Summer has been flying by in the South. Where has time gone? A major portion of my week is spent in clinic. My Mondays are spent in APC or adult primary care. We have three calls around 10, 2 and 4:00. But my days never seem to work out like the schedule. This week, for example, all of my patients were 45 minutes to an hour after the scheduled time, so it was a bit of a late night on Monday. I can't believe that I have been seeing patients for two months already. I can tell that I am becoming more efficient and gaining in clinical knowledge. I love talking to my classmates about all the different cases we have seen already. Diabetic Retinopathy? Sure. Keratoconus? Oh, yeah. Albinism?! You better believe it. This is one of the reasons that I chose SCO and Memphis, because I knew that I would be exposed to the most variety in patient-base and disease.
The last few Thursdays I have spent in Teen Clinic where you would expect teenage patients, but that is not the case. I think I've only had one teenage patient and more 7-11 year-olds, which is just fine with me. I've never been very good at relating with teenagers. I can't play the "adult" role very well and end up just cracking jokes that they don't think are funny. Basically, I'm becoming one of those adults that wants to be your friend but is sadly a decade too late. Yikes. That's okay, the pre-teens still laugh at my jokes. Teen clinic is fun because you never know what you're going to get and even if everything is "normal," it still takes a bit of work to get that information from a twitchy or shy kid.
Fridays are my third day in clinic and I have Vision Therapy, Optical or Central Testing. This week is my first vision therapy week and I'm very excited to be checking it out. I've enjoyed my time in optical, but it can get a bit stressful when everyone finishes their exams around the same time. It's a great way to learn about insurance coverage and different optical companies. I feel comfortable helping patients find glasses and am gaining confidence in adjusting or repairing glasses. I still get nervous when melting plastic frames that I will wait too long and come out with strings like Nickelodeon Gak. Central Testing is easier than last year and I am way more comfortable with the equipment and talking with patients. After being in APC, I also realize how nice it is to receive a patient that has been "worked up" in central testing.
Obviously not all my time has been spent in clinic. We still have two days with labs and classes every morning. I've also been enjoying my afternoons and weekends exploring Memphis. The Orpheum shows movies on Friday Nights (yes, I did go and love the Grease Sing-along in June). Peabody has roof-top parties on Thursdays that are quite fun even though it's often 95+ degrees. This weekend I have a stand-up paddle board lesson near Shelby Farms. I've also made it a personal goal to eat at different restaurants. I have my favorites that I frequent, but there are so many that I haven't tried yet! I realized that I will only be in Memphis for another year and need to take advantage of all its yummy-eats. Even though it's only the beginning of my third year, I will only be in Memphis for another year because 4th year we choose externships across the U.S. I will be checking out Kansas City next summer and Denver the Spring after....but I'll tell you about externs next time.