Hey everyone! Lately, I've been busy, not only with patient care in clinic, but also with papers to write and tests to take! The next 2 weeks are looking up, as there are no tests! I have to remember that finals are just around the corner. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone!
In Primary Care, I'm getting more efficient each week, and I try to work on cutting down my total exam time with each patient and am still seeing and learning new things every day. The past couple of weeks I've also been doing my rotation in Vision Therapy. Vision Therapy is hard to explain in a sentence or two. Some patients have trouble using both eyes at the same time to see singly. This can be a problem you are born with or can occur as a consequence of a systemic disease process, or after a traumatic event such as a stroke or automobile accident. At SCO, we are trained in Vision Therapy techniques so we can help improve patients' lives by reducing headaches and eyestrain, reducing eye turn frequency, or helping a child learn to control their eye movements for important tasks like reading. Some Optometrists devote their whole practice to this area of our field. You can learn a lot more about the different ways Vision therapy can help people by visiting SCO's website and clicking on "Patients", "Our Services", and "Vision Therapy and Rehabilitation". My next rotation will be going to Nursing Homes and learning how to adminster an eye exam to a patient in that situation, which can be very different from a run-of-the-mill exam at your office.
I mentioned that we have a little break from tests so last weekend I took some time to go kayaking with my family! We went to Hardy, Arkansas about 2.5 hours from Memphis to Spring River. It was great! We kayaked down the river for about 4 hours! It was pretty smooth sailing but about 5 or 6 little rapids to go over, it was a little scary at times (I was nervous about flipping over) but mostly it was fun and I managed to keep upright the entire time! I found out you really need to be in good shape to kayak for that long though! I was pretty tired at the end but it was a great experience and I'm glad I got to go! Life isnt' all school all the time!! :)
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