The Scope
Optometry
Hi everyone! My name is Madison Edwards, and I am an Optometry student in the Accelerated Scholars Program. I am in the middle of my third (and final) year here at the Pennsyvlania College of Optometry (PCO), so I have been out on my externship rotations.
Here is a day in my life!
My current rotation is at The Eye Institute (TEI), here at PCO, and I chose to work with the Pediatrics and Binocular Vision Department during my rotation. My mornings are usually pretty simple: I get up around 7:00 a.m., get dressed in my gray scrubs, and head off to TEI. We start seeing patients around 8:15 a.m. for the morning shift. Depending on the day of the week, I may be in different specialties throughout TEI. Even though I am primarily assigned to the Peds Department, I also spend time in the Emergency, Disabilities, Retina, Neuro, and Contact Lens Services. No matter which service I'm in, I see patients with my fellow externs and preceptors until about noon.
After a quick lunch with my classmates, we start seeing patients again around 12:45 p.m. for the afternoon session. Most days, I work with the Pediatrics department all day, but sometimes I switch into a different service for the afternoon. I spend the rest of my day with patients until about 5:00 p.m. We can expect to see anywhere from one to five patients within a single morning of afternoon shift, depending on the service. Most of my days end around 5:00 p.m. after I complete all my charting for the day.
On Wednesday nights, I also work the evening shift from 5 - 8 p.m. where I get to see patients for their Vision Therapy sessions. Vision Therapy is like physical therapy for your eyes: we work on patients' ability to use their eyes together efficiently in order to alleviate double vision, headaches, eye turns, and other binocular vision disorders. I really enjoy working with my three Vision Therapy patients!
After my day is over, I enjoy going for walks, exercising, and spending time with my friends and boyfriend. I really enjoy doing spin class in the evenings at Cyclebar in Abington, which is just about a ten minute drive from the Elkins Park campus. I also like to go the Trivia Night at the Cheshire Brewing Company in Elkins Park. There are a ton of fun things to do around the area in your free time!
Even though some days are very busy, I have thoroughly enjoyed my rotation at TEI so far. Dr. Hatch and the rest of the Peds and Binocular Vision Department are wonderful, and I have already learned so much! I look forward to the rest of my time here as well as my other rotations.
