Dr Pretty Basra

Most people think of a sight test as exactly that, a test of how clearly you can see. What they don't realise is that your eyes are one of the most revealing windows into the state of your overall health. Including your stress levels. Including the state of your nervous system. Including your hormonal balance, your sleep quality, and what your body is carrying that your conscious mind might be too busy to notice. As the first UK optometrist to integrate ocular wellness into clinical practice,...

Panel Discussion Char for Optical Women's Association Leadership Panel 2026 I need to tell you something about where I come from. I grew up in a house where abundance was not a concept we discussed, it was just how we lived, in our thinking, in our decisions, in the way my family approached every opportunity and every obstacle. Not because we had everything. But because we were wired to believe that more was always possible, that risk was not something to avoid but something to move toward...

I have been in optics for over 20 years. I became an optometrist because I wanted to help people. Like most clinicians, I was good at the technical side, the tests, the diagnostics, the prescriptions. What I was less prepared for was everything that sits beneath the surface of a profession. The identity questions. The pressure to perform. The invisible weight of always being the one with the answers. The particular kind of exhaustion that comes not from working hard, but from working in a way...