Training activity information
Details
Make up trial frame from prescription
Type
Entrustable training activity (ETA)
Evidence requirements
Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee repeatedly, consistently, and effectively over time, in a range of situations. This may include occasions where the trainee has not successfully achieved the outcome of the activity themselves. For example, because it was not appropriate to undertake the task in the circumstances or the trainees recognised their own limitations and sought help or advice to ensure the activity reached an appropriate conclusion.
Reflection at multiple timepoints on the trainee learning journey for this activity.
Reflective practice guidance
The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.
Before action
- What does success look like?
- Identify what is expected of you in relation to making up a trial frame from prescription. Consider how the learning outcomes apply, including applying psychophysical tests, simulating a prescription, employing effective communication and producing clear, concise and accurate documentation.
- What does successfully making up a trial frame from a prescription look like, including understanding different types of refractive error, different types of lenses, and their documentation in a prescription (sphere, cyl, axis, add)?
- Discuss with your training officer to gain clarity on what is expected of you in making up a trial frame.
- What is your prior experience of this activity?
- Think about what you already know about reading prescriptions, understanding lens types (sphere, cylinder), axes, and using a trial lens set.
- Consider possible challenges you might face, such as complex prescriptions (e.g., high cylinder powers, prism), difficulty finding the correct lenses in the set, or understanding how to combine lenses correctly, and think about how you might handle them.
- Recognise the scope of your own practice for this activity i.e. know when you will need to seek advice or help, and from whom, regarding unusual prescriptions or difficulties with the trial set.
- Acknowledge how you feel about meeting the prescription requirements when making up the trial frame.
- What do you anticipate you will learn from the experience?
- Consider the specific skills you want to develop in accurately interpreting various prescriptions and assembling the correct lenses in a trial frame – drawing upon previous experiences.
- Identify specific insights you hope to gain regarding the principles of focimetry (as mentioned in academic content on refraction) and how different lens combinations achieve the desired refractive correction.
- What additional considerations do you need to make?
- Consult actions identified following previous experience of working with lenses, prescriptions, or trial frames, if any.
- Identify important information you need to consider before embarking on the activity, such as how to verify the lenses, ensure correct axis orientation, and basic checks to confirm the trial frame simulates the prescription accurately.
In action
- Is anything unexpected occurring?
- Are you noticing anything surprising or different from what you anticipate while making up the trial frame from the prescription?
- Are you encountering situations such as:
- The prescription being difficult or ambiguous to interpret (e.g., non-standard notation or unusual prism combination)?
- The required lenses being hard to find or unavailable in the trial set, necessitating an immediate combination of multiple lenses?
- You are struggling with combining high-power lenses or setting a complex axis (e.g., due to unfamiliarity with focimetry principles)?
- How is this experience comparing with previous experiences of similar activities, like working with lenses or prescriptions?
- How are you reacting to the unexpected development?
- How is this impacting your actions? Did you adapt or change your approach to selecting, inserting, or combining lenses in the moment?
- Consider the steps you are taking in the moment, such as:
- Immediately consulting a colleague or reference material regarding the interpretation of an unusual prescription notation?
- Quickly troubleshooting a complex lens combination to simulate the required correction accurately?
- Adjusting the frame fit or pupillary distance on the fly due to a constraint with the frame or the lenses chosen?
- How are you feeling in this moment? Did the unexpected challenge affect your confidence in accurately simulating the prescription? Are you finding it difficult to adapt your process to ensure precision?
- What is the conclusion or outcome?
- Identify how you are working within your scope of practice when making up the trial frame. Did you escalate to seek advice regarding an unusual prescription or difficulty with the trial set?
- What are you learning as a result of the unexpected development? For example, are you gaining crucial insight into the optical principles of combining trial lenses (e.g., neutralising prism or confirming power combination) or improving your efficiency in accurately setting the cylinder axis?
On action
What happened?
- Begin by summarising the key points of the experience of making up the trial frame from the prescription.
- Consider specific events, actions, or interactions that felt important while preparing the trial frame, such as interpreting a complex prescription, selecting the correct lenses, or performing focimetry principles. How did you feel during this experience?
- Include any ‘reflect-in-action’ moments, where you had to adapt to the situation as it unfolded while making up the trial frame, for instance, quickly troubleshooting a complex lens combination or adjusting the frame fit.
How has this experience contributed to your developing practice?
- Identify what learning you can take from this experience regarding simulating a prescription in a trial frame.
- What strengths did you demonstrate (e.g., accurate interpretation of the prescription, efficiency in selecting and combining lenses, technical proficiency)? What skills and/or knowledge gaps were evident (e.g., unfamiliarity with certain lens types or their combination, gaps in knowledge of focimetry principles, or issues with documentation)?
- Compare this experience against previous engagement with similar activities, like working with prescriptions or lenses. Were any previously identified actions for development achieved? Has your practice in making up trial frames improved?
- Identify any challenges you experienced while preparing the trial frame (e.g., difficulties with lens handling, prescription ambiguity, time constraints) and how you reacted to these. Did this affect your ability to deal with the situation? Were you able to overcome the challenges?
- Identify anything significant about the activity, such as needing to seek advice or clarification regarding the prescription or trial lens set or needing to escalate to ensure you were working within your scope of practice when preparing the trial frame.
- Acknowledge any changes in your own feelings now that you are looking back on the experience.
What will you take from the experience moving forward?
- Identify the actions or ‘next steps’ you will now take to support the assimilation of what you have learned, including from any feedback received regarding your ability to accurately make up trial frames following a prescription.
- What will you do differently next time you make up a trial frame? Has anything changed in terms of what you would do if you were faced with a similar situation again during trial frame preparation?
Do you need to practise any aspect of the activity further? E.g., Practising prescription interpretation, lens handling, or focimetry.
Beyond action
Have you revisited the experiences?
- Have you reviewed your actions from your previous reflections for making up trial frames from prescriptions?
- What specific actions did you previously identify you would need to take to improve your practice related to accurately interpreting different prescription notations, efficiently selecting and combining lenses, or applying focimetry principles?
- Have you completed these previously identified actions? If so, how did completing them impact your subsequent performance of this activity? Are you ready to demonstrate this new learning confidently and consistently when preparing trial frames?
- Engage in professional storytelling about making up trial frames with peers, near peers, or colleagues. Has discussing these experiences with others changed your view or understanding of the techniques, or led to transformation?
How have these experiences impacted upon current practice?
- Consider how the accumulated learning from performing or reflecting on making up trial frames will support you in preparing for relevant observed ‘in-person’ assessments for the S-OV-S2 module, such as the Direct Observation of Practical Skills (DOPS) titled ‘Make up a trial frame from interpreting a patient’s prescription’.
- How has your practice related to making up trial frames from prescriptions developed and evolved over time?
- This includes recognising when something related to interpreting prescriptions or selecting lenses is beyond your scope of practice and when you need to seek advice or help.
Relevant learning outcomes
| # | Outcome |
|---|---|
| # 2 |
Outcome
Apply psychophysical tests to measure visual function, including visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, visual fields and colour vision. |
| # 4 |
Outcome
Simulate a prescription in a trial frame. |
| # 5 |
Outcome
Employ effective communication with a range of individuals, including the patient and the multidisciplinary team. |
| # 7 |
Outcome
Produce clear, concise and accurate documentation in line with local standards and legislation. |