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Student Life Blogs

12/27/13

Academy 2013 - Seattle



Greetings, Blogosphere:

Last month I won a travel grant to attended the American Academy of Optometry’s annual conference held this year in SEATTLE…did someone say the home of the first Starbucks?!

I consider myself quite the conference-goer, and I must admit, AAO’s conference was one of the best. “The Academy,” as this conference is affectionately called, takes on a more academic feel as attendees are educated on the newest, greatest, and latest updates in research and technology influencing the optometric industry from disease to vision therapy. There’s really a focus to enlighten minds, and I felt like I was at a point in my school career that I could really follow along with the commentators and research being discussed. By the conference’s conclusion, I felt I had gained a whole wealth of knowledge beyond what’s learned in the classroom.

One of the big student draws to the Academy is Student Fellowship. This is a special recognition of students who have gone above-and-beyond simply attending the Academy’s lectures. Instead, these students must participate in specific lecture and meeting requirements throughout the Academy. While definitely doable, attaining Student Fellowship was quite the exhausting task. One day I was in lectures and symposiums from 9am-9pm! It was so worth it though, especially because I had the chance to rub shoulders with some of the greatest research minds in our profession!

At the end of the day, nothing beats the student parties at these conferences… I even had the chance to bring my older brother, David, along! David moved to Seattle a little over a year ago to work with tech-giant Microsoft (yeah, he’s quite the family brain if you know what I mean!), so it was really nice to see his new stomping grounds and visit the local sites with him. Even my Lil’ Sib Feyi (and fellow blogger) trekked the Space Needle with us too!

Of course, no blog post would be complete with out a few photos :) Enjoy!



Carpe Diem,

Amy
Posted by Amy Dunbar at 12/27/13

12/27/13

Run, SCO, Run!



 Hello Blogosphere!

There’s something about being in graduate school that puts some aspects of your life into perspective. For example, as a doctor I will have a unique privileged responsibility to not only be, as one of my classmates calls it, a “health professional, but a healthy professional.” I’ve really taken that message to heart at SCO and so have many of my classmates. Whether it’s exercising, making better meal choices, or simply living life with a more positive attitude, my classmates and I have adopted a new outlook on life as healthcare providers.

In fact, SCO has really become a community of runners. Not only have I jumped on the bandwagon, but many of my classmates have decided to pound the pavement alongside me. As you may recall, I joined the Memphis Runners Track Club last year and participated in my first Road Race Series and Half Marathon. Well this year I upped the ante…not only did I race the Road Race Series again this fall hitting a few 5ks, 5 milers, 10ks, 10 milers, and half marathons over five months, but my timing has surprisingly improved too. Best part is that my roommate has joined me on these running escapades as well! I even managed to snag a few race medals along the way, including a second place finish in both SVOSH’s Eye5k and the MRTC’s RRS for my age group!

Earlier this month, SCO had over 40 students, faculty, and staff signed up to race the St. Jude Marathon. Unfortunately due to an unexpected ice storm the race was cancelled…even for a committed runner like myself, running in icy, single-digit-temps wasn’t too appealing. Nonetheless, the SCO team still raised over $14,000 toward St. Jude’s research endeavors and I still enjoyed being a part of such a good cause. Way to go SCO!!


So, what’s my secret to maintaining a running schedule and still doing well in school? I guess you could say I just slap those class notes on the treadmill and I could go for hours (well maybe not hours, but at least I can take a little bit of time and kill two birds with one stone!). Also, running races are great study break motivators. As I round the corner to take Part 1 of Boards I can definitely see these sprints coming in handy, if anything, it’ll be a necessary break for my brain to recoup!

I tend to be a bit of a milestone gal, so I’m leaning towards running my first marathon in 2014 too…26 miles for my 26th birthday :) I’ll keep you all posted on how conditioning goes too!

Carpe Diem,

Amy
Posted by Amy Dunbar at 12/27/13

12/2/13

Second Year and School Screenings

In less than six months, we second-years are going to start clinic rotations in The Eye Center. What? I can’t believe I am almost halfway through this crazy ride of optometry school. In preparation for our time in The Eye Center, we perform school screenings at elementary schools around the city every week.

This experience is rewarding and beneficial in numerous ways. This is the best opportunity to practice our clinic skills and communication techniques from the past year. We have become “experts” working with perfect optometry student patients. We can rattle off that 20/15 line with our eyes closed. We can give halfway instructions to look out at that big “E” during a cover test and our patient would respond perfectly, every single time. However, elementary school children are not perfect patients. They look around, cover the wrong eye, or just start crying. We learned through practice each week how to effectively communicate with each age group. What we say to a first grader might not be necessary for a fifth grader. Since we never know who is going to be sitting in our chair next, the ability to quickly and effectively transition between communication styles will allow us to be excellent doctors.

For example, you could ask a pre-schooler “what is the lowest line you can make out?” all day and never get a response. A naïve optometry student might believe this child can’t see anything, anywhere and mark “F”s across the board. However, that child is probably nervous or intimidated by our white coats and us in general. If the intern got on the same level as the child and asked what shape/letter the child saw one by one, he or she would most likely get a more accurate recording to the visual acuity of the child. Since these experiences in the classroom are only screenings, the success and accuracy of the Modified Clinical Technique we use for school screenings is dependent on proper patient communication and instructions.

Personally, I have learned better communication techniques while working with children. I am an only child and the youngest cousin of my family, so you could say my interaction with children has been limited. However, I have watched my classmates to see what they do in situations, and learned my own technique from there. One trick I learned to get younger children to cooperate on direct is saying, “Okay I’m gonna use this cool light to look in the back of your eye. If you hold really still for me, I’ll let you take the light and look into my eye. How does that sound?” Usually they are so excited to touch the grown-up’s toy that they eagerly follow along. Most of the time the child holds the direct for a second or two, becomes bored, and goes back to their class. Every once in a while, however, a wide-eyed child takes the direct and really tries to look for the back of my eye. Maybe that small interaction opened a kid’s mind to a future in optometry or medicine. You never know what small act of wonder and curiosity will make the world of a difference to anyone, especially a child.
Posted by Amy Dunbar at 12/2/13

11/25/13

Workaholics



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!! With Thanksgiving break finally here and winter break just around the corner, I think my class will have the final burst of motivation needed to power through the remainder of this semester’s exams, practicals, and finals. It’s hard for me to believe that our first semester as optometry students is already almost complete. Being busy makes time fly by!

While on the topic of being busy, I did have a couple of readers ask if I could write about one of my favorite topics: work. I think I may have mentioned in one of my earlier posts that one of the things that made SCO stand out to me during the interview process was the fact that students are allowed to work (this was not the case at other optometry schools I applied to). SCO offers multiple work study positions and a lot of students in my class are either partaking in work study or have a separate part-time job on the side. Being given the opportunity to work off some of our bills and tuition payments was a stress reliever for me and I know a lot of my classmates appreciate the opportunity as well.

This year, I ended up working separate part-time positions instead of work study through SCO. However, I have talked to quite a few of my classmates who have work study positions to hear what they had to say. There are multiple positions offered in many different departments at SCO including the activity center, the library, and The Eye Center. All of the students I talked to had the same general description of their experiences with work study: the department is extremely flexible and understanding, the position is educational or interesting, the hours work well with their school schedule, and the job does not interfere negatively with their schoolwork. My classmates had nothing but wonderful things to say about their work study positions and it gave me a greater appreciation for SCO and the efforts they are taking to help us during our time as optometry students.

When I talked to students about working part-time jobs outside of SCO, I got a little more of a mixed response. I talked to a couple of students who were originally planning on working in the restaurant/bar industry during their time at SCO but realized that working that type of job would add too much stress to the semester because of late nights and long shifts. On the other hand, I work part-time at an optometrist’s office here in Southaven and I absolutely love it. I had worked in other offices before so the training was not too difficult and I just love having the opportunity to apply what I am learning in school to real patients and real situations at work. Every time I go to work I leave even more excited about my future career. While I was a little worried at the beginning that my job would interfere with school, it actually does quite the opposite. I only work on weekends, I get to practice the chair skills that I am learning in Pre-Clinical lab on real patients, the doctors are helpful and kind, the office is very busy so it prepares me for efficiency on timed practicals, and I work with a few older students at SCO so I am able to make some friends in other classes. Overall, taking this job ended up being an even better decision than I thought it would be.

Besides talking to students about their jobs, lots has happened at SCO since I last wrote! Some of these events include…

  • The Omega Delta Halloween party on Beale Street which was a great opportunity to spend some time with with SCO family outside of school. It was a blast!
  • Dean Swick’s annual “Party on the Ridge” – a campout party on his beautiful property in Arkansas. Lots of students were able to make it and we had a great time enjoying the outdoors by the bonfire. Louie went too, of course. 



  • The mayor proclaimed last Monday “Justin Timberlake Day” in Memphis! Lots of bowties and phoropters at SCO that day (oh, and eyeball costumes). I didn’t get to go to his concert in Memphis that night but I heard that it was a lot of fun!


  • This last one may not be as exciting for those of you who didn’t grow up in Houston… but fall weather in Memphis has stolen my heart! Look at those beautiful colors!


Next time I write I’ll be done with my first semester at SCO and I’ll have a lot more to talk about – including the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in a couple of weeks! Now I’m off to spend the next week off catching up on studying, sleeping, decorating the house for Christmas, and spending Thanksgiving with some friends here in Memphis. Happy Turkey Day and I’ll see everyone back at SCO next week!
Posted by Amy Dunbar at 11/25/13

10/30/13

Fall Fun at SCO

Hello everyone! A lot has happened here at SCO since I last wrote. We had our annual Convocation Ceremony, Homecoming, and the dedication of the new facilities that were finished in August. I would really suggest going to read Virgilio’s post about all those events that took place back in early October- it’s a wonderful post! As for me, I have been in full swing of my second year. With so many tests and practicals, I have been quite busy. It has flown by and I can’t believe it’s almost November! Although this is mid-semester and we are really busy with studying and practicing, there are also a lot of events outside of the classroom this time of year. It seems as if there’s always something fun to do!

First of all, SVOSH hosts trivia nights a few times throughout each semester to raise money for their mission trip in the summer. These trivia nights are usually held at local bars, and it gets quite competitive! It’s a great way to relax, have fun, and test your knowledge on stuff other than eyes!

Also right now we are getting ready to celebrate Halloween here at SCO. Each year, students decorate the suites in the Eye Center to get into the Halloween spirit. In the Eye Center, the students, faculty, and patients get to celebrate with candy, costumes, and other treats. The librarians have also joined in by providing candy in the library the few weeks leading up to Halloween. Let’s just say that I have had more than my fair share! There is also a Halloween party put on by Omega Delta which is a blast every year!

Every year SCO also hosts a chili cook-off one weekend in the fall. It is actually taking place this coming weekend. People from each class are on a team and compete against each other to see who can make the best chili. The class who wins gets a trophy, their picture hung, and bragging rights for the whole year.

Ok, so this next one is not an official SCO event, but it is a tradition my class started last year. Has anyone heard of “No Shave November?” Well, some of the guys in our class don’t shave their face the whole month of November, and at the end, our class votes on who has the best beard. Seems silly, but we had a lot of fun with it last year.

Lastly, just a few weeks ago, my class had a cookout on a Saturday afternoon. We had it at one of our classmate’s house and it was so much fun! We all pitched in to bring hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, drinks, etc. It was the perfect fall day around the bonfire to relax with our classmates and take a break from school.

Some of the class of 2016 enjoying the class cookout!

So these are just a few of the fun things we do outside of school and there are many, many more that I have not listed. It is so nice to take some personal time away from all the studying, and there are so many opportunities at SCO to do this. It kind of reminds me of one of my favorite mottos: ”Work Hard, Play Hard.” I feel like we are getting an amazing optometric education at SCO, but we’re also having a lot of FUN along the way!
Posted by Amy Dunbar at 10/30/13
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