International Optician of the Year Award finalist: Andrew Keirl

The annual IOA / Silmo International Optician of the Year Award recognises the importance of the optician in the optical business and their role in the choice of the optimum products for their clientele. Read on to find out more about one of the opticians who have been shortlisted for this prestigious award.

Andrew Keirl is a dispensing optician from the UK. He started in optics in 1979 as a student Dispensing Optician with Dollond & Aitchison, following his interest in science and a desire to work with people. Talking about his training at City College in London he says, “I was fortunate to be taught by Mo Jalie, David Gully, David Pipe and Jo Underwood. I had no idea at the time how their teaching and enthusiasm would stay with me for years to come.”

In 1984, Andrew was appointed Training Officer for the Dollond & Aitchision Group, based at its Birmingham headquarters. “I was already beginning to realise that the optical profession offered personal development and the opportunity to inspire and help other members of the profession,” He says.

During this period Andrew lectured on many occasions to students taking examinations of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians in Singapore, Malaysia and Kenya. “I was amazed at the enthusiasm and dedication of these students who worked long hours often in difficult conditions with an ambition to be the best they could be in their chosen profession.”

In 1989, Andrew was asked to join the then Anglia Higher Education College (now Anglia Ruskin University) in Cambridge to instigate and develop courses in Ophthalmic Dispensing by establishing a department within the Faculty of Applied Sciences. “The profession was offering me a great opportunity as I was about to start the creation of a brand-new department with a blank canvas, no agenda, no staff and no equipment. The professional body and the optical industry as a whole gave support to my ideas as I wanted to combine the essential academic aspects of optics with the retail, commercial and communication skills necessary for a young optician to be successful in practice.”

The first cohort of students who followed the national day release programme achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in the ABDO Final Qualifying Examinations, an accolade that has not achieved before or since. As a result of Andrew’s enthusiasm and efforts the new department went from strengthtostrength and gained support from both the major optical employers in the UK and from the wider industry.

Andrew then turned his attention to a full-time programme for student Dispensing Opticians. Full time courses were already being offered by three other optics colleges, so he had to be creative and innovative in providing an alternative that was attractive to both prospective students and employers. In 1995 he launched the very first Honours Degree programme for Dispensing Opticians, a BSc (Hons) in Optical Management. In essence, this was a course in optics and also in how to run a small business. An undergraduate programme in optometry was also launched and during his last four years at Anglia Ruskin University Andrew joined the Optometry programme as a part-time student while at the same time, retaining a full-time teaching and administrative role.

“I believed that understanding, and being qualified in every aspect of optical practice, I could further promote the importance of opticians.” At the conclusion of the Professional Qualifying Examinations Andrew was awarded prizes for the highest mark in investigative techniques and the highest overall mark obtained for a Dispensing Optician.

Andrew now runs his own independent optical practice. He says, “After more than 40 years I am still passionate about high quality eye care and eye wear and am proud to be an independent optician.” Andrew’s practice is multi-disciplinary and offers clinics for stable glaucoma patients, post-operative clinics for patients following cataract surgery and a minor eye conditions service.

“Our passion is in providing high quality eye wear for our customers using the latest products and technologies to provide our customers with spectacles that fulfil their needs and meet their expectations. My practice has a particular interest in varifocal lenses and relishes the opportunity to help patients who have had problems adapting to varifocals in the past. We also specialise in occupational and vocational dispensing and lenses for specific hobbies and interests. We are particularly enthusiastic about indoor varifocals. In order to fully solve a patient’s problems we have to on occasionthink “outside of the box” by dispensing bifocal lenses with unusual segment shapes and sizes, up-curve bifocals, double segment bifocals, split bifocals, cemented bifocals and trifocals. In my opinion the key to success when problem solving is communication. Unless you fully understand that the needs and wants of the customer you cannot provide an appropriate solution.”

Andrew believes that optics is a profession that is constantly evolving and that you never stop learning. “It inspired my passion in teaching which has become my specialism and unique selling point. I have been honoured to have been given many opportunities over the years to assist in the development of my colleagues by providing continuing education and professional development.”

Andrew has written over 50 CET/CPD articles for optical journals on a variety of subjects and has also contributed to the textbooks Supervision in Practice (DLL) and Paediatric Optometry (Butterworth-Heinemann). His text Clinical Optics and Refraction: A Guide for Optometrists, Dispensing Opticians and Contact Lens Opticians (Elsevier) has recently been translated into Mandarin. Andrew is currently working in a consultancy role with a major ophthalmic lens company to produce a new textbook for eye care practitioners in Europe.

Andrew also acts act as an Expert Witness for the General Optical Council and has provided medico-legal reports for the Medical Defence Union. This year Andrew was presented with Life Membership of the Association of British Dispensing Opticians,the highest honour awarded by the UK Professional Body for Dispensing Opticians.

“Looking back, the optical profession has always been about people whether it’s my mentors, my students, my staff or my patients. I like to think that I have always gone that extra mile for people. For my students, I have always helped them through their challenges and found different ways to help people understand all aspects of our profession and have encouraged each student to be the best version of themselves. As I meet many of them now, it is fulfilling to see that they still remember my teaching with fondness. With my patients it can be as simple as being accosted with broken glasses when I’m out shopping or delivering, and fitting glasses to someone who is housebound and lonely. Even when off duty we represent our profession. Sometimes we forget the impact of modern spectacle lens design and technology. I will never forget a young female patient who had always had “milk bottle bottom” spectacles and couldn’t tolerate contact lenses, bursting into tears of joy when she saw her new spectacles. She went home to put on make-up for the first time. So whenever people may underestimate the scope and impact of our work, we need to be the greatest advocates for our profession and tell them just how life changing our work can be. I guess that is what the optical profession means to me.”