Reflection

Overall, this project was difficult to do. I had to communicate with patients both young and old. It was difficult because the older patients didn't seem like they trusted me because I am young. Some refused to let me in the exam room. They felt uncomfortable. I had to create a more mature me that would fit the job that I was trying to do. This volunteer job was hard to keep up with. There were many times that I could not meet with my mentor because of our busy schedules.

I gained more knowledge about this career and found out that maybe this isn't the job for me. There are a lot of medical terms that are very difficult to understand. I did a lot of research and it took a lot of work to just get some terms to stay in my head. Though, trying to remember right now, I cant really think of any besides amblyopia and myopia. I also learned that time management is very important.

I chose this topic because I wanted to volunteer somewhere with a more mature surrounding but I realized that I'm more of a person to go out and do something fun. I set my dreams to early and by doing this project I came to the conclusion that working in a hospital is not the place for me.

I faced many challenges such as not having enough time to complete the hours in an organized manner, organizing my work and completing assignments on time, and working on my maturity level. If I could go back I would completely change my attitude toward this project. I would take it more seriously and try to be more responsible and mature. This project really opened my eyes and let me see the importance of responsibility.

Hours 24-25

On May 13, I spent my last two hours training how to give vision tests. By using a tool to cover the eye not being used and vision test cards I learned how to give proper vision tests. I also trained on how to give color blindness tests and how to test children with the alternative eye test when they do not want to use the regular machinery. In the end, as I was getting ready to leave, my mentor supplied me with some tools to use for my presentation and now I will be able to demonstrate the three types of tests I trained for.

Hours 21-23

 On May 11 it was a rough day. I came in to the clinic at 10:30 and set up the equipment for the first appointment at 11:20. Though, it wasn't only a rough day for me, it was a rough day for a few people in the clinic. The always so happy receptionist inside the doctor's office was not so happy. She usually grated me with a smile but not this time. I guess it was an off day for everyone. Although the mood wasn't so great in the office, Dr. Penn still managed to put on a smile for the patients. The first patient was a boy around the same age as me. He was the first teenage patient I've come across. It was interesting to see how interested he was in getting glasses. He explained that he's always needed them but his mother never paid much attention. He did well in school but he said his vision was starting to bother him. I assisted Dr. Penn in giving the test card test by pointing to a line for him to read. The results came out to conclude that he was in dire need of glasses. I learned two things. One is that sometimes one needs to take matters in their own hands and two is that glasses are useful in the classroom!

Hours 17-20

On May 10, Dr. Penn described to me the procedure of Sports vision training. I had no idea that there was such thing. He showed pictures of what it looks like train an athlete's vision.
This picture is from the cite http://www.csguimond.ca/indexEN/page/sport-vision-center.htm
It depicts a boy training his vision for hockey.
I learned that training an athlete's vision is important because by training their vision, they are helping improve their hand-eye coordination and by doing so they can improve their overall performance when playing sports.

Hours 13-16

(Continuing May 9)
For the rest of the day I did more research on colorblindness in children and I learned that colorblindness can occur at an early age and it is most common in boys. This topic fascinated me and really made me want to dive further in it and find out the importance of detecting it early. Many children may suffer through colorblindness if they do not receive a proper eye exam performed by an optometrist. This ties back to my paper and it supports my thesis that schools should make yearly eye exams mandatory prior to entering the new school year. I find that the ocular health of children is extremely important and should be one of the countries main priorities.

12th Hour: Hand-Eye Coordination

(Continuing May 9)
I researched the importance of the eyes to the body and learned that the eyes lead the body and every action by the body is a response to a message that the eyes send to it. The eyes are not always correct. There may be faulty visual judgment and a lot of the time it is what causes errors in sports. The eyes do more than just see. They are a big part of everyday life. This is where peripheral awareness comes in. Most of the time peripheral vision is mixed up with peripheral awareness. Peripheral awareness can me trained and enhanced so that it may improve while peripheral vision can not be changed.

11th Hour: Learning About Color Blindness/Testing

(Continuing May 9) 

While waiting for other patients to arrive Dr. Penn gave me a booklet about colorblindness to read. It contained numerous tests that test the type of color deficiencies one might have. I studied it and even took the tests myself. Fortunately I do not have color deficiency in my eyes nor am I color blind. I learned that if the results of the color blindness test come out in a rare score then the doctor would have to use an anomaloscope. Which is a tool used to determine whether someone has color deficiency or color blindness.

10th Hour: Cataracts

On May 9th we went through so many patients. Most were older patients coming in for check ups. I wasn't able to be present for all by request of the patients. Though I did get to see a woman with a cataract. It was intriguing to see what it actually looked like in real life. At first I did not want to see it because I was afraid it would be gross. When I saw it I was surprised that I wasn't grossed out. It's just an odd-looking spot in the pupil.

9th Hour

(Continuing May 6th)
Before leaving for the day I had to make sure that the exam room was ready for the next day. Anything that was not wiped down before had to be cleaned. All equipment used throughout the day had to be put away. After everything was done I hung up my coat. After a long day in the office I couldn't imagine how it would be like to come and work with patients everyday. Young and old patients, both needing different types of attention.  It's a tough job and I'm just starting to realize it.

8th Hour: More Shadowing

(Continuing May 6th)
The next patient was a little boy who was very nervous. He did not want to enter the exam room and was near tears. We had to tell him that we wouldn't use the "big scary stuff" as he called. When he finally agreex to enter the exam room we had to move aside the big machinery used regularly for patients. Instead Dr. Penn gave the boy a pair of odd-looking glasses. He actually thought they were really "cool". It fascinated me how Dr. Penn had to change attitude from when he worked with older people.  He smiled a lot more and he was a bit more energetic. In the end of the appointment the boy said he wasn't scared of the doctor's office anymore. Well, at least not the eye clinic. He ended up getting a prescription for glasses. He was then sent on his way to the optician. 

7th Hour: Cleaning

(Continuing May 6th)
After a few patients, I assisted in cleaning the exam room. I learned that everything must be sterile and as clean as can be. I also learned how to handle the equipment used for exams. I was afraid that I would break the equipment if I handled it the wrong way. My mentor said, "they're tools, you play around with them," and after that I wasn't worried about damaging anything. During this time I also got to know my mentor on a more personal level and learned that doctors are more interesting and down to earth than they look.

6th Hour

(Continuing May 6th)
This day was a really busy day on the 5th floor. Patient after patient kept coming and going. Most of them were older. Let me tell you, older folks like to come extraordinarily early to their appointments. On the second hour of my visit, there was a patient who was losing eyesight due to diabetes. This really caught my attention because my grandfather has diabetes and he too is losing eyesight from diabetes. Though, by the patient's choice, I could not stay in the room through the entire appointment.

5th Hour: Exam Room

On May 6th I shadowed my mentor as he checked a patient's eyes. The patient was much older than most patients. I noticed that my mentor had to be more gentle and patient when working with older patients. Everything that involved explaining had to be done in a simpler way than with younger patients. I learned that when working with people, one must have patience.

4th Hour: Keep Educated

On February 7th, I found out that being an Optometrist is not all fun and games. Besides meeting with patients and going to meetings, there is much more to do. My mentor told me that one has to keep educated about the field they work in. He explained that research and discoveries that were found decades ago and even years ago may be outdated. My mentor had me read a couple chapters of multiple books to help educate me about eyes. He had me read about normal ocular health, common ocular conditions, and uncommon ocular conditions.

3rd Hour: Meeting a Child With Strabismus

On the second hour of my visit on February 6th, I had the opportunity to meet a child with strabismus. Or, should I say, who had strabismus. This child, who's name I am not allowed to release, has been under treatment, or training, to get his eyes fixed so that they may work together. He was prescribed glasses that help his eyes realign and to focus his vision. I was able to play with him and I was surprised that he took very well to strangers. If it weren't for the glasses, one wouldn't even notice that he has/had vision problems.

2nd Hour: Pediatric Ophthalmologist

On February 6th I met with my mentor. For the first hour of my visit he introduced me to the Pediatric Ophthalmologist and she discussed atypical ocular eye conditions such as strabismus and amblyopia. After she informed about some different eye abnormalities she explained to me the difference between an optometrist and an ophthalmologist in detail. She also discussed medical and surgical health care of the eyes.

1st Hour: Meeting My Mentor

On January 5th I met with my Mentor. His name is Dr. Sasha Penn and he is the chief of Optometry in Daly City Kaiser. I was really excited to meet with him and too see what his office looked like. I thought his office would be filled with weird eye trinkets and gadgets, but there weren't any. It was just a regular office. When I took a seat he started asking questions about me personlly and we got to know eachother a little. After we discussed what expectations were to be met by the both of us in completing my hours, he started to tell me what path needed to be taken to get to his position. He explained that the benefit of attending optometry school rather than medical school, was that it doesn't take as long to finish and get to where you want to be. In order to be an Optometrist, one would have to go to acquire a bachelor's degree which normally would take about four to five years. After receiving their bachelor's degree one would then go to Optometry School for four years. Three years would be spent studying the eyes and the fourth would be rotational. Once graduated from Optometry School, one would be ready to go start working. Some benefits about working as an Optometrist is that one is not married to their job and a majority of the patients that come in are healthy. This job is very clean and only once in a while does a patient come in with odd eye abnormalities. At the end of my visit Dr. Penn handed me a lab coat so that I may wear it when I come in to work with him. He also showed me around the exam room and gave me brief descriptions of what each piece of machinery does. That summed up my first visit with my mentor. I can't wait for my next visit!