Manual Dexterity / Visual Perception - Years 3/4

[IndenturedDent]

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Hi sdners,

I am interested in pursuing optometry. However, I had concerns about my manual dexterity. Are there any specific activities (especially in years 3/4) that require very fine motor skills? I have heard insertion of punctual plugs/removal of foreign bodies requires some motor skills? Have you ever noticed students fail courses/repeat years due to their inability to develop fine motor skills for these procedures?

Also, have there been any students that have had other physically-related reasons (ex: depth perception or other visual impairments) that have hurt them during their education?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Eye4aEye]

I dont think you should have problems with inserting plugs or removing superficial foreign bodies. I think anything can be learned with sufficient practice. Im pretty sure most of us could do these things with only one eye open!

 

[IndenturedDent]

Thanks for the advice.

I was previously in dental school and decided to leave dental school (left in good academic standing) after completing my first year.

I had no issues and did fine in my didactic lecture-based coursework during dental school.

However, I was not that great with my hands. i devoted several hours when it came to my lab work each day but saw marginal improvements in my manual dexterity.

for lab work, there is usually a point where a tooth preparation/restoration would be considered a pass but sometimes I would work beyond that point (probably the perfectionist personality in me) and it often lead to diminishing returns and so I would often run out of time during my practical. sometimes correcting minor details on a tooth prep/restoration can takeaway from the big picture concept of how it should look and that could lead to a failing grade which happened to me a couple of times (however i repeated these exams and ended up passing them later).

i assume optometry practicals are a bit more black and white since there is less art involved so i am thinking maybe this would not be a problem for me but im open to your perspectives (ex: either you insert the plug successfully or not / either you remove the foreign body or not - whereas in dentistry, evaluating a tooth preparation/restoration is much more complicated)

 

[Mewcakes]

either you insert the plug successfully or not / either you remove the foreign body or not - whereas in dentistry, evaluating a tooth preparation/restoration is much more complicated

I'm sorry, that last part just made me chuckle. lol, either you remove the foreign body or you patient is upset and wondering why you left it in there.

But in all seriousness...you do need some dexterity, but I think if you practiced enough you would be just fine. You have to learn to work under high levels of magnification without looking directly at your hands and to visualize in your head where in the eye you are looking (a lot of times things are upside-down and flipped).

There's one guy in my class with one eye (no depth perception) and a girl with like...1.5 hands and they both get along just fine.

 

[IndenturedDent]

so students in your program who have failed out or dropped out were usually people who could not handle the didactic components of the curriculum?

safe to say no one in your classes struggled with the practicals / clinical components?

 

[Mewcakes]

so students in your program who have failed out or dropped out were usually people who could not handle the didactic components of the curriculum?

safe to say no one in your classes struggled with the practicals / clinical components?

Ehhhh.... I don't know if I would say that. Certainly more people fail out from not being able to keep up with academics, but if you fail a lab, you fail the associated class as well. People do struggle with clinical components, but I don't known if I could blame it on their dexterity. People do get sent back to first year (after failing clinic during third year) and they can be made to go back to clinic after 4th year if their skills are not sufficient.

I can't promise you anything and I wouldn't say that you're "safe" in optometry, but you had it right that there's less art involved...that's about it though. If you can't hold a condensing lens still or your bonk the heck out of your patients' corneas when you applanate, then that's going to be a problem too. Have you shadowed any ODs? That should give you a little bit of a better idea of what day-to-day practice involves and whether it's something you can do...

 

[IndenturedDent]

if you fail a lab practical, dont you have an opportunity to remediate the lab practical before they fail you for the class and make you repeat the whole year?

also, if you fail clinic during the third year, wouldnt they make you repeat third year instead of sending you back to first year since you already passed the 1st step of the boards?

i am currently shadowing an optometry but he just does basic refractions all day so havent had a chance to get more exposure. i am looking to shadow a few more optometrists before applying but its been hard to find ones with private practices in my neighborhood.

 

[Mewcakes]

if you fail a lab practical, dont you have an opportunity to remediate the lab practical before they fail you for the class and make you repeat the whole year?

also, if you fail clinic during the third year, wouldnt they make you repeat third year instead of sending you back to first year since you already passed the 1st step of the boards?

i am currently shadowing an optometry but he just does basic refractions all day so havent had a chance to get more exposure. i am looking to shadow a few more optometrists before applying but its been hard to find ones with private practices in my neighborhood.

I said fail the lab, not one single individual lab practical. But it's possible to fail labs. If you get all 70s on every practical because you had to repeat them all and then fail to turn in an assignment or something, BAM, 69, fail.

They have done both. I've known someone who got sent back to first year and I've known someone who got sent back to the beginning of 3rd year. I think it depends on where your skill levels lie and your academic abilities. And theoretically, even if you pass boards but BLOW at clinic, they can send you back. I suppose you wouldn't have to take boards again if you passed, but i don't think they'd think "well, they can't find an optic nerve or grade a CD worth a damn..but they passed NBEO...continue on to 4th year!".

Look, I understand that you're trying to thoroughly feel out another possible career for yourself, but if you want it, you just need to go for it. Obviously you're a little gun shy bc of dental school, but I don't think you'll ever find the "yes, you will absolutely excel and even if you don't, you have absolutely nothing to worry about" answer that it seems you're looking for.