This has been one of the longest weeks ever, it seems.  After being off a week for Spring Break, it has been hard getting back to the books.  I know it was only a week, but when you go from studying 8 weeks straight to doing nothing but relaxing it’s hard to leave that relaxation state of mind behind.  It’s a good thing I only had one test this week, which I don’t feel too happy about.  I did absolutely no studying during the break; thus,  I’ll have to spend my weekend playing catch up.  I’m just happy tomorrow is Friday and I’ll have two days to get it together.  Besides studying this weekend, I may go to the mall and exchange some things or go have lunch somewhere.  On Sunday, my boyfriend is coming to visit for a while so I’m excited about that.  I’m going to use this weekend to get myself back on track, and come Monday, things will be back to normal ( I hope :) ).

Lately, in my disease classes, we have been learning about systemic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and thyroid disease and how they relate to the eyes. Optometrists can be the first to identify signs of these diseases in patients. It has been interesting to learn that ODs can take and interpret blood pressure measurements, quiz patients on their fasting blood glucose levels, and order and interpret blood tests (at least this all can be done in Tennessee) in order to help manage these patients. Optometrists often consult with the patient’s primary care physician to ensure that the patient is taken care of. This all demonstrates the importance of optometry as a primary health care profession

Well, today is the first day back from our spring break and it was my last spring break ever! I wish I could say that I went to the beach or went back home to Knoxville, but instead I spent it in Memphis. I was not just in Memphis, but in the library studying for the first part of boards which are Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. I am pretty nervous about the tests, but hopefully giving up my spring break to study will pay off in the end. My wife and I are planning a long weekend beach trip after the test is over, which gives me that extra push that I need to keep studying.

Well, it has been a busy couple of weeks but we are officially out for Spring break. Last Thursday we had our big anterior seg exam followed by practicals this week on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday with a Vision Therapy test thrown in there as well.

My parents come into town tomorrow night. We’re excited to spend time with them and to show them around a little. It should be a wonderful break!

Can’t believe it’s already spring break time…but looking forward to having the next week off.  This week was our last week of board review classes.  The week was a little more intense with 2 midterms…we’re not used to having multiple tests in a week anymore! 

The conference in Florida was awesome!  We attended seminars on fitting contact lenses and actually got to fit several patients in them.  We went to the beach on Sunday and they fed us extemely well over the several days we were there.  It was a nice change of pace to be in sunny Florida  and I learned many valuable clinical skills.

While I’m planning to mostly study for boards over spring break, I do have some fun plans.  I am taking a short trip to visit friends in Chicago the first weekend and the second weekend a friend is coming to visit me in Memphis!  Boards is only a few weeks away, so definitely feeling the pressure to study hard in the final stretch.

Just one more day and we are on Spring Break! I think we all put forth an Olympic effort to make it through the past two months. Speaking of Olympics, I am looking forward to watching the conclusion of the Winter Olympics on television this weekend. My Dad and I were fortunate enough to be spectators for the games in Vancouver last weekend. It was a tremendous experience.

Four years ago I watched the 2006 Winter Olympics in my small dorm room on my very old TV. It is amazing to consider how far I have come since I was a freshman at University of Illinois, and not just because I had a better view of the Olympics this year! I remember trying to finish my chemistry lab report with one eye on my work and one eye on figure skating. As a freshman, I was not sure what I wanted for a career, so I attended several pre-professional club meetings. I highly recommend undergrad students gain exposure to many career options because once you finally find the right path, you know it immediately.

Four years from now I will be watching the 2014 Winter Olympics on TV, but I have no idea where I will be watching them from. I may be completing a Residency Program, or working on a Masters Degree, or working in an office. I am currently gaining exposure to many options in Optometry so I can choose the right path, just as I did four years ago.

I’m so excited my Spring Break is here!  Well, technically it doesn’t start until tomorrow.  However, I had my last exam before the break today.  So, my rest from studying has begun.  After lab on tomorrow, I’ll be heading home and enjoying a date night with my boyfriend.  I plan to spend a few days at home and then head to Atlanta, GA to visit my cousins.  I hope to visit the aquarium while I’m there because I’ve been told it is really nice.  I also want to visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. site, and maybe the underground as well.  I just plan to relax, have fun, and of course do some spring shopping!

I’m looking forward to enjoying this break and not doing a great deal of studying!!

I am excited for spring break next week.  My boyfriend is coming to visit and the weather is supposed to be warmer.  Hopefully we can head out to Shelby Farms for some hiking, a pinic, and maybe even horseback riding.  Shelby Farms is a huge park just east of Memphis.  There are many trails in the woods and I am looking forward to exploring them.  I have been horse back riding there once.  I really enjoyed it, the scenery was beautiful and the guides were very nice.

After a few days of fun, it will be back to studying for the boards.  With only a few weeks to go I am getting nervous but also excited to have this behind me.

Yesterday for our Peri-Op Management class three speakers from different intraocular lens manufacturing companies came to speak about there products.  There are so many options for people after catarct surgery and the advances in technology are really cool.  I learned a lot and feel confident to discuss these options with patients in the clinic.

Last night I attended the COVD (College of Optometrists in Vision Development) club meeting and enjoyed it. Dr. Bob Hohendorf from Michigan was the speaker. He gave some case presentations and discussed how he has helped some of his young patients to succeed in school after struggling due to visual problems. He discussed how lenses can help as well as vision therapy.

I’m sure there are countless youngsters out there who perform poorly in school due to visual problems that could be helped by optometrists. It was neat to hear about the progress these students made through working with this optometrist. I’m not sure yet if I would like to specialize in vision therapy but I can certainly see how it would be a rewarding field to work in.

On Sunday I’m leaving for a conference hosted by the Vision Care Institute in Jacksonville, FL.  They are covering our flight, hotel, and food during the 2 day conference, so it is quite a deal.  We will be attending various seminars on contact lenses, so I’m looking forward to what they have to present.

After I get back on Tuesday night, we have an exam on Thursday in ophthalmic lasers and peri-operative management and Friday in systemic disease and ocular manifestations.  The only test we’ve had this semester was Wednesday this past week in practice management.  Other than that, all my time is filled with boards studying….less than one month away!