I made it through my finals! That was definitely the most challenging set of finals I've ever taken. I never have said this before, but I can say with no question that ALL SIX finals were hard!

Oh and just to backpedal a bit, by the way I passed all of the techniques of the Ocular Health Procedures (OHP) final proficiency with flying colors! I practiced almost every night, average 2-3 hours per night for 1.5 weeks prior to the proficiency and all those hours of hard work paid off!! Unfortunately nearly half of my class failed at least one technique, with BIO contributing the highest failure rate (about 1/3 of the class failed it). I wasn't kidding about how BIO is one of the toughest techniques to learn!!! Oh, and I never mentioned the seriousness of failing a part of the proficiency. Failing is getting <75%, which is below 15 out of 20 points - if you fail, you have to retake the part(s) you failed (and you keep your original grade). If you fail the retake, you have to take the ENTIRE course again (BOTH the lab and lecture). Failing the lab is pretty bad, but failing the course is a horrible thing because the final was a BEAST of an exam!!! See below for more details...

Here is a summary of my finals week:

Read more »

Finals are starting tomorrow! I have six, yes SIX finals until next Friday. Here's the schedule:

Friday (tomorrow) - Case Analysis and Prescribing I
Monday - Binocular Vision and Space Perception
Tuesday - Ocular Health Procedures I
Wednesday - (no exam - thank goodness!)
Thursday - Pharmacology I and Ophthalmic Optics III
Friday - Cornea and Contact Lenses I

It's going to be a tough week, so I'll update you when it's all over...wish me luck!!!

We have an Ocular Health Procedures proficiency coming up this Monday and we have been practicing for it endlessly in the last couple of weeks. It involves five procedures: (1) pupil testing, (2) slit lamp, (3) Goldmann tonometry, (4) direct ophthalmoscopy, and (5) binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (BIO). This proficiency in the past involved most people failing at least one station, particularly because it is very stressful to practice, there are tons of little details to remember, and you have to perform all of the tasks right in front of a proctor breathing down your neck. It is the most difficult proficiency that I have ever had to prepare for, and to master all these skills requires hours and hours of practice and repetition. What is really hard to cope with is the chance of getting a "difficult" patient; for example, some patients have smaller pupils during dilation and are difficult to get a good view with the BIO out in the peripheral retina (the farther out parts in the back of the eye). I can't really say much now but I will definitely give you more details when I get more free time. Wish me luck!!!

Things have been incredibly busy here as the quarter is starting to end, and as you can see it's been a while since my last update. I really can't say much for now but I will try to find time to give more details later. Until then, hang on and stay posted!