ICO Questions

[Optometry]

I've been accepted to ICO, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Memphis so far. I'm hoping to hear back from two more schools shortly. I'm having a very difficult time deciding between the schools. I haven't read seen much correspondance from ICO students on the SDN. I was wondering if there are any ICO students out there who could tell me about how they feel about their college. How much time do you spend in clinic? Is there adequate equipment and clinic time for the large student body? Is the faculty knowledgable and approachable? What do you think of the Residential Complex? Also, if anyone from any of the other colleges has anything to add, I would appreciate it as well. While I'm at it, I have a question about residencies. Are those done by a nation-wide service, or do you apply only for the residencies offered by your particular college?

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[OD2BMike]

Hi Optometry, I'm in my 4th year at ICO and I'll try to answer some of your questions. All and all I would say I've had a great experience at ICO in the past 3.5 years. You sound concerned about the size of the ICO classes, which are now about 150, but my class has 160. When you think about it 150 people really isn't that many compaired to most undergrad classes. The whole class is together only for lectures. Lab groups are split into 25 person sections and clinic sessions have about 10 people at a time in each clinic suite. Generaly speaking the faculty gets to know each and every student, but some more than others depending on how much attention you actually want. Patient exposure usually starts during your 2nd year when they have you work in the optical dispensary. Occasionally first and second years see patients in clinic too, either as backups to the 3rd years, or as paid techs. You start seeing your own patients at the begining of your 3rd year. During 3rd year you have two four hour clinic slots each week and you average about 2 patients per slot. Last year I saw about 125 comprehensive eye exams. Most of the equipment in clinic is adequate. They do a good job of keeping everything working and they try to update the equipment fairly regularly. In fact, I would say the ICO clinic has better equipment than either of the 2 external sites I've been at (our tuition dollars being put to good use, I guess). 4th year is all patient care, and how many patients you see depends on what sites you go to. So far, halfway through 4th year, I've seen about 400 patiants. Thats all I can think of right now, hope this helps you. email me if you havve any other questions. back to studying I go