The Specsavers Graduate Program is an industry success story, nurturing the transition from university to the clinic and guided by leaders like DR NATASHA FERNANDES and SARAH YEARSLEY. Now in its 15th year, Insight discovers how the initiative has evolved to remain relevant for the next generation of optometrists.
Dr Natasha Fernandes, the senior graduate optometry development manager at Specsavers, joined the company as a graduate optometrist in 2017. Today, she is helping mould new graduates into confident practitioners, using her own personal experience.
Leading a team of optometrists, Dr Fernandes is responsible for the delivery and continuous improvement of the Specsavers Graduate Program, a comprehensive initiative designed to ease the transition from student to early career optometrist.
Since the first intake of eight graduates in 2009, Specsavers’ latest cohort saw 248 optometrists onboarded – and demand is growing each year with the network often setting a new intake record year-on-year.
A structured approach to in-store mentorship, consistency in the working environment, and access to advanced clinical equipment to support the growth of graduates at every turn, make the program highly sought after.
“This structured support system is crucial for new graduates as they navigate their early career stages,” Dr Fernandes says.
For Dr Fernandes – and many other fresh optometrists – the Graduate Program presented unassuming opportunities and ignited her passion for mentorship.
“I was invited back to attend the next Graduate Induction as a peer mentor to help mentor the new incoming graduate cohort, which I absolutely loved. That was my first taste of working alongside the Graduate Optometry Team,” she says.
After working in regional practice for almost three years, she moved to a larger store in a busy metropolitan region with many graduate optometrists, and found fulfillment derived from supporting new professionals.
“I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to support optometrists at a stage in their journey where they need support the most, and it’s fulfilling being able to relate to them through my own journey as a student to graduate optometrist and beyond that.”
The Specsavers Graduate Program is carefully designed to ease graduates into the realities of practice over its two-year duration and features various touchpoints to support the professional development of graduates.
The first touch point is Graduate Induction which helps to set the new graduates up for success as they start their careers with Specsavers. Professional development workshops during this induction address common graduate challenges, from clinical content to patient communication and preparing them for their first professional roles.
In the second year of the Graduate Program, graduates are encouraged to adopt a broader mindset where they explore longer-term career goals and aspirations and how they can find fulfillment and longevity in their careers. They are made aware of diverse career development opportunities, where they can explore business aspects of optometry, niche clinical areas, or roles in mentorship and training.
“We help them identify their strengths, weaknesses and passions and build the skills needed to pursue their longer-term career goals,” Dr Fernandes says.
She adds that the various Graduate Program events, CPD events, networking opportunities, and the Specsavers Clinical Conference ensure graduates feel connected and supported throughout the program, as she once did.
“There are a few different avenues for career development as optometrists at Specsavers within our business. I wasn’t sure which specific path I wanted to go, but I discovered I was passionate about optometry development. My mentors were great in guiding me when the opportunity on the Graduate Optometry Team arose,” Dr Fernandes says.
stable, appropriate support
The Graduate Recruitment Team, led by Mrs Sarah Yearsley, works closely with Dr Fernandes and the Graduate Optometry Development Team to manage recruitment campaigns and engage with university optometry students.
A recruitment consultant is assigned to each of the eight universities offering optometry in Australia and New Zealand, which Yearsley says is key to ensuring students feel heard and supported in securing their first role as graduate optometrists. A core component of the network’s relationship with students is the volume of clinical placements it offers.
“Specsavers is the largest clinical placement provider across Australia and New Zealand, with about 70% of students who complete a clinical placement in store within the network joining the Specsavers Graduate Program,” Yearsley says.
The two-year structured Graduate Program and various career paths, including the Pathway Program for business ownership, are highly attractive to graduates.
Initiatives like ‘Early Bird’ offers, and the ‘Go with a Friend’ incentive encourage graduates to consider practising regionally.
“With Early Bird offers, optometrists are offered a bonus if they sign on before the end of June,” Yearsley says. “This offer has been growing in popularity because the graduates know they’re going to benefit from the different pathology and the diverse experience associated with a regional practice.”
And the Go with a Friend program reduces the fear of graduates travelling to a new, remote location on their own.
“This way, they just feel a bit more comfortable. They’ve got someone else from their cohort going with them to the regional location. They’ve got someone to spend time with on their days off and they don’t feel so far from home. They can gel themselves into the community a little bit more,” Yearsley says.
“Our graduates are assured that they will have appropriate support, whether that be via the optometry partner or a senior optometrist. You’ll usually have a wide clinical team around you,” Yearsley says.
She adds that venture partnerships provide a stable environment, with graduates assigned to a specific store.
“The graduate will get full scope mentorship from the optometrist and from the retail team and develop well-rounded skills to run a practice,” Yearsley says.
“Our Graduate Program has grown significantly since we hired our first graduates in 2009. It’s wonderful to see the program grow and to hear how much it has supported our graduates.”
From mentee to partner
Dr Kalp Shah was among the 2022 Graduate Program cohort, which he completed at Specsavers Werribee. The experience shaped him into a confident practitioner in the test room, and a leader outside. Now, he is store partner at two locations in Geelong, Victoria.
“Working with the latest imaging technology and experiencing a large volume of patients helped accelerate my development as an optometrist to ensure I was able to provide the best care for my patients,” he says.
Dr Shah says the touchpoints throughout the Graduate Program were well placed to ease him into practice, and built the framework of an accomplished, holistic optometrist.
“I am now more aware of what is required for someone to be a well-rounded optometrist, so I am more mindful of the needs of new graduates when mentoring them, especially integrating the commercial and clinical aspects of optometry.”
For Dr Shah, a turning point in his graduate journey was his second-year project when he was required to drive change within the store team. He says this exposure cemented his goals of partnership.
“The guidance, support and resources provided by the Graduate Optometry Team was instrumental to my self confidence in my ability to lead a team, to drive positive change and, as a result, successfully complete the Pathway Program.”
The clinic door is always open
Dr Jessica Jovanovski, from Specsavers Broadmeadows in Melbourne, says the Graduate Program and its “open-door” policy has been helpful in providing reassurance to build her clinical confidence.
“It truly felt like they cared about our transition from student to qualified optometrist and I knew I wanted to begin my career somewhere I was cared for,” she says.
“I have developed the clinical skills, knowledge and confidence to be a successful optometrist that ensures the best patient care. I’ve also had the opportunity to develop my leadership skills.”
Dr Jovanovski says the Graduate Program is focused on the growth of graduates, with a plethora of development opportunities throughout its two-year duration.
“We recently had a development day where we were encouraged to discuss our future aspirations so that the Graduate Optometry Team could ensure that we were supported,” she says. “I have expressed my interest in outreach and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eyecare and they helped me attend the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Eye Health Conference.
“We have also been given the opportunity to be a part of other outreach opportunities and to work with The Fred Hollows Foundation.”
Dr Jovanovski lists the multiple conferences, seminars and CPD events as a gateway to becoming the compassionate and skilled optometrist she has always wanted to be, with capacity for further growth.
“The program has helped me identify my own professional goals including my aim to become a mentor myself. By sharing my own experiences and knowledge and using the skills I learnt through my leadership roles, I know I can help future graduates how they have helped me.”
Overwhelming support
Dr Ismar Kumbara from the 2024 graduate cohort who is now practising in Midland Gate Specsavers, Western Australia, says the support from both the clinic team and Support Office has been “overwhelming”.
“It’s been a very smooth transition from university placements into full-time work especially with regular check-ins through protected time, as well as having a home clinic that you get to settle in at. Having an OCT scan provided for every patient at the time of arrival is also a big help when getting your bearings clinically speaking,” he says.
As a fresh graduate, Dr Kumbara says efficiency in the test room isn’t always achievable right away. However, the pacing of the Graduate Program allows for a smooth transition into practice.
“Graduate Induction was also a great stepping stone into full-time work where many aspects of the day-to-day in a Specsavers practice were covered, such as the Socrates management system as well as optometry related information.”
Like many other graduates, Dr Kumbara’s practice has an open-door policy where he can seek help and advice not only from his mentor, but any of the other optometrists available at any time.
The future for Dr Kumbara is bright as he aspires to join Specsavers through the joint-venture program to one day manage his own practice as an Optometry Director.
“I believe the Graduate Program will be instrumental not only in my development as an optometrist but also in developing my leadership skills,” he says.
More reading
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