The Illinois College of Optometry Student Blog

At ICO, externship selection occurs early during third year. This means that students have essentially their entire third year to plan what fourth year may bring. As a current fourth year, now halfway through my third externship, here are a few tips for those beginning to prepare: How to find housing Finding a place to live every few months is most definitely not an easy task, especially while on a grad-student budget (a.k.a. broke.) Here are a few ways to find a temporary ho

This quarter I have been in Florida, The Sunshine State, enjoying the beach when it is warm enough. During the day, I spend my time surrounded by veterans at the Daytona Beach VA outpatient clinic. As this quarter comes to an end, I decided to write a blog about how the VA is different from other externships and what to expect if you haven’t been yet. The Patients: The patient population at the VA is very different compared to any other site you will go to. This population is

At ICO, we are very lucky to have a plethora of locations to choose from when it comes to selecting externships. We have sites in almost every state in the U.S. as well as international sites. This is great because, if you’re like me, you may not be 100% set on where you want to practice post-graduation or post-residency. This year, our selection process was completely revised. Selection used to be done all in-person, but starting this year, it was moved to online-only. At IC

Toto, we are not at the IEI anymore. Fourth year may have started only 5(?!) weeks ago, but it seems like forever since I’ve been at school. Here are just a few things that are different from working at The Illinois Eye Institute compared to at a private practice externship site. 1. Time. At the IEI, third years are expected to get to dilation by 45 minutes by fourth quarter (spring). At my first externship at Pinecone Vision Center (Sartell, MN and owned by two ICO alums: Dr

I’m from Massachusetts (go Pats!). Being from Mass., I often get the question, “Why ICO? There are other schools closer to where you’re from, why didn’t you go there?” My answer is simple, really. Sure, I looked at many other schools closer to home, but it was ICO that really blew me away. What set ICO apart? Here is a list of the top 5 reasons the Illinois College of Optometry was right for me. Alumni ICO is the oldest standing optometry school in the United States. It is sa