app

For Pre-Optometry students to discuss and share information on admissions

Personal Statements

How do you guys overcome writer’s block? I feel like this is one of the hardest parts of the application process.

By continuing, you agree to our User Agreement and acknowledge that you understand the Privacy Policy .

Enter the 6-digit code from your authenticator app

You’ve set up two-factor authentication for this account.

Enter a 6-digit backup code

Create your username and password.

Reddit is anonymous, so your username is what you’ll go by here. Choose wisely—because once you get a name, you can’t change it.

Reset your password

Enter your email address or username and we’ll send you a link to reset your password

Check your inbox

An email with a link to reset your password was sent to the email address associated with your account

Choose a Reddit account to continue