Hello, my name is Joe Smith and I have recently been appointed as the BIOS New Graduate Representative.

I graduated from the University of Liverpool in 2018 and since then I have been working as an Orthoptist at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital. During this time, I have become aware of the positive contributions each of us can have to the development, quality and success of our profession. For that reason, I have been keen to contribute to our society in any way possible. As the New Graduate Representative, I hope to continue this and ensure the voice and opinions of fellow new graduates aid our society and profession as it progresses into the future.

In this role, I aim to support all fellow new graduates in the transition from student to working life. I know this can potentially be a worrying time for some, but our society is here to support you and ensure the transition is straightforward and exciting. To further ensure this, the previous New Graduate Representative (Martha Waters) and BIOS council created the preceptorship document. This aims to ensure you all feel supported at the start of your careers and has activities to help develop your skills, particularly in audit and research. Soon there will be an area on the BIOS website that I hope all new graduates (within two years of graduation) will join, so we can create a close network of new graduates who can support each other. We can use this area to ask questions, share opinions and discuss matters that you would like me to feedback to the BIOS council.

I would also like to encourage you all (no matter what point you are at in your career!) to sign up to become NHS ambassadors. Since losing the NHS bursary we all must raise awareness of the great work we do, especially to prospective students.

Our profession is great and we strive well above our weight! However, due to the small number of us often we can be forgotten and many people do not know what an Orthoptist is unless they have had first-hand experience. Therefore, I would encourage you all to sign up and give an hour of your time to talk to students and ensure they are aware of our great profession. You can do this by following the link https://www.inspiringthefuture.org/.

I look forward to working with you all and the BIOS council. I am keen and excited to get started in helping our council make decisions which will positively affect our profession. I hope to ensure the diverse voices and opinions of new graduate Orthoptists working in the UK and Republic of Ireland are heard and contribute to future successes and changes ahead. Please do not hesitate to contact me via email newgrad@orthoptics.org.uk  if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to hearing from you, and please do remember to join the new graduate page on the BIOS website and become an NHS ambassador!

Joe Smith

newgrad@orthoptics.org.uk