Doing well without being great

[Czeckers]

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So I am on a 2 week rotation at my home institution. I have been on the rotation for 1 week so far. I am not good at working up a patient ophtho problem, using the slit-lamp, using ophthalmoscopes, etc. basically I feel like a total idiot and feel more comfortable just following the resident. That said I enjoy it thoroughly, I want to be good, I intend on doing ophtho residency/career, i am doing ophtho research. I try to be helpful when I can and I try to steal ophthalmoscopic/slit lamp peaks when the res/attending is done looking.

I am worried that I am just a slow ophtho learner and I am worried about being ready to do an away rotation without looking like a fool.

Any advice.

 

[MstaKing10]

Yeah, practice more! Learning to use the lenses and the slit lamp is tough but you have to do it. Try to grab a room on your own so as to not slow down the resident and work up patients on your own. If you can't view the fundus, at the very least you should be able to check a vision, confrontation visual fields and extraocular motility. Learn to use the slit lamp well first, then the lenses to view the fundus. Try to learn refraction too, it will serve you well later on.

We've all been there, just keep at it and eventually you'll get it.

 

[JMK2005]

Don't worry. My first few weeks made me reconsider if ophthalmology was the right field for me. Definitely overwhelming at first but it gets easier and more interesting.

But you don't learn by shadowing. Learn to refract. That's how I felt useful early on as a medical student. If you can get your own exam lane, that's great learning as well and you won't feel rushed.

Your on pace with other medical students. Continue to stay enthusiastic and be helpful where you can.

http://www.medrounds.org/refract/menu.htm

http://www.ophthobook.com/

 

[BuckleExtrusion]

So I am on a 2 week rotation at my home institution. I have been on the rotation for 1 week so far. I am not good at working up a patient ophtho problem, using the slit-lamp, using ophthalmoscopes, etc. basically I feel like a total idiot and feel more comfortable just following the resident. That said I enjoy it thoroughly, I want to be good, I intend on doing ophtho residency/career, i am doing ophtho research. I try to be helpful when I can and I try to steal ophthalmoscopic/slit lamp peaks when the res/attending is done looking.

I am worried that I am just a slow ophtho learner and I am worried about being ready to do an away rotation without looking like a fool.

Any advice.

So you can't wow them at home yet but you want to take that act on the road. Excellent idea. 😍😱😎🙂🙂

 

[MR1]

First why are you only doing a 2 wk rotation, you really need at least 4 wks.

Second, why doing a rotation now, are you still in your third year?

Finally don't worry, if you "got" everything after one wk you would be a prodigy. Ophtho is not like any other field and we get little training in it med school. I agree with those above, practice with the lens on every dilated patient (see if you can do a day in retina clinic where everyone is dilated) and learn to refract. Good luck

 

[azzarah]

99.9% of the med students who rotate in ophtho have no clue how to do anything. You probably know more than most.

What I consider a good med student is someone who is hardworking (this sounds so obvious, but you'd be suprised), tries to help out (for instance will fill out the HPI, Vision, pupil, motility, tonopen, EOM, PMH, and whatever else they can) on their own. I will then come in and show them the relevant parts of the exam, such as the corneal abrasion, the cataract, or whatever....

Also, I usually teach the med students how to use the slitlamp and the lenses and the direct ophthalmoscope on the first day, so they can start practicing. It's really difficult to figure out how to line up the slitlamp with the patient, or how to turn the light on and change the light settings on your own. I expect that most med students will not have any ophtho exam skills and knowledge, even the ones who are going into ophthalmology, so I start with the basics and assume that they know absolutely nothing about the eyeball or about ophthalmology. I find that my approach works very well and most med students really appreciate it.

My second day as a med student on ophtho, I was so demoralized, I wanted to give up and go into another field--I'm glad I didn't! Instead, I read a book called "practical ophthalmology." If you don't have anyone to go over all the basics with you, you may want to borrow it from the library.

Good luck! Don't give up!