Once the semester started, it has not stopped! It has become very busy but not in the way previous semesters were. For one thing my fellow second years and I have officially begun seeing patients. I cannot discuss the details due to HIPAA privacy laws but I can say my first exam went extremely well.
Besides more clinic responsibilities, I’ve been working very hard on spearheading our schools section of the American Optometric Association – Political Action Committee (AOA-PAC) The point of the campaign is to raise money to help advocate for optometry’s best interest in state and federal governments. So far it has been very successful! The Ohio Optometric Association (OOA) has been incredibly helpful providing support and advice for my position. My other responsibility is to recruit classmates and plan a trip to the Congressional Advocacy Conference in Washington D.C. There, we will meet with congressmen, and discuss and promote bills that are important to optometry. It’s a wonderful opportunity for students to learn about the political process and help out the procession of optometry.
It has not been all work thankfully. We recently had the annual EyeBall at the beautiful Columbus Atheneum. It was a great way to socialize with our classmates as well as recognize faculty, staff and students who have contributed greatly to College. This year my fellow blogger Elizabeth won the Student Leader of the Year Award so congrats to her! There was plenty of food, drinks and dancing to make it a wonderful evening.
We recently finished our first round of midterms which included exams in our Retinal Diseases, Ocular Pharmacology, and Visual Neurophysiology and Perception classes. These classes all required a lot of study time but the exams were not that bad. We also had two practicals in our Advanced Ocular Techniques class. Our first practical was on gonioscopy, which is when an oversized contact lens is placed directly on the eye and it is used to make sure the patient isn’t at risk for angle closure glaucoma. It was one of the hardest practicals I have had to do but I’m so glad that it was a success. Our other practical involved a similar piece of equipment but this one was used to look at different parts of the retina.
Even with the incessant cold and copious amounts of snow, my classmates and I have managed to make it the best of it. This past Friday I ended up going skiing for the first time with some of my more athletically inclined classmates. They were patient with me as I fell on my butt and was unable to get up on multiple occasions. Eventually I got it and had wonderful time. Hopefully I can go back again before the weather warms up and before our second round midterms starts.
