Our guest speaker for this meeting was Dr. Mulvihill. Dr Mulvihill graduated from The Ohio State College of Optometry, and he is now completing his residency in vision therapy at Ohio State. Dr. Mulvihill answered questions about his experience with optometry school and applying to residency programs. After telling us about himself, Dr. Mulvihill gave our club members a tour of the binocular vision and pediatrics clinic. Following the tour, Dr. Mulvihill showed us the equipment that he uses to treat patients in need of vision therapy.

At our first meeting of the year, Pre-Optometry club heard from a variety of guest speaks. Shawn Gilbert, our adviser, welcomed all members and introduced Dean Karla Zadnik. Dean Zadnik spoke to our members about her journey into and through the field of optometry. Shawn Curtner, clinic director, spoke about OSU’s clinical care program and asked for students to consider working in his federal work study. Justin Griest, head of recruitment, spoke  about the upcoming fall Visit Day on October 15th (register at optometry.osu.edu/visitday). The executive board then introduced themselves and their positions. All members were given the opportunity to participate in a tour of the College of Optometry.  Hope to see everyone at our next meeting on September 13th!

For our last meeting of the year, we heard from Dr. John Melnyk. He told us about his work at CarePoint East and with the Havener Eye Institute. Through his discussion about how all of his patients are referrals, we learned about his collaboration with other health care providers. Dr. Melnyk shared about how he sees many unusual cases with his patients and has a very unique experience in representing ophthalmology as an optometrist.

We held our club elections for the 2016 – 2017 school year. The results are as follows:
President: Krista Roberts

Vice President: Emma Thompson

Secretary: Kelly Lutmer

Treasurer: Shelve Shah

Historian: Jeremy Saxon

Social & Community Chair: Spencer Day

Fundraising Chair: Danica Downward

This week we celebrated the retirement of our beloved club adviser, Sally Haltom. Sally shared her story with us of how she ended up here at The Ohio State College of Optometry. She shared about all of her previous jobs and about her 19 wonderful years here at the College. She will be dearly missed, but we look forward to staying in touch with her.  Sally, congratulations and thank you for all you have done for us!

Dr. Andy Toole and Dr. Gregory Nixon gave us a tour of different areas of the optometry school. Dr. Toole took us to the Binocular Vision/Pediatrics area and showed us how he would give an eye exam to an infant. He then taught us about retinoscopy and let us all experiment with the retinoscope. Dr. Nixon spoke to us about glaucoma and showed us different OCT images. He showed us various retinal images and explained how to examine the optic nerve.

Dr. Mark Wright spoke to us about the business side of optometry. He is the faculty coordinator for the OSU College of Optometry Business Management Program, and teaches students during all four years of the program. He told us about the courses he teaches for each year of the program, ranging from Personal Finance for first years, to Business Planning for fourth years. Dr. Wright provides students with the information they need to be successful professionals. He discussed medical insurance, being an employer vs. an employee, and the importance of teaching the time value of money.

Dr. Don Mutti spoke to us about his career at the College and about his research. Dr. Mutti teaches optics to first year optometry students. He has been doing research on refractive error for 27 years, and gets to bring research and clinical practice together at Ohio State. His research focuses on three main questions: How do the ocular optical components develop during childhood, what are the risk factors for myopia, and if future myopia can be predicted. He then explained to us how hyperopia is a cushion against nearsightedness, and ended with a discussion on ipRGC photoreceptors and the delayed pupillary response to blue light.

Dr. Nicky Lai spoke to us about his career at the College of Optometry and his story of how he got to be where he is today. Dr. Lai graduated from Ohio State in 2003 with an OD/MS degree. He gave us advice on how to succeed with the difficult course work of optometry school and the process of finding a niche within optometry. Dr. Lai concentrated on contact lenses and did a cornea contact lens residency. He is now the Chief of Contact Lens Service and told us about the various contact lens courses he teaches. Advancements in the area of contact lenses were also discussed, such as how scleral lenses can incorporate more correction for different refractive needs.

For the first part of the meeting, the seniors held a question and answer panel where other students asked questions about working in a practice, the OAT, and other items related to the application process. Then, Dr. Roanne Flom gave us a tour of the new BV/PEDS & Low Vision clinic. She pointed out all of the design details that were purposely placed to make the space appeal to the patients. She showed us around both sides of the new clinic and gave us an idea of what her typical day is like there.