In Ocular Disease II we are learning about glaucoma, which is a disease of the optic nerve that creeps up on people without them expecting it since it's often asymptomatic. The most interesting and unique thing about this disease is that it affects both the front and back part of the eye (the posterior and anterior chambers). Many ocular diseases require only a small set of instruments - for example, conjunctivitis ("pink eye") pretty much requires only the use of a slit lamp to diagnose. However, glaucoma requires a whole spectrum of instruments along with the many things to watch out for (of course, this is not totally inclusive of all instruments and things to look for):

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Sometimes I wish school had a difficulty level selection...

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This quarter has historically been the most stressful quarter of all quarters in SCCO. However, due to the recent changes in the curriculum, I think it's going to be even harder than what past classes had to deal with. That's because a difficult class that was normally in the Winter was pushed back to this quarter (Strabismus and Amblyopia Diagnosis). Furthermore, we expect that the ocular disease portion of Geriatrics will be challenging too. These two tough classes are on top of two other tough classes - Ocular Health Procedures (OHP) II and Ocular Disease II. Here is a summary of the challenges ahead:

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It's been a while since my last post, but it's been incredibly busy here (yeah, nothing new right) - basically what happened over the past week were my finals for the summer. I had four finals over three days, and basically only a weekend to study for all four. The Contact Lenses III final was super long and covered probably among the most material we've had in a single test. This happened because due to the recent curriculum changes, CL III became a combination of two classes and the material was very compressed - oftentimes the lectures would go over time. It was a three hour long test...I took a little over two hours myself though but most people finished at almost two hours into the exam.

Next quarter is just around the corner - it's going to start this coming Monday. Here is a quick breakdown of my classes:

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It seems to be that there is a solution for easy to make glasses for third world countries, and it has been in existence for a couple of years now...it's called Adaptive Eyewear! Basically, clear bags within the frame are filled with water, and the amount of water adjusts the amount of power the lens will give. Although they probably look a little awkward, the makers claim that they are functional and have helped thousands of people in third world nations...check out the links and the video below for more info:

Adaptive Eyewear Homepage

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