Optometry Program

Joanna Lizzi, '10 OD

3rd Year Externship Experience
Wake Forest, North Carolina

My name is Joanna Lizzi and I’m a third year student at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry on my five-month externship.  I’m originally from New Jersey and have never lived more than two hours from home.  For this first externship I have ventured to Wake Forest, North Carolina.  I drove down with my dad and sister and we arrived in this cute, southern town where everyone is nice and helpful!

A great comfort to me before I even moved down was knowing I’d be with another PCO student.  Melissa Le, also in her third year, is a wonderful person and we live here together.  We’ve had so much fun exploring the area and sharing our work stories each day.

My scariest moment was the anticipation of the first day.  I kept having those “first day of school moments:” would I be smart enough, prepared enough and would I fit in with everyone in the office?  I wasn’t scared long; by the end of the first day I already felt comfortable, as if I’d been a part of Wake Forest Family EyeCare forever.  The three doctors we work with are all smart, compassionate and wonderful teachers and they each have a different style to learn from.

The office staff is amazing to work with as well. They are all young and fun and it was nice to have “instant friends” when we didn’t know anyone.  It’s only been a month, but I’m seeing my own patients and have learned so much already.  I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Timothy Brown ’10 OD

3rd Year Externship ExperienceWhiteville, North Carolina

My externship site is located in Whiteville NC (Columbus County), which is about 25 minutes from my hometown of Loris SC (Horry County).  Several of the patients whom I see at the office are people that I know so that is cool.

I have had the opportunity to see over 200 patients under my care - with Dr. John Lewis' supervision of course - and the experience with those patients has allowed me to see much pathology, have new learning experiences, and review several cases with Dr. Lewis and another 4th year intern from SCO, TN. 

We have seen a few cases of corneal involvement due to herpes simplex virus; anterior polar cataracts’ severe age related macular degeneration; macular holes; macular scars; epiretinal membranes; severe glaucoma cases; diabetic retinopathy; hypertensive retinopathy; severe PRP scars; corneal abrasions due to trauma; diffused posterior cataracts and severe nuclear cataracts among other cases.

Tim, Sherita and Tycianna.

Editor: Tim and his wife, Sherita Seward Brown ’10 OD, were married in their first year and have since become parents to Tycianna. Both of them are very active in student life at the University and have served in leadership roles within some student organizations. Baby Tycianna is now a toddler and is often referred to as “The PCO Princess,” because she has attended more student events than many of her parents’ classmates.  Tim was asked to add an update about the family to his externship piece:

As full time optometry students who are looking forward to graduation, Sherita and I have to balance our time and energy in order to provide care to our sweet Princess Tycianna while on our externships.  We are at different sites for the first five months of our rotations, but Sherita and I will be together at the remaining three sites: VA Hospital, CL site, and TEI.
Sherita is doing a terrific job as a mother and wife.  Tycianna is in daycare during the day and we spend time together as a family on most weekends (travel time: two hours).   It is challenging at times, but thank God that we are continuing to do well.  Tycianna will be 2 yrs old on May 20!

Ashley (Speece) Harbaugh OD ’10

TWO EXTERNSHIP EXPERIENCES

Summer 2009
Allentown VA Hospital 
Dr. Scarino - Allentown, PA

I loved working at the VA with Dr. Scarino - it's made me really consider VA optometry, plus all the vets are so nice and appreciative of your care. It really gave me more appreciation for the sacrifices they made for our freedom and they had some of the most interesting stories I’ve heard!

I learned a lot here too. Since the average age is 70, you see a lot of disease. After the first week, you can see the patient and report at the end of the entire exam.  It’s similar to TEI, where you can report before dilation if you have a question about the refraction or anterior segment, but if you feel comfortable, you can see through dilation and DFE, with a final check by Dr. Scarino of the DFE and any items you may have had questions about.  You have about an hour per patient from introduction to finish of DFE.  Every other Tuesday you work with Dr. Brucker, who is an ophthalmologist who sees about 30 patients per day.  It helps to hone your skills to help with that many patients, many of whom have serious eye problems along with general health problems.

The VA has EMR too – which is great for diabetics who forget their last blood sugar or A1C, and referral is a breeze.  It’s also great to see the patient’s entire medical history and every drug that they are on. 

Dr. Scarino is great in that his suggestions and corrections never feel like criticisms.  Usually there is another student with you there, and it’s easy to enjoy that time and become friends with the other student.  The lunchroom is nice and equipped with a large TV.  During my summer there the VA sponsored a lunch picnic and also an “ice cream social,” where the freezers were stocked with popsicles and ice cream bars. I must have had 2 per day for two weeks straight!

You work 8-4:30 Monday -Thursday, and 9-4:30 on Friday.  Every other Tuesday last patient is at 12:15!

Fall 2009
Shillington Eye Associates
Dr. W. David Rule
Shillington, PA (10 minutes southwest of Reading)

You can choose your 35 - 40 hour schedule out of all the hours that the office is open.  I work 12N – 8pm Monday, 8am – 5pm Tuesday through Thursday, and 8am –12N on Friday.

I work alongside the contact lens technicians, eventually seeing patients independently.  Between contact lens exams, I check in and order contacts, see regular exams, and have consultations with RGP labs.  While this has been a slower quarter due to the economy and the fact that our college students are back in school, I still have had the opportunity to fit bi- and back toric RGPs, monovision and bifocal contact lenses, conventional contact lenses, and Synergeyes hybrid contact lenses. 

Often a student here will have the opportunity to fit CRT lenses, but during my quarter there was not the patient interest in it.  We fit from the main four contact lens companies: Bausch and Lomb, Ciba, Cooper, and Vistakon.  We also do RGP fits, and can fit into other types of lenses if the patient started in something else.  You have the freedom to try different contact lenses with patients and see them back for all the follow-ups to see what worked and what didn’t. If you have questions though, a CL tech or doctor is always willing to give you advice.

We’ve had a few lunches provided by drug company representatives, and one of the doctors buys Dunkin’ Donuts coffee a few times a month for the whole office. This office is a great example of a private practice – the staff is well trained, and many are cross-trained, allowing the doctors to mainly focus on eye exams.  The staff seems to enjoy their jobs and it makes for a pleasant day.  They do have their own optical, where they cut all their own lenses

Timothy Brown ’10 OD

Sherita Seward Brown ’10OD

4th Year Externship Experience
Columbia, SC
2009 Summer Rotation

Our six month hospital/disease externship rotation has been at the Dorn Veterans Administration Medical Center in Columbia, SC.  We were blessed to rotate to the site at the same time and that made our family experience with two children much better (one month old Tim II and two year old Tycianna).

We started at the VA for the 2009 summer hospital rotation and continue now in the fall for our disease site rotation.  The VA hospital experience has provided us with opportunities such as improving on various aspects of clinical health and clinical skills, developing good communications skills through doctor-patient interactions, and improving on the management and diagnosis of clinical cases.

We share patients daily with five other interns from different optometry schools, Mondays -Thursdays 7 a.m-4:30 p.m, and Fridays 8 a.m-12 p.m. Each extern had his/her own room and equipment.  Every Friday morning from 8 –10 a.m we have multiple PowerPoint presentations on optometry topics or weekly patient cases by the externs and/or doctors.

We see veterans from the schedules of four or five different optometrists or residents, and the veterans range in age from 22 to 99 yrs old.  Every Friday afternoon after seeing patients the doctors/externs go out to have lunch.

The extern experience at the VA allows us the opportunity to examine, diagnose, and manage challenging refractive errors, anterior segment abnormalities, retinal pathologies, as well as travel for extended optometric education.  We traveled to the Augusta Blind Center to see the latest equipment available to patients that we refer to the blind center.  We were introduced to several visual/auditory aids that are available for patients and we toured the rooms that were provided to veterans.

Another extended educational opportunity was our attendance at an optometry Continuing Education educational course and a dinner that was free to externs.  Drs. Ron Melton and Randall Thomas, the co-authors of the 2009 Clinical Guide to Ophthalmic Drugs, made an interesting CE presentation on drugs to treat different ocular conditions.

We would recommend the Dorn VA hospital to other externs.  It was a rewarding learning opportunity that has enhanced our optometric knowledge and patient care skills.  We worked closely with our preceptor, Dr. Christian Jordan (a PCO grad) and the team of optometrists, who often evaluated as well as educated us on our clinical knowledge and applications.  The externship opportunity is essential and it allowed us the opportunity to apply our clinical skills and optometric learning under real world settings.  As student clinicians, we provided thorough and comprehensive eye examinations, extensive patient care, and patient education.  We appreciate our externship experiences.

On a more personal note:

We are full time optometry students and the proud parents of two beautiful children who have been part of Salus publications since birth.  We have to be responsible, work together as a team, and manage our time in order to balance our daily schedules to include time for and with our children, after working as student clinicians.

Our daughter, Tycianna, and son, Timothy II, are in daycare most of the day, while we are working at our rotation sites.  Daily we get them dressed, drop them off at the daycare early in the morning (sometimes 6:45 am), and pick them up in the afternoon. 

It has been challenging but manageable to find daycare as we move to different rotation sites.  One challenge was the time our daycare suddenly closed down permanently, and we had to find another one to move our children to. Fortunately, we were able to secure another place that provided quality and affordable daycare. Some days or weekends, the grandparents get the children for overnight stays or trips to various fun places.  We look forward to those times! 

Daniel Baruffi, ’10 OD

3rd Year Externship Experience
Singapore

Sites:

• Singapore National Eye Center
• Alexander Hospital
• Stan Isaacs Specialty Contact Lens Practice

Location: Singapore

Why are you in Singapore?

• cross cultural competency.
• expanding my knowledge base of common and uncommon eye conditions.
• maintaining a versatile patient-focused approach.
  

Culturally

It does not take any more than one day of exposure to realize that there is a vast difference between Singaporeans and Americans.

American patients differ greatly from Singaporean patients in their interactions with the doctor. Singaporean patients are very health-conscious, and will only very rarely be found non-compliant with medications or with the recommendations of their Doctor.

You can get around Singapore easily, as long as you are adaptable to your environment.

Professionally.

Optometry is not the same here as it is in the US. But rather than detracting, I believe that adds to the value of the site…

I am attached to the most well-known Optometry practices here: Stan Isaacs.

“Optom’s” here are limited to fitting contact lenses, spectacles and refracting, unless under the auspices of an Ophthalmologist in Singapore. Since this is the Optometrist’s career focus, however, they are the best at it.

But my attachment to both the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) and Alexander Hospital has balanced my externship equally between deciding on a precise Reverse Curve and diagnosing Punctate Inner Choroidopathy.

The site coordinators at Singapore National Eye Center, Alexander Hospital and Stan Isaac's have all been very friendly, and want nothing more than to make me feel welcome. I am attached to some of the best doctors in all of Asia, but maximum learning potential is limited only by the quality and amount of the questions that I can ask... most of the doctors are surprised to see how much Optometrists know.

My presence here is also helping to inspire local Optometrists to further their education at programs like PCO's M.Sc. in Optometry.