The Scope
Optometry
For the past six years, I feel like my entire life has been dedicated to one goal: becoming an optometrist. As I think about walking across the Academy of Music stage and becoming, for the first time, Dr. Madison Edwards, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of pride, humility, and thankfulness.
There were more than a few times where I doubted my ability to make it to this point; when I was struggling to learn how to take an Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) as an optometric technician, toiling with remembering all the organic chemistry formulas for the Optometry Admissions Test (OAT), stressing over passing my 35-minute practical examination in school, or questioning my ability to pass not one but three National Board Examinations, becoming an optometrist felt nearly impossible.
Despite the many obstacles that stood in my path, hard work, passion, and community have supported me through my journey to the graduation stage and beyond. I am extremely grateful for my time at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO), and I will hold dearly the memories and friendships that I made here over the past few years.
In addition to comprehensive eye care, I plan to specialize in pediatrics and cornea/specialty contact lens fitting. I had always known that I enjoyed working with children, but after completing a three-month externship rotation in the Pediatrics and Binocular Vision Department at The Eye Institute (TEI), I knew that pediatrics was something that I wanted to pursue further in my career. The same goes for cornea/contact lens: I learned so much from my externship rotations and decided that I wanted to integrate the specialty into my own practice. Leaving Philadelphia in August will be bittersweet, but I am extremely excited about all the wonderful plans I have for the future.
I also have some exciting upcoming personal plans. During the first week of July, my boyfriend and I are going on vacation to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I am really looking forward to relaxing by the beach, reading some books other than optometry textbooks, and enjoying time with my best friend. If I can get over my fear of swimming in the ocean, we may even try snorkeling! I think this trip will be a wonderful way to de-stress, disconnect from the outside world, and recover before starting my new position. I am also extremely lucky that my family vacation to the beach in North Carolina is planned for right after we return from St. Thomas, so I get an extended vacation and a lot of beach time. I hope to return to Philadelphia tanner, blonder, and more refreshed than I have ever been.
Post-graduation marks a very exciting transitional period in my life: after more than three years of living in Philadelphia, I will be moving back toward my hometown for my first job as an optometrist. I will be working at an OD/MD style practice at a large health network in the Central Pennsylvania area. I chose this practice due to the close proximity to my family, its wide range of flexibility in practice modality, and the opportunity for interprofessional collaboration with ophthalmology.
Despite all the exciting upcoming summer plans that I have to look forward to, graduation has still come with some difficult feelings to process. This past year of externship rotations has been amazing, and I have learned so much at each of my different sites, but as each quarter passed, I began to slowly realize an intimidating truth: I would soon be on my own. Clinical rotations are wonderful because you get to work very closely with amazing clinicians with many years of experience, so you always have someone to double-check your findings or help you out if you’re stuck. It can be scary to think that once I graduate and begin practice under my own license, I won’t have the back-up that I have relied on up until this point in my career; I will hold solely in my own hands the care of each of my patients.
We hear a lot about the term “Imposter Syndrome” in the world of academia because it’s something that many students experience at one point or another, but the term takes on a new meaning when you actually feel it for yourself. Even though I have passed all parts of the board examinations, completed all of my externship rotations with high marks, and proved to myself time and time again that I am capable of being an optometrist, there is still a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me that I’m not ready. Although it's hard to ignore at times, this is not the first time that I have heard this voice. It has actually been pretty omnipresent throughout the past six years of my life, and the only way to suppress it is to prove it wrong.
When the voice told me that I could never get accepted to optometry school, I proved it wrong. When it told me that I couldn’t move to Philadelphia and live in a city on my own, I proved it wrong. When it told me that I couldn’t handle the academic rigor of the Accelerated Scholars Program, I proved it wrong. And now, when it tells me that I can’t be an optometrist on my own, I will again prove it wrong. I know that I am not the only graduate that feels like this, and I find comfort in the fact that it is a common shared experience among new doctors. I am confident that me and all my fellow graduates of PCO will thrive as caring, knowledgeable, and passionate providers despite any feelings of doubt.
I want to thank everyone who has been there for me throughout the past three years at PCO: my professors and clinical preceptors, my classmates, my friends, my family, and my wonderful boyfriend, Casey, who has probably read the Wills Eye Manual more than I have at this point. My graduation from this program is a culmination of a whole community’s support and sacrifice, and I am forever grateful for everyone who has helped me along the way. I am proud to forever be an alumna of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry.
