Background story
Karen Zhang
AGE: 27
OCCUPATION: Orthoptist at Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC)
ABOUT HER: She 'stumbled' upon the profession after a scholarship application in 2003 gave her an opportunity to tag along with an orthoptist at SNEC for two days. She saw how the orthoptist - an allied health professional who manages disorders of binocular vision and picks up defects of eye movement - interacted with people from all walks of life, and had to marshall considerable skills in winning over children with candies, stickers and child-like talk. In her final year of studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, she proved her knack for solving eye problems when she scored top marks in her orthoptics class. Now, she is one of only five orthoptists at SNEC and fewer than 10 in Singapore.
I specialise in orthoptics because...
I get to work with children, whom I love. It is important to intervene early for many childhood eye problems such as a lazy eye or a squint, where early detection is key for a full recovery.
If I were to give an analogy for what I do, I would...
Be a physiotherapist for the eye. I determine the weaknesses in patients' eyes and help them regain optimal use of them, or relieve their symptoms with eye exercises and optical aids. I also play counsellor to my young patients and their parents when the former need to wear an eye-patch as treatment for a lazy eye and have to be coaxed into it.
A typical day for me starts...
At 7.15am. My clinic consultations begin at 8.30am and I shuttle between the Singapore National Eye Centre and KK Women's and Children's Hospital. On average, I see about 30 patients a day and I spend about 10 to 45 minutes with each of them, depending on the complexity of the case and the number of tests I have to run. I knock off at 5.30pm, after which I may meet friends for dinner or spend time with my family. I also attend French language classes twice a week.
I have come across all types of cases...
From patients as young as four months old to 90 years old. Assessing children with learning difficulties or developmental impairment may be a little harder as they need a lot of encouragement to do eye tests and, on my part, a large dose of patience. The inability of the eyes to focus on the same point in adults may be directly or indirectly caused by health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and thyroid and neurological diseases.
A common symptom that adults experience is double vision, which can make it hard for them to carry out simple tasks, so I help to alleviate their discomfort with optical aids. This problem may resolve on its own when the underlying medical condition is managed well. In other instances, surgery is needed to correct it.
I love patients who are...
Cheerful and optimistic. I have seen cancer patients who are able to joke about their eye conditions and I admire them for their courage. I also love working with those who give us constant feedback which helps us monitor their condition better.
Patients who get my goat are...
Those who become confrontational because they have had to endure long waiting times. But I hope they can understand that we are trying our best to help everyone. Due to the complexity of some cases, we may take longer to deal with them.
Things that put a smile on my face are...
The faces of children when we show them the toys in our clinic they can play with so that they will cooperate with us during eye tests. When adult patients come in feeling troubled about their eye ailments and leave feeling better, I'm also reminded of what I'm here for.
It breaks my heart when...
I see patients with chronic or terminal illnesses who have eye problems, which further debilitate them. It's also sad to see elderly patients who have difficulty walking and yet come for their appointments alone.
I wouldn't trade places for the world because...
I truly relish the opportunity to interact with and help my patients. The complicated cases I handle are intellectually stimulating and I learn new things every day.
The eyes are fascinating because...
They work in unison for us to perceive the world in all its rich colours and varying depths.
Moreover, they are a pair of small, intricate organs which allow us to find out so much about the condition of the rest of the body in the least invasive way possible. For example, through a simple slit lamp examination (looking at the eye by shining light into it), a medical professional may be able to tell if a person has diabetes.
One little known fact about the eye is...
A lazy eye and a squint are two different medical conditions. A squint is a misalignment of one or both eyes, which increases one's risk of getting a lazy eye. That occurs when one eye becomes weaker in vision than the other. Their treatment methods are different too, with patching of the good eye often used as a treatment for a lazy eye, while exercises or surgery may be recommended for a squint.
My best tip...
Go for regular eye check-ups. Even very young children should have them, given Singapore's high prevalence of myopia. By monitoring the health of our eyes regularly, we can also keep an eye on our general health.