Meeting Minutes: 10/10

Today we heard from Dr. Heather Chandler! She is a faculty member at the OSU College of Optometry teaching ocular anatomy to first year students. Dr. Chandler was born in Canada and had an interest in veterinary medicine from a young age. She started professional life as a veterinary nurse, and studied in several fields including parasitology and microbiology. Eventually she came to The Ohio State University and discovered veterinary ophthalmology. Dr. Chandler stressed that there are many ways to get where you want to go in terms of career goals.

She earned her PhD in veterinary biosciences and currently researches cataract formation and corneal wound healing. Although her research primarily involves animals, she works with ophthalmologists to apply her findings to clinical settings that benefit human patients. Examples of her research include sunglasses for dogs to reduce oxidative stress on the eyes, and improving retention time of drugs on the cornea.

Regarding optometry school, Dr. Chandler goes into great detail about all structures within the eye and how they work together to produce vision. Her advice to potential applicants is to be prepared for a tough curriculum. Having a tough skin is important and being comfortable with the unknown is essential. To prepare for the rigor of post-graduate coursework, she recommends students take a detailed anatomy course, preferably incorporating histology.

If anyone has questions for Dr. Chandler, you can email her at chandler.111@osu.edu!

Realeyes Training: 4/19

Today Pre-Optometry Club, along with Eyes on Health, participated in a training program with the Ohio Optometric Association! This program is called “Realeyes” and it involves being trained how to teach children in local schools about vision and eye care. Our members are now certified to give presentations to students in preschool through eighth grade alongside their peers, and/or optometrists! Thank you to Matt Fink, the Realeyes Program Manager, for an informative and fun training session!

Meeting Minutes: 4/11

Today we had our last meeting of the year. A representative from Prevent Blindness Ohio came and trained us to be certified vision screeners. We learned about criteria that would require a referral to an optometrist for an exam. Additionally, we were taught how to use machines that measured visual acuities as an alternative to physical eye charts. Tomorrow, we will be volunteering to give free vision checks in the Ohio Union from 3-5pm!

Meeting Minutes: 3/28

Today we held elections for our 2017-2018 Executive Board! Thank you to everyone who ran for a position. Remember, if you did not get elected to an executive position, there are still plenty of ways to be involved as a general body member. Here is the The Pre-Optometry Club at Ohio State’s Executive Board of 2017-2018:

President: Jeremy Saxon 

Vice President: Kylie Scott

Secretary: Danny Helin

Treasurer: Michelle Alaimo

Historian: Josh Black

Social Chair: Kara Renner

Fundraising chair: Mackenzie Gershom

Meeting Minutes: 3/7

This meeting was all about the OAT. Jen Bennett along with a panel of OSU College of Optometry students went through all aspects of the OAT with our members. Our members were able to ask any questions they had about how to start preparing to take this important exam. Thank you to Jen and all the participating optometry students for the advice! Good luck all our members currently studying for the OAT!

Meeting Minutes: 2/21

Today our members were visited by a New England College of Optometry (NECO) representative. We  learned all about this school and the amazing program it has to offer. In addition, we learned about the surrounding city of Boston and all the unique opportunities that would come with living in this busy city. Our members were then able to ask questions about NECO and the field of optometry. Thank you NECO for the visit!

Meeting Minutes: 2/4

For today’s meeting, several students at OSU College of Optometry spoke to our club members about their experiences in optometry school. The students present represented all different years at the college of optometry, and they each had unique experiences and backgrounds they were able to share with our members.  These students gave advice and answered many questions asked by our club members.  Thank you to all the students that participated, your guidance is invaluable!

Meeting Minutes: 1/24

Today we heard from Ohio State’s very own Shawn Curtner. Shawn talked to our club members about how Ohio State handles clinical experience, and his role in this process. Shawn organizes the 4-hour exams for our second years, as well as the 2-hour exams for our third years. He is a major contributor to the great success of Ohio State’s clinical program. If you or anyone you know is interested in scheduling a 2-hour appointment in the clinic, please email Shawn Curtner at curnter.6@osu.edu. This is a great opportunity for Pre-Optometry students to learn from third years about what they will be doing in the future. Thanks Shawn for the fun presentation!

Meeting Minutes: 1/11/17

Welcome back to all of our members! To start the spring semester, Dr. Delgado-Nixon, a professor at The Ohio State College of Optometry, led the club in one of our favorite annual activities, a cow eyeball dissection. Dr. Nixon walked our members through how to perform the dissection and a description of everything that we looked at. Thank you so much Dr. Delgado-Nixon for another great meeting!

Meeting Minutes: 11/29/16

Today, we heard Dr. Plaumann talk to us about pursuing her PhD at Ohio State after completing her optometry degree at Southern California College of Optometry. Dr. Paumann talked to our club members about her decision to pursue further education following optometry school and answered several questions from our pre-optometry students. Have a happy New Year, and we will see everyone back in 2017!