She almost walked away during clinical training...
Dr Elizabeth Chetty on the doubt that nearly ended her optometry career
Years ago I met Dr Elizabeth Chetty at the optometry clinic at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and since then, I've watched her career unfold in a beautiful way, from a distance.
She recently become a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry - not a small feat for African optometrists - and joined me on the podcast to talk about how she got there.
What really surprised me was how close she came to leaving optometry during her undergraduate training. As a second-year student she saw a very limited view of what the profession could hold and shared with her lecturer that she couldn't imagine doing refractions for the rest of her life!
Thankfully, he encouraged her to stay, promising that there was more to optometry practice that the routine of refractions... and to her credit, she chose to trust that advice - and it's paid off!
She now speaks at conferences internationally, sharing her interest and expertise in keratoconus and speciality contact lenses.
However, there was a time when she felt constrained by the system.
As she became established in her career as an academic, she found herself measured against promotion criteria that didn't reflect the work she cared about most. Instead of being resentful or walking away, she found more room to expand within it.
So if you've ever wondered whether your training has quietly become a contract that feels constraining, I think this conversation will be useful to you.
Listen to the full episode here:
Yours in Career Expansion
Dr Diane