Just to let you all know what's going on in the next two weeks:
This coming week:
Monday: Clinical Medicine proficiency - we have to know how to do glucometry measurement and assessment, blood pressure measurement and assessment, carotid bruits assessment, evaluate the 12 cranial nerves with 10 different tests, diagnose 16 different headache types, and know how to recognize and manage 7 different systemic emergencies. Yeah, this proficiency requires a LOT of memorization!
Wednesday: Clinical Methods II proficiency - covers measuring amplitudes of accommodation, phoria measurement with a prism bar, retinoscopy, subjective refraction, phoria measurements, vergence measurements, and various accommodative tests.
Friday: Clinical Medicine Final
And the following week:
Monday:Ophthalmic Optics II and Microbiology final (two in one day!!!)
Tuesday: Clinical Methods II final
Wednesday: break...thank goodness!!!
Thursday: Sensory Vision final
Friday: Ocular Physiology final
Yeah, I'll pretty much be a hermit for the next two weeks, besides the times that I'm practicing procedures. But yeah, that's second year for you...it's real tough and unfortunately it's only uphill from here. Oh and by the way, I attended a Halloween party that the Delts hold every year. If you look back at an old blog you can see last year's pics too. I have some pictures but I don't think I'll post them until sometime after finals. So stay tuned for intermittent updates and of course for pictures of that party!
Archive for October of 2007
A quick overview for the next two weeks
October 27, 2007Learn Something New #4: Color Deficiencies
October 25, 2007
It's been a while since I've put up a Learn Something New post, and I have some ample time, so here's another one...it's about color deficiencies. We have been learning A LOT about color vision recently (I must emphasize a lot!!!). In optometry school you will be covering lots of things about color vision in very great detail, many of which can be very abstract. Below is a diagram that you will get very familiar with in optometry school...it's the CIE Standard Colormetric System (I won't go into details about it, but it looks pretty cool huh?):
Source
Source
Quick update
October 23, 2007
This week is just too busy...!!! I really can't write much right now but I just want to let you all know that I'm still going to post updates when I can, just not as often for the next 2-3 weeks. I have a tough exam coming up (Sensory Vision) among other things, then next week is proficiencies, then the week after is finals week!!! Wish me luck!!!
An intense week!
October 14, 2007
Here's a quick overview of last week since I have a really intense week coming up (not much time to study!!!):
- Last Friday the Delts (aka Omega Delta, an optometric fraternity I'm involved with) had a big sib/lil sib bowling night. Basically, you get matched with a little sib (kind of like a "little bro or lil sis" thing seen in undergrad fraternities) and get to know each other...it's like a bonding/cameraderie with a student that's a year before you. It was a lot of fun, even though I really suck at bowling nowadays - I used to bowl a lot as a kid but now, ugh...!
- Last week was also TB testing, which is required every year. I didn't test positive but when the poked me, I thought I stopped bleeding but it turns out I bled all over my long sleeve shirt!!! So lesson learned - make sure you have stopped bleeding before you roll down your sleeve again. This coming week is a flu shot...I make an effort to get one every flu season since I got hit once in the middle of finals week in undergrad. I still wonder how I passed that Organic Chem class, considering that I nauseated throughout the final!!!
Okay so you're wondering, intense week? Oh yeah, definitely...I've got an Ocular Physiology exam on Monday, a Ophthalmic Optics II lab proficiency on Wednesday, and a Clinical Methods II exam + Sensory Vision presentation on Thursday. This is going to be the craziest week so far this quarter!
Oh and one last thing...it took me forever to type up my Ocular Phys notes! 18 pages of notes total!!! Which brings me to a point about optometry school: time spent studying for an exam does not correlate with your resulting grade on that exam!!! It's weird because for example, in a given class I would study 10 hours for an exam then get a B, then study 7 hours for the next exam and get a perfect score...and both tests felt about the same difficulty level. I just don't know what's up with that...
- Last Friday the Delts (aka Omega Delta, an optometric fraternity I'm involved with) had a big sib/lil sib bowling night. Basically, you get matched with a little sib (kind of like a "little bro or lil sis" thing seen in undergrad fraternities) and get to know each other...it's like a bonding/cameraderie with a student that's a year before you. It was a lot of fun, even though I really suck at bowling nowadays - I used to bowl a lot as a kid but now, ugh...!
- Last week was also TB testing, which is required every year. I didn't test positive but when the poked me, I thought I stopped bleeding but it turns out I bled all over my long sleeve shirt!!! So lesson learned - make sure you have stopped bleeding before you roll down your sleeve again. This coming week is a flu shot...I make an effort to get one every flu season since I got hit once in the middle of finals week in undergrad. I still wonder how I passed that Organic Chem class, considering that I nauseated throughout the final!!!
Okay so you're wondering, intense week? Oh yeah, definitely...I've got an Ocular Physiology exam on Monday, a Ophthalmic Optics II lab proficiency on Wednesday, and a Clinical Methods II exam + Sensory Vision presentation on Thursday. This is going to be the craziest week so far this quarter!
Oh and one last thing...it took me forever to type up my Ocular Phys notes! 18 pages of notes total!!! Which brings me to a point about optometry school: time spent studying for an exam does not correlate with your resulting grade on that exam!!! It's weird because for example, in a given class I would study 10 hours for an exam then get a B, then study 7 hours for the next exam and get a perfect score...and both tests felt about the same difficulty level. I just don't know what's up with that...
Vegas and more
October 07, 2007
As I mentioned in my last blog, I went to Vegas this past weekend with the intent to go to the Vision Expo...but unfortunately due to traffic I couldn't make it on time. But my girlfriend and I still saw the Cirque du Soleil show (Ka) at the MGM Grand. I forgot to mention in my last blog that I was able to get my tickets half off (Original is $125 + tax, but I got them for $62.50 + tax) because I have a military ID card (yet another benefit of being part of the Health Professions Scholarship Program). It was absolutely amazing...it really is difficult to describe because it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It took place on a 9-story hydraulic stage that elevated and rotated in all directions - it went from a flat horizontal plane to a vertical plane that faces you, and all angles in between. The performers were all over the place, and even crawling on the tops of our seat backs! The effects were spectacular, just like what you would see in movies. Here is a clip of what you would see in the show:
I am so hooked on Cirque shows now, I am already planning to see "O" which is at the Bellagio. That one is supposedly really neat too because it's staged underwater...I'm curious as to how that works out...
I forgot to mention in my past blogs that in Clinical Medicine II lab, we have been learning different medical techniques that MDs practice, including checking blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer, glucometry testing, cranial nerve testing, and some neurological tests. Although these techniques are not necessarily used by all optometrists, they are useful in providing insight on systemic conditions as they relate to the eye. These tests basically supplement our diagnosis of certain ocular conditions.
I learned of some big news this past week - SCCO may change the curriculum between our second and third years. Part I of the NBEO (National Board of Examiners in Optometry) will now be held in spring of our third year effective for the class of 2010 (yes that's my class!), instead of the end of summer following the second year. Keep note - this NBEO change affects all optometry schools, so yes, we will all be taking boards during the school year!!! Usually SCCO has a summer session between second and third year, and it lasts half of the summer. But now, the curriculum committee at SCCO is considering a full summer quarter, which means less of a summer break (something like 2 weeks)! Nothing is final yet, but I'll keep you posted of any changes.
I am so hooked on Cirque shows now, I am already planning to see "O" which is at the Bellagio. That one is supposedly really neat too because it's staged underwater...I'm curious as to how that works out...
I forgot to mention in my past blogs that in Clinical Medicine II lab, we have been learning different medical techniques that MDs practice, including checking blood pressure with a sphygmomanometer, glucometry testing, cranial nerve testing, and some neurological tests. Although these techniques are not necessarily used by all optometrists, they are useful in providing insight on systemic conditions as they relate to the eye. These tests basically supplement our diagnosis of certain ocular conditions.
I learned of some big news this past week - SCCO may change the curriculum between our second and third years. Part I of the NBEO (National Board of Examiners in Optometry) will now be held in spring of our third year effective for the class of 2010 (yes that's my class!), instead of the end of summer following the second year. Keep note - this NBEO change affects all optometry schools, so yes, we will all be taking boards during the school year!!! Usually SCCO has a summer session between second and third year, and it lasts half of the summer. But now, the curriculum committee at SCCO is considering a full summer quarter, which means less of a summer break (something like 2 weeks)! Nothing is final yet, but I'll keep you posted of any changes.