It’s strange really, as I was always completely disinterested in my family’s talk of spectacles and contact lenses whenever they’d visited the optometrist; they all needed glasses and I seemed to be the only lucky one who didn’t. In fact, until I reached university I’d never been to an optometrist to get my eyes tested! 

When deciding on a career path at school, I looked for a way to combine my love of math and science with helping people and serving the community. I considered the health sciences including optometry, and even medicine or pharmacy, but after a week of work experience with a talented and progressive optometrist during Year 12, I found this just seemed to strike the right chord for me and consolidated my decision for university. It was the actual doing of the job, rather than being the patient, that I would find so interesting.
 
There is never a dull day in the life of an optometrist, and I think that remains the attraction of a profession that is so varied and rewarding. We get to play with some seriously cool gadgets, and some very high-tech cameras, and it’s using these tools and seeing how they can improve someone's vision and quality of life that I find both interesting and satisfying.

Whether it’s diagnosing and treating eye disease, testing someone’s eyes in a nursing home, removing a metallic foreign body from someone’s cornea, taking a 23 megapixel photo of someone’s retinas, or helping somebody see better by prescribing a new pair of glasses or contact lenses, there is always something to do to help serve and make a difference. Helping prevent myopia progression by fitting overnight orthokeratology contact lenses, prescribing an eyedrop to calm an inflamed eye, coordinating emergency eyecare with an ophthalmologist, or simply realigning a mangled pair of glasses that have been sat on - I can’t say this has ever been a boring or tedious profession.

No two eyes are the same, and it’s the person behind them that makes it all worthwhile.
 
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to call Somerville & Merrin my workplace since graduating in 2004 from QUT. We have a fun and supportive team that enjoys a bit too much laughter most days and I’m rarely home late for dinner so my wife and kids love it too (the 4 minute commute helps!).

Steve Lucas

Optometrist

If you would like to book an appointment to see Steve, for your next comprehensive eye assessment, click here.