Instruments & Books for Optometry school

[SeminoleSteve]

Hi. I am starting my first year at PCO and I was wondering exactly how much of the recommended books and instruments I really need to buy. I have a friend in his 3rd year in medical school and he says he wasted money buying a lot of instruments. He told me the hospitals and clinics he works in have their own equipment. He also told me that he bought the PanOptic attachment and it is too big to fit in his pocket plus they only test him using the standard attachment. I realize he is not planning on becoming an OMD so it is not worth it to him but may be worth it to me. Also, what are your opinions on buying all of the books that are recommended? Thanks for your responses in advance.

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[christie]

Don't buy any books first year, unless it is a required lab book. The only book I had first year was Netter's Anatomy. Everything you need to know will be in your notes.

I would recommend talking to an upperclassman on equipment...the panoptic is your best friend when it comes time to take your D.O. practical. Also, in clinic I see many docs use the panoptic.

 

[SeminoleSteve]

Thanks Christie. So we do actually use our own equipment and not equipment that belongs to the school or TEI. That's good to know. Any other words of advice? Is there any equipment we really don't need to buy?

 

[Richard_Hom]

Don't buy any books first year, unless it is a required lab book. The only book I had first year was Netter's Anatomy. Everything you need to know will be in your notes.

I would recommend talking to an upperclassman on equipment...the panoptic is your best friend when it comes time to take your D.O. practical. Also, in clinic I see many docs use the panoptic.

Christie,

1. Do the faculty also use the Panoptic?
2. Why do you think the Panoptic is so popular?

 

[christie]

The only equipment that TEI provides us is the BIO. Everything else is our own.

Is tonight the wine & cheese party? Does your orientation still include Alantic City, bowling, etc..?


If you have any specific questions about classes, just PM me. Good luck

 

[christie]

Dr. Hom,

Yes, some of the the faculty surprisingly prefers the panoptic. Probably b/c they like the view of the ONH better then a standard.

I learned with a standard, but I have converted to the panoptic.

 

[SeminoleSteve]

The only equipment that TEI provides us is the BIO. Everything else is our own.

Is tonight the wine & cheese party? Does your orientation still include Alantic City, bowling, etc..?


If you have any specific questions about classes, just PM me. Good luck

Hey Christie, thanks. They've kept us quite busy with orientation which started on Thursday and went through Saturday. We have today (Sunday) off!!! Classes start tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. after "Roadmap to Success (Part 2)". Our social gatherings included wine, beer, and music Thursday night, a picnic Friday night, and casino night (no Atlantic City ) yesterday evening at the cafe. We had HUGE turnouts for all the events. I applied and got accepted to PCO, ICO, and Nova ('cause I'm from Fla.), and I feel that I made the right decision to attend PCO.

 

[christie]

Wow, you guys had orientation on a saturday?! When I was a first year, we had a week long orientation and then after labor day classes began.

I saw you guys all had white coats with your name tags, did you guys have a white coat ceremony? We didn't have that. We had to buy our own coats and our name tags for clinic were given to us spring of 1st year..I guess things are changing!

We finished finals on Friday and start classes tomorrow What a long break for us!

 

[SeminoleSteve]

Yup, we had the white coat ceremony. Nancy said this was the first time they did it. The whole admissions department was ironing 'em for us (including Dr. Caldwell). I hope you enjoyed your mini-vacation after finals