Extremely busy 2 weeks!

Hello eye bloggers!!!

It is going to be a rough two weeks!  We just had our first psychophysics midterm, and our first proficiency.  For our proficiency, we had to hand neutralize a pair of sphero-cylinder glasses and a pair of sphero-cylinder bifocal glasses in 25 minutes or less!!! I practiced so much I was seeing double!!! But it paid off because I did well! 

I also wanted to mention that our school, SCCO is having it's annual Spring Admissions Open House on April 17th, 2010 from 8:30AM-12:30PM.  If you would like to make your reservation please email Betty at bsanchez@scco.edu.  This is a great opportunity to meet SCCO students and faculty and explore the campus!  

These next two weeks we have 4 midterms, one lab practical and a clinical case , a visual acuity project, and a case hx proficiency!

We also are learning retinoscopy!!!! It was so exciting to use the phoropter for the first time!!!  

Spring Quarter so far....

Currently the c/o 2013 @ SCCO is learning hand neutralization and how to take a patient case history.



Case History
I was an optometric technician for 4 years, and I was almost always comfortable taking a case history.  Taking a case history from a doctor's point of view is very different from what I was used to.  My responses are phrases carefully, and I have attending and non-attending behaviors that I must be aware of. We have been practicing in clinical methods lab and outside of lab for our proficiency. 

Hand Neutralization
During opthalmic optics lab, we have learned how to hand neutralize spherical lenses, sphero-cylindrical lenses, and bifocal lenses.  It is not as easy as it looks.  We get the joy of carrying our heavy trial lens cases around campus to the lab and home to practice for our proficiency next week!   You feel like a real optometry student carrying your trial lens cases around; they are just really heavy.  We practice neutralizing with a power cross, like the one in the photo below.  This is a photo of a power cross image in my case.

Lastly, here is a photo from the Corona Vision Screening last Saturday.  About 25-30% of our first year class participated in this vision screening. Vision screenings give you a lot of exposure and experience working with patients.  It is such a different experience compared to when you were a technician. You are the one in the white coat ask the questions, case history, etc. You don't really do a lot of visual acuity testing, at least not at this screening.  It was a great experience!  I learned how to do a cover test with an occluder and a pupil response test with a penlight on the spot. We have not learned yet in school, but it was good to learn from the third years that Saturday!

I will try to keep y'all updated!  We are starting to get back into our weekly midterms so I will try to post on the weekends. 

Hello Spring Quarter 2010!

This quarter has started off with many laughs, but exams will soon be knocking at our doors. I am so excited about this quarter!!!  Here are the classes I am taking:

Clinical Medicine I & Lab
Clinical Methods I & Lab
Opthalmic Optics I & Lab
Neurophysiology & Lab
Visual Psychophysics I & Lab

We finally get to use all of the expensive equipment that we purchase in the previous quarters (i.e our trial lens sets, retinoscope, etc.).

Clinical Methods Lab
Today we learned about patient communication and how verbal and non-verbal language greatly impacts they way your patient understands you as a professional and as a doctor. It was very exciting!

I applied to SCCO with a lot of work experience, so it is nice to understand everything the first time around, especially for opthalmic optics!  I worked for 4 years as an optometric technician and apprentice optician for one year.  I feel my work experience provided a great foundation of business and optometric knowledge about the field.  I became so motivated and inspired working with optometrists, that's why I'm in optometry school!

By the end of this quarter, our class will be able to refract!  I am so excited!!!!

Optos

Our school website has a link about a segment of Optos on the Dr. Oz show.

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/dr-oz-goes-inside-eye

This helps inform the public about the machine and how you can find diseases and look at the brain through retinal imaging!

Stress as an Optometry Student vs. Stress before life as an optometry student

I don't know how many of your are wondering about our stress levels in optometry school, but in case you are, here is a little snip.

Keep in mind, every student has different levels of stress and handles it differently. I would like to classify myself as the type of student who cannot function without being stressed, and when I am stressed, I stress even more because I am stressed :)

If you are that type of person, please continue reading!

Stress Before life in optometry school:
-one or two pimples
-sleep cycle interrupted for a few days
-dreaming about my exams
-eating habits change (i.e increase in carbs, sugars)
-Exercised consistently
-still making straight As

Stress my first 2 quarters of optometry school
-talking about material I have learned at parties (non-academic), restaurants, the movies, shopping trips, out with friends
-dreaming about studying for 5 exams; so I am basically just dreaming that I am studying, and when I wake up I am studying...24-7
-sleep cycle is corrupted the whole quarter, literally. I was sleep at about 3 or 4AM and waking up at 7 or 8AM for lecture
-cystic acne made residence all over my face ( i have never broke out like this before)
-hormonal imbalances
-mood swings
-straight A's were so undergrad
-social life does not exist until the next break
- I stopped excercising consistenly because i felt like I was wasting studying time

But, if I could do it all over again I WOULD. believe me or not. I love optometry school. It brings out the best in me and the worst of me, but mostly the best of me. 

One more source!

http://www.nora.cc/

WINTER Quarter Finals are FINALLY DONE!

Another vision related website:

http://www.usaeyes.org/

I just stumbled upon this one today. I hope y'all find it informative!


It has been a stressful 5 weeks of non-stop studying on top of having finals this week!  I have never learned so much in one quarter in my life!!!  Although it was mentally and physically exhausting, I still find myself relating everyday life situations to school. My classmates and I quote or look for things related to the material we learn in class. It sounds nerdy and corny, but we love it!  I guess with studying being so routine, we study even unintentionally as well!  Spring break is finally here, and it is WELL DESERVED!!!  About 25% of our class will be New York bound!  Myself, I will enjoy and recall what it was like to be normal and sleep normally for one week!  I will make the best out of it!!!