The Illinois College of Optometry Student Blog

The Thursday before Easter break, third years received our summer quarter schedules. This is our first quarter as third years. It is scary to think that, in less than two months, I will be seeing patients by myself. No longer will we have the safety blanket of one of our peers there to make sure we are doing everything correctly. However, it is also exciting, because it is our next step to becoming real optometrists. We will finally be given the the most challenging patient c

Once classes resumed last month, my fellow second years and I began working in the IEI as student clinicians. Whereas last year we were flies on a wall, observing and admiring the skills of the upperclassmen, we’re now endeavoring to provide care in the PCP program ourselves. At the end of first year, we learned how to complete a gamut of entrance and problem-based tests, evaluate the posterior pole with direct ophthalmoscopy, and determine a patient’s distance  prescription.