MY EXPERIENCE WITH PATIENTS AS AN EXTERN

 

Well as you all know I am an optometry student currently in my final year, and during my school’s supposed “semester break,” I decided to attach myself to an eye clinic here in Lagos. I have been here for about 6 weeks and I would say again I am in love with my profession. One thing I realized is that what we in read in books is a little bit different from what we see in the real life. I won’t be revealing any patient’s condition because that would break the rule of patient confidentiality, but I would use some arbitrary examples. For instance, we have different ways in which refraction can be done but using the steps might take time on a patient and that would reduce the patient’s cooperation which would in turn reduce the accuracy of the results gotten from refraction. Let me briefly let you know what refraction is in a very simple way you would understand.  Refraction is an eye examination that determines the power of lenses you need to improve your vision. Myopia, Hyperopia, and Astigmatism are the kind of refractive statues anyone can have.

Most times when you tell a patient that they have myopic astigmatism, the next thing they begin to ask is what drug they would use to correct it or how long would they have to wear their glasses to correct the error. My answer will always remain the same, there are no drugs available yet that can cure refractive errors, and the glasses you will be given aid your vision meaning that the moment you remove the glasses your vision goes back to how it used to be. Although some individuals may outgrow their refractive errors, especially children, and while the degree of the refractive error changes in other individuals, that is why regular eye checkup is important.

One thing that can frustrate you as an optometrist is how the patient describes his or her complaints, but all you can do is ask more questions and dig deep, in other to take a thorough case history. It was at this point I understood what doctors go through when trying to understand our complaints. So many patients come to the clinic because of mild issues like itching and redness of the eye, but after a thorough eye examination, it would be discovered that there is a very serious issue of Hypertensive Retinopathy or even Glaucoma. So, it is advisable that when you notice anything weird with your eye or sight, see the nearest optometrist because the silent thief of sight can be discovered and properly managed.

Remember that ‘Optometrists save Sight’.