I had an amazing time in Honduras! Absolutely wonderful, and I learned a lot. But I’ll talk about that more in depth later. Much has already happened!

We arrived safely in Memphis last night at about 11:30. This morning, our clinic orientation began at 8:30, meaning that many SVOSHers had just a few hours of rest. That’s ok – in my case, I was full of nervous energy as the various chiefs of clinic came to talk to us about expectations for this summer and beyond. After all, I would be seeing my first real patient in just a few short hours.

If the words of Drs. Walker, Lievens, Gerstner, et al. weren’t enough to get me excited about clinic, actually putting my equipment in my clinic suite certainly would. For me, this was the moment when everything suddenly got real. My goodness! This was happening! I was actually seeing my first patient!

Today, I was assigned to Teen Clinic. Essentially, Teen Clinic is an intermediate department between Pediatrics and Adult Primary Care, as its name suggests. After meeting with Dr. Zarn, my suitemates and I were ready to go.

We in the suite decided that we would take patients alphabetically. Thus, I waited until 3:45 for mine. Arriving with her mother, my first patient was a thirteen-year old, ready for summer to get here. She was sweet. Good thing, too, because my exam wound up taking close to two hours. They weren’t kidding in first year! From the very beginning, we were told that our first exam in clinic would take forever. But that’s ok; that’s why it takes four years!

How did I feel during the exam? Not as nervous as I thought I would be. Slow, yes. Over the semester to come, though, I’ll definitely work on efficiency and timing while still getting good data. With my first patient encounter over (she received an updated prescription), I’ll get a few more tomorrow in Adult Primary Care! I’ll probably be slow again, but a lot of learning is about to happen. Let’s do this.

P.S. Go Grizzlies!

Greetings, Blogosphere:

The time has come, the Class of 2015 has officially made it to third year! Not only does this mean I have moved on to upperclassman status, but I also had my first REAL patient encounter in The Eye Center today. The best part was, I survived Day 1 as a student doctor in the clinic.

Time has really flown at SCO…it was only last month that I was studying for final exams and preparing for preclinic checkouts. Now, here I am assessing, diagnosing, and managing my first patient’s ocular health, WOW! In all honesty though, I was really feeling the nervous anticipation in that hour before my patient arrived. Fortunately, my staff doctor offered some peaceful assurance that my suitemates and I would get through the afternoon’s list of patients, albeit with some struggles here and there ;)

So how about that first patient encounter? I examined an elderly female whose biggest complaint was decreased vision due to a maturing nuclear sclerotic cataract…not too shabby. I made my first cataract extraction referral and worked on my patient education by telling the patient and her caregiver how cataracts form and what cataract surgery entails. The patient ended up scheduling a cataract evaluation with a local ophthalmology partner of SCO. While I spent entirely too long on my patient’s exam, it was a great ‘first experience’ and helped me get my bearings. With each experience in the clinic, I’m looking forward to improving my speed, knowledge, and efficiency in patient care.

While there’s sure to be more clinic stories to come, there are also classes, labs, and exams to beckon my attention during the summer semester. Luckily, we’ve got the Memphis sunshine to keep us refreshed and motivated throughout this semester. I’m convinced that if Day 1 has been any indication, this semester is going to be another fun one…

Carpe Diem,

Amy

P.S. To celebrate Mother’s Day I took a detour up north with my mom to Michigan and visited my grandmother. Both women are hoots! Plus, I got to channel my inner Dutch girl with a stroll around the Holland Tulip Festival.

If it seems like I haven’t written in a while, it’s not for the lack of events. Oh goodness, have things happened! Rather, it’s because I haven’t really found the right words for the summary of this spring semester of second year. Everything I’ve come up with up to now is rather inadequate. Even now, as I type my observations, I struggle with what to say, how to describe just how truly…complex this particular end of the semester is for me. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but let’s give it the ole’ optometry school try.

I guess the overarching motif I’ve noticed these past few weeks is perhaps why it feels so complex. This semester’s end isn’t really an end at all. It’s a beginning. No, actually, it’s both. “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end,” as the old song lyric goes.

So many gray areas! Let’s start with pre-clinical checkouts. As you might have heard from Amy, we’re done! In a sense, successful completion of the checkouts could be construed as the “true” end of second year. But it’s also a good beginning of third year. Before the checkout, you were not yet deemed ready for clinic. After, however, you were. Off to clinic you go. Congratulations! You’re a third year! But not yet. Finish your finals first, you second year, you.

Before the checkouts, anxiously awaiting to be paired with patient and staff doctor.

Then there’s also the club transitions. As the year ends, all the clubs hold elections for leadership positions for the next year. Again, it’s an interesting transition point, as one year seems to blend into the next. Essentially, next year’s clubs and events have already begun, though second year technically isn’t over yet. We as a class will soon enough be the leaders of the school! However, as we all know, with leadership comes responsibility. That mindset is a transition in and of itself, and I have every confidence that all the new student leaders in my class will definitely rise to the occasion.

At the NOSA End of the Year Picnic, Outgoing President Adam Young told us to take care of our organization and to leave it better than we found it. Sage advice that will certainly be followed.

We have big shoes to fill, and all this started to get very real when we got our clinic schedules and assignments. Equipped with a roadmap for the summer, our excitement was palpable. Soon, we will be seeing our first patients! And with that knowledge, one could not help but think further ahead. In the summer we’ll be deciding our externships. Fourth year will  be planned out very soon. So there we were, still second years, thinking about being third years in a few weeks. In turn, our future third year selves are already thinking about being fourth year externs. Crazy. The blur between the years advances.

But, second years still had a few things left to do: a few practicals, some last quizzes, and finals, of course. We weren’t quite there yet. But now, that grueling finals week is finally over. We made it; we survived. The transition is ambiguous no more:

We are third years.

In a week, we’ll be seeing our first patients. That’s a huge transition, one that I am very much anticipating. With a side of nerves, of course. But, before then, off to Honduras I go for SVOSH. Third year begins…NOW!

Or was it a few weeks ago, as mentioned earlier? Oh, never mind. Some things are just complex.

I couldn’t have picked a worse day to leave Memphis.

I thought that I was all prepared. I had sold or moved all of my furniture and boxed up everything else to fit in my car for the jaunt over to Kansas City. I had even started cleaning, or watched as my friend vacuumed around my stuff, as I continued to shove things in boxes. I was mentally ready. I even said goodbye to people (that’s only part true, because I definitely  avoided the sadness at times and just chose to say “see you soon”).  My roommate had already left, so I could leave all my stuff in shambles on the floor as I “organized”. But then Sweet Mother Nature threw me a curve ball.

Memphis went from ‘sitting by the pool days’ to ‘pools of water in the street days’. It rained for two days straight. I packed my car in the rain. And because I had been such a great packer, I couldn’t find any clothes to change into once I realized that I would be soaked for 8 hours to Kansas City. Wow, that would be a really bad day of packing, right?  Yes, it was. I put a new bike rack on my car in the rain and the instructions disintegrated before it was on. Awesome. Fast forward 4 hours of stuffing, and I’m in my extremely foggy car, extremely soaked, but ready to go. It didn’t stop raining except for maybe 10 minutes, somewhere in the Ozarks, but then it got better….it started snowing. Snow on the ground, on my car, on the roads. Snow in May?! Yes, so I drove through snow for 2 hours, but it made me even more excited to be in Kansas City. I also need to mention that I’m not just in Kansas City, but rather suburbia of Kansas City. I’m more fancy than I ever realized that I was! Okay, just kidding, but my bedroom does look out at the pool and if it wasn’t 40 degrees outside I would be swimming, just so I could say  that I jumped out of my bed into a pool.

It took a lot for me to leave Memphis. More than just the rain. The rain really didn’t help, but I have also put down roots in Memphis. I’ve been in the same apartment for three years and made more friendships here than I ever would have imagined. We were sitting in class last Thursday when it finally hit us that this would be our last class together. Class was canceled Friday and we had to get fit for graduation gowns and caps. I will not see most of my classmates again until Graduation. Only about 40 will be back in Memphis with me in the Fall. I know people get sick of the class, and lab, and getting dilated, and insane exam schedules, but it will finally hit you, as you are putting a bike on a slippery bike rack in a torrential downpour, when you realize that you will miss it all.

…for your next set of finals, in case you need an inspirational speech. This is dedicated to my class:

“This ain’t no third nerve palsy. It never has been, and it never will be. Yeah, you may be down. Maybe we all are. After all, it’s been a long semester, and it’s been a long finals week. But we are never, ever, out.

It’s like our beloved Memphis Grizzlies. They’re not the flashiest team in the NBA. Our players rarely get considered for “Best of” lists, unless you’re Marc Gasol this year. But they get it done, because that’s what they do. They grit, and they grind. So shall you, not just tomorrow, not just when we get to clinic, and not even just until graduation two years from now, but always. Because that’s what you do. That’s how you got to this point. And that’s how it’s going to be.

Believe Memphis. Believe yourself. Believe, always. You got this.”

As of this writing, the Class of 2015 is one final away from becoming third years. But more on that in my next post.

Almost a 4th year! It’s crazy to think about how fast the time has flown! I saw a patient last week  for his annual comprehensive eye exam. What’s so cool about that?….I did his comprehensive eye exam last year too. Whoa. He was also my first glaucoma patient so I recognized him right away. It was wonderful to be able to provide care to someone I was already familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing new faces. I just like to build relationships more.

I had a great experience today with 20 year old patient. Her problem was obvious when she walked in– red blood-shot eyes. She complained of itchy, scratchy, watery eyes. Taking a closer look, she had swollen eye lids and bumps all over inside her eye lids. Allergies. A few minutes later I had her out the door and much happier! Those red eyes that she’s been dealing with should be much better by next week.

Speaking of allergies, I also had a patient last week in teen clinic that had the most swollen eye I’ve seen yet. The kid was just there because he couldn’t see the board at school. No other complaints. No itching, blur at near, or double vision. Just a bit blurry. During my routine exam, I pulled down his lower lid and a swollen pouch practically popped right out at me. Yikes! I put it back in, paused for moment to collect myself and then pulled down the lid again. Pop! “That’s not right” I thought. That’s when I noticed that his eyes were a bit puffy all around. I felt around his eyes and it was spongy where it should have been firm. For how swollen his eyes were, his body sure did a good job hiding it. I would have expected the kid to come in weepy, itchy, and agitated with how swollen his eyes were instead. Instead, it took me asking, “Are you sure you’re eyes don’t itch?”

Moral of the story:  If your eyes itch or water, come see us. Tis the season for allergies and we have a lot we can do to help you and your friends. Suffer no more.

Besides all the fun stuff I see in clinic, SCO’s Optometric Private Practice club was able to host Justin Bazan, O.D., from Park Slope Eye in Brooklyn, NY. He spoke on Old School vs New School Marketing. Wow. The way we should be reaching out to patients is so different. Phonebook? Forget it. Facebook? Embrace it. Dr. Bazan doesn’t even have a phone to his office anymore! Everything is handled by his website including questions and appointment scheduling. Dr. Bazan was a very engaging speaker and really helped out club finish the year with a bang.

That’s it for now. I’ll be attending a conference in Las Vegas in a few weeks where I’ll be meeting with all the other current optometry school private practice club presidents and President-Elects. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Oh man, blogosphere…it’s looks like this student doc is clinic bound!

Since January, I have been practicing for the final practical of all FINAL practicals: the infamous (and definitely sweat-worthy) pre-clinic checkout. In this checkout every skill we have mastered over the past two years is given one last final assessment to ensure we are clinic-ready for May. For these past two weeks, second-year students have been demonstrating their proficiency in case history, chair skills, refraction, anterior segment assessment, posterior segment evaluation, and determining an assessment and plan for their patients. We also had to talk our way through the whole exam explaining the purpose of each skill and our subsequent findings. Oh, and did I forget to mention we only had 1 hour to complete the entire checkout?! Manageable yes, but every moment was absolutely nerve-wrecking. The only thing that kept me sane through my checkout was knowing in 60minutes it’d be all over.

In the end, the months of preparation paid off. I knew my script and skills backwards and forwards…literally I could do the whole exam in my sleep! Then on checkout-day my chips all fell into place, and I was able to finish my examination, with minutes to spare :)

Then it was my turn to be patient. Sitting as patient was probably just as stressful, no…actually it was MORE STRESSFUL than performing my checkout! I just crossed my fingers my eyes would cooperate and that my examination results wouldn’t hinder my classmate in any way. I’d hate to think I had caused my classmate to get flustered on a skill. So much pressure! Fortunately my classmate did well on his exam, completed it in time, and can now proudly stare third-year in the face.

Hold on to your phoropter, Memphis…the Class of 2015 is about to be let loose on May 13!

Carpe Diem,

Amy

Happy Spring Blogosphere:

What a busy March! Without further delay here’s the month that was…

For spring break about 20 of my classmates and I traveled south of the border to Cozumel, Mexico on a cruise. It was a much needed (and well deserved, if I do say so) break. The trip was full of good laughs, delicious food, and great memories. Even better, our ship didn’t get stranded! Below are some photo highlights:

I also did my fair share of jet-setting in March. The first trip was to represent the AOSA at Vision Expo East in NYC. What a great conference and trade show! I also braved the sub-freezing temperatures to hit up the Today Show…I’m pretty sure I was meant to be a news anchor in another life :)

Then I was off to St. Louis for a special AOSA hiring committee meeting at the AOA National Headquarters. A small group of the AOSA Trustees gathered to interview several new applicants for the AOSA Executive Director position. It was interesting to be seated on the other side of the interview table for once! Even better, AOSA finally found the perfect Executive Director amongst the applicants…I’m really looking forward to the progress our organization will continue to make  through our ED who will work alongside our industry allies and the AOA on AOSA’s behalf. Below are photos from Vision Expo and St. Louis…

March was a hectic exam month too (aren’t they all!). There’s nothing like taking multiple exams, quizzes, and practicals week-after-week. Albeit challenging, this semester has probably been my favorite. With disease courses like Anterior Segment and Posterior Segment, I’m starting to put together the puzzle pieces in differentiating, diagnosing, and the treatment protocols of ocular disease. Fortunately, my professors have approached these difficult concepts in a manageable way. It makes me even more eager to start clinic in a month (cross my fingers all goes well on my pre-clinic checkout!).

To end the month, I served over 100 Memphians breakfast on Easter Sunday as a member of SCO’s Fellowship of Christian Optometrists.  What a fulfilling way to share the Holiday message with a warm meal and hospitality.

These were just a few of March’s highlights…there was so much more happening at SCO! Here’s to my next blog post…

Carpe Diem,

Amy

On Thursday morning, my lab group was lucky enough to have enough time between Contact Lens and Vision Therapy labs to take heed of an email from Dr. Lebowitz titled “Newman’s last lecture is happening right now!”

So, at 10:30, we met down on the second floor, where Dr. Newman was lecturing on phorias. There we were joined by many – third years, other second years, faculty, staff, and others. Then, a few first years dressed as fairies (you’ll have to ask them about the significance of that!) came into the lecture hall to begin the tribute to Dr. Newman.

And so we all poured into the lecture room, which I don’t believe I’ve ever seen hold so many people. The first years bought Dr. Newman the leg lamp from A Christmas Story in a crate filled with hay. A few speeches were given, but I already don’t remember what was said. I will, however, will always remember and be thankful for Dr. Newman’s wit, wisdom, and his passion for optometric education. So will everyone who was in the room that morning:

What is Dr. Newman’s legacy? I don’t think I could ever truly quantify how large that is. Let’s consider that he has been teaching for forty years and has taught over 5000 students, according to SCO. If you take those 5000 optometrists and multiply that by the number of patients seen by each one of those optometrists and consider all the locations in which those optometrists have practiced, you might get a sense of the magnitude of Dr. Newman’s impact. With that said, congratulations on your coming retirement, Dr. Newman! You truly deserve it. Thank you everything that you’ve done for me and countless other optometry students, and thank you for all that you have done to advance optometry as a profession.