Rate My Professor Natalie Watt

Natalie Watt is a Senior Lecturer in Optometry and Vision Science in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health at Deakin University, located at Waurn Ponds campus in Geelong. She holds a Bachelor of Optometry from the University of Melbourne. Her research spans clinical optometry and healthcare education. Key areas include peripheral retinal degenerations (PRDs), teaching methodologies in optometry, and motivations for clinical educators.

In 2025, Watt co-authored "Exploring the Risk: Peripheral Retinal Degenerations in Young Australian Adults" published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine. This cross-sectional study of 221 Australian adults aged 18 to 40 using ultra-widefield retinal imaging reported a PRD prevalence of 8.15%. Longer axial length emerged as a stronger predictor of PRD risk than refractive error across myopia categories, with 50% likelihood at 26.9 mm axial length and -6.50 D myopia, and 95% at 29.6 mm and -11.00 D. She also contributed to "Gaze Tracking as a method to teach optic disc assessment to Optometry students," presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, which showed optometry students increased time on clinically useful areas of interest after viewing an expert exemplar.

Watt's 2024 lead-authored paper in BMC Medical Education, "Understanding barriers, enablers and motivational factors for Australian healthcare educators teaching university students on clinical placement using the validated Physician Teaching Motivation Questionnaire," surveyed 776 educators across Medicine, Medical Imaging, and Optometry. Altruism was the primary teaching motivation, with career aspects more valued by Medical Imaging educators. No major barriers dominated, though workload and time were noted. Earlier, in 2000, she co-authored "Implementation methods for vision related quality of life questionnaires" in Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics.

Previously a sessional optometrist at the Australian College of Optometry, Watt received their Fellowship in 2021 for significant contributions to optometry. At Deakin, she supports teaching initiatives like the Demonstration Patient Program and a 2023 Students as Partners Microgrant.