Kerry Atkinson. Credit: Mortimer Hirst

Kerry Atkinson, optometrist and professional teaching fellow at Auckland University’s School of Optometry and Vision Science (SOVS), has been awarded the 2020 Dennis Pickup Clinical Educator Award.

“I was surprised and really pleased when I discovered I was the recipient,” said Atkinson. “There are lots of other clinical teachers in optometry who would be just as worthy.”

Atkinson teaches clinical skills and runs a specialist contact lens clinic for final-year students. “Clinical teaching is really enjoyable and an opportunity to pass on useful skills and prepare undergraduates for successful careers. It’s very rewarding to see them blossom into clinicians starting their chosen career,” he said in July’s SOVS newsletter.

A former president of the New Zealand College of Optometrists, Atkinson began teaching in the mid-70s. As the University’s optometry course developed, contact lenses education became a separate entity which was then developed further by Atkinson and Grant Watters, a fellow SOVS’ and Mortimer Hirst optometrist colleague.

The award recognises clinicians who give up their own time to help educate health professionals on a part-time basis.