Being Part Of The Top Team Is Best For Optometrist Vimal
London Vision Clinic optometrist Vimal Piparia first met Dr Dan nine years ago when he attended a talk in London given by the Professor as part of his post graduate diploma course.
The twenty minute talk on the Artemis Insight 100 ultrasound scanner – the world’s most accurate corneal scanner which was co-invented by Dr Dan – left a lasting impression.
“I didn’t remember any of the other lecturers who spoke about Lasik surgery and corneal structures, but Dan’s talk was fascinating and delivered in such a confident and compelling manner that it stayed with me”, Vimal recalls.
So when, several years later on a visit to London, Vimal saw an advert for a position at the London Vision Clinic, he remembered the charismatic clinic founder and decided to apply. .. even though he knew that, if successful, it would mean moving from the warmth of Australia to the grey skies of a British winter. However – despite a deep dislike of the cold and lack of sunlight -he considered the opportunity too good to miss.
“The great thing about working here is being part of such an experienced team led by the best surgeons. We are all trained to the highest level which makes the job really interesting.”
Having worked previously in various “High Street” optical businesses, Vimal is in a position to make comparisons.
“The technology and equipment that we use here at the London Vision Clinic is massively more advanced and our after care is second to none.”
“Patients might think that a laser is a laser and that Lasik surgery is driven by the machine and not the surgeon. But they are wrong. There is a massive surgical component in achieving the best outcome and that is the skill and ability that our surgeons all have.”
As a senior optometrist based in a large London shopping centre, ultimately Vimal found the routine nature of his work “boring”. A love of Australia and the challenge of research work at Melbourne University’s clinical vision research centre beckoned.
He is clearly fascinated by all aspects of visual health including the somewhat controversial subject of behavioural optometry. This is not just about correcting visual defects but addressing wider learning issues in children, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD,) dyslexia and dypraxia; also sports optometry and the sight problems suffered by stroke victims.
Vimal joined the London Vision Clinic team in November 2009. Although passionate about his work, it is perhaps strange to learn that optometry was, in fact, his second choice for a career.
The Piparia family was originally from Uganda, Vimal was born in India in 1973 and they settled in the UK three years later. On leaving school in London’s East Ham – where he remembers modestly doing “pretty OK”- Vimal began a degree course in building surveying but decided to switch his career path as the recession of the 90’s took it’s toll on the building industry. Plan B was optometry which he studied at Aston University Birmingham.
“I really enjoyed the subject – it was brilliant – with lots of theory but practical work as well.”
In his free time, Vimal enjoys expanding his culinary skills and has recently started practising Bikram yoga (classes are held in a hot environment). He is also keen on Thai boxing and is currently taking his motorbike driving licence exams – he is looking forward to ditching his Oyster Card and instead commuting in leathers.