College members from all specialties and backgrounds have a vital role to play in shaping our work and the membership services we provide. Your diverse experiences help us build a strong, representative community of ophthalmology professionals.
By volunteering to lead our work, you can make a difference to your fellow members, the wider ophthalmic workforce and to your patients. You can also develop your own skills and experience and meet new people.
All College roles are supported by teams of experienced and specialist staff. Together, we deliver our activities in an inclusive and mutually respectful environment, demonstrating the values and behaviours that underpin our work.
Current opportunities are shown below. If you would like to apply for a volunteer role, please complete this online application form.
Please note that the College recently underwent a governance review, which has resulted in some changes to the opportunities listed. Further updates regarding the REA and other roles will be added to this page as soon as possible.
Current opportunities
The College is seeking Fellows, Members or Affiliate Members to join the Surgical Skills Faculty.
Applicants must either hold a UK substantive consultant post, be a SAS Doctor or be an ophthalmic trainee at ST6 or ST7 level.
Faculty Members who are appointed for the advanced courses shall, in addition, indicate their areas of subspecialty interest and expertise. Members may be invited to help and advise with regard to writing course material and designing course programmes.
To apply download and complete the SAS and Consultant application form, or the Trainee application form. Return your completed form to [email protected].
Advisory Appointment Committees (AACs) are recruitment panels used when hiring consultants and specialty doctors in NHS Trusts across the UK. The Royal College of Ophthalmologists plays a crucial role in this process by:
- Approving job descriptions for ophthalmologist positions
- Providing College representatives to serve on all consultant and specialist grade appointment panels
- Ensuring applicants meet standards for training, administration, and clinical needs.
AAC representative role
As an AAC representative, you would:
- Attend recruitment interviews to provide quality assurance
- Ensure candidates can effectively train future ophthalmologists
- Verify candidates can provide safe patient care
- Help maintain a fair recruitment process
Requirements
Applicants must:
- be a member of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists
- be on the General Medical Council specialist register (unless exemptions apply or a SAS doctor representing on SAS AACs)
- have practised in the NHS in the past two years
- have undertaken trust-approved equality and diversity training within the last three years.
No prior AAC experience necessary as guidance will be provided.
Interested ophthalmologists can email [email protected] to volunteer or request more information.
Representatives can claim expenses from the hiring trust.
We are recruiting a volunteer to work in collaboration with the College’s guideline staff and members of the guideline development group (GDG) over a period of approximately 18 months to produce a clinical guideline on the Management of Microbial Keratitis.
You can see the job description here: JD for Microbial Keratitis GDG Chair
Please apply using the application form here. Applications close on Friday 8 August.
Acting as an examiner for the College is an important role and carries with it responsibility for maintaining the high standards expected of candidates wishing to become Diplomates, Members or Fellows of the College. The panel of examiners consists of both medical practitioners who are Fellows, Members or Affiliate Members of the College and lay examiners drawn from the College’s Lay Advisory Group.
Examining for the College also offers the opportunity to network with colleagues from around the UK, keep your general ophthalmic knowledge up to date and gain CPD.
Further details on the roles and requirements of being an examiner are available in the Panel of Examiners – General Information Pack and relevant information packs below. If you’d like to discuss any of the roles further, please contact the Examinations Department ([email protected])
Panel of Examiners – General Information Pack
Examiner-General-Information-Pack
Consultant and post-CCT Grade Examiners – Information Pack
Application-Pack-for-Consultant-and-post-CCT-Grade-Examiners-April
SAS Grade Examiners – Information Pack
Application-Pack-for-SAS-Grade-Examiners-Final-Oct
Trainee Grade Examiners – Information Pack
Application-Pack-for-Trainee-Grade-Examiners
Certificate in Laser and Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) Examiners
Application-Pack-for-CertLRS-Examiner
Optometrist Examiners (for Refraction Certificate exams) – Information Pack
Examiner-Application-Pack-for-Optometrists-April-2020
Examiners Code of Conduct
Code-of-Conduct-FRCOphth-examiners
College Tutors (CTs) have overall responsibility as lead trainers for the postgraduate training in their unit and are the point of contact with the College.
Please refer to the role description and person specification for further information.
Within the unit, CTs lead and work closely with a team of clinical supervisors (responsible for day-to-day supervision of resident doctors) and educational supervisors (responsible for the global supervision and support of resident doctors).
Beyond the unit, CTs will liaise with Directors of Medical Education (DMEs) in their trust, Training Programme Directors (TPDs) and Regional Education Advisers (REAs) appointed by the College.
Please complete the College-Tutor-Nomination-Form if you are interested in the role.
Bigger units might wish to consider appointing an Associate-College-Tutor with whom duties may be shared.
Newly-appointed CTs are expected to attend a College Tutor training day within six months of appointment. These workshops also serve as refresher for College Tutors on their second term.
College Tutor training day
The aim of the day is to examine the main duties of a CT and discuss the delivery and assessment of training. It will also give the opportunity to meet other CTs. To book a place, please complete and return the combined College-Tutor-Nomination-Form.
The training day is also suitable for Associate College Tutors who support CTs in their role.
Regional Education Advisors (REAs) lead the College’s regional teams to facilitate and oversee the delivery of education and support ophthalmologists.
REAs promote excellence in education for:
- Ophthalmologists at all stages in their careers and across all their roles
- Non-medical ophthalmic professionals
- Students, resident doctors and specialists from other specialties learning about ophthalmology.
There are currently vacancies in these regions:
- East Midlands (South)
- Scotland South East (Edinburgh)
- South West Thames
- South Western (Peninsula)
Read the job description here and apply using the application form .
Read the job description here