John opened his eyes. The world slowly brightened, but remained blurry. He was very groggy and hazy, and couldn’t really remember what he had been doing or where he was. He tried to reach over to his nightstand to grab his glasses, but instead his hand slapped against something cold and metallic. “What the…” he began to say, but was interrupted with a loud hiss of air escaping … [Read more...]
A Hand-off is not just a Hand-off but a Transfer of Care
After many fumbled hand-offs between my optometrist and I, we decided to analyze how we perform our hand-offs and what it means to the patient. After much review, we found that a hand-off is not simply pawning the patient off from optometrist to optical (or check out), but a chance to transfer the care and expertise. We found that patients don’t want to have a first-class … [Read more...]
Kentucky College of Optometry
In continuing our look at schools of optometry across the country, we wanted to take a look at the newest one – the Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO), located at the University of Pikeville. Since they don't actually have any students yet, as their first class begins this fall, I spoke with Dr. Andrew Buzzelli, the Founding Dean of KYCO. Q: So, Dr. Buzzelli, why open a new … [Read more...]
So, you decided you want to be an O.D.
That’s great! As with any field, one of the things that’s always good to know is the perspective of those that have gone before you. Learning first hand what things you can do now do increase your success in the future. There’s always a gap between ‘educational setting’ and ‘real world’ demands, and finding out first hand is probably the most valuable thing you can do. To that … [Read more...]