Hello, readers! My time here on campus at SCO is coming to a close. One week from tomorrow will be my last day as a student intern at The Eye Center and a week later I'll be starting my first externship rotation at my private practice site. This summer has been busy and I've learned a ton from my patient encounters. The main thing that sets the 4th year internship here apart from external clinics and private practices is the fact that we are assigned to a different service each day of the week. Rather than seeing a mix of every type of patient encounter each day, we have a whole day each week devoted to something specific. While this might not be how clinics will be structured in practice, it's been a good way to really refine our skills in certain areas and to work under doctors with a lot of experience in that specific sub-specialty. I really enjoyed having my in-house internship in the summer so that I have these specific skill sets a little more refined before starting my externships in the fall and spring semesters. For example, today I'm assigned to the Cornea & Contact Lens service at The Eye Center, meaning that all of my patients today are contact lens exams, fittings, and follow-ups. Tomorrow I'm assigned to Advanced Care Ocular Disease which will bring acute eye problems and various disease treatment and management. These are both things that I will likely see on a regular basis beginning in a few weeks when I start my first externship at Dr. Norton's private practice in south Memphis.
I'll miss working under so many different attending doctors when I'm off on my externships because its been a great way to develop my own skills from the influence of many different doctors, but I'm excited to get out there are to start using my skills in different settings. I'll be at a private practice through December and at my institutional site from January through May. I'll be sure to post updates throughout the rest of my 4th year comparing my externships to my time as a student intern at SCO. Also, I'll keep y'all updated on the post-graduation job search as well! Thanks for reading!