questions about ICO...

[Noemimi]

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I am really interested in going to Berkeley Opt (isn't everyone- or almost everyone). ICO, the more I read into it, seems more and more appealing. I was wondering if anyone that has attended ICO, or is attending, could give me an insight as to how much time is spent in a class room vs clinical, what an average day is like, etc.

Thanks 😀

 

[in_translation]

First year, 3-4 hrs / day lecture with about 5 hrs/week lab. Also, 2 observations per quarter.
Second year, 4 hrs / day lecture with about 7 hrs/ week lab. Also, 2 observations per quarter, plus various clinical (read: dispensing) assignments.
Third year, 3 hrs / day lecture with 6 hrs / week lab, plus 8 hrs / week clinic.
Fourth year, > 40 hrs / week clinic (on externships).
All exams at 8 am sharp.

"Average" day:
Up at 6:30; cram till exam at 8; lab 9-11; class 2-5; study...
or...
class 9-1; work 1-4; lab 4-6; meeting 6-7; study...
or...
observation 9-12:30; class 1-5; study...

As you can see, there really is no "average" day!

 

[iDoc2012]

Everyone wants to go to Berkely? I knew I sure didn't. The variety of patients would be minimal because the clinic is hidden in the far back of the campus. They do not have a very clinical based program; it's more research based. The school and equipment itself is... dated. I'm not going to ICO, but it was amazing when I visited. They are even renovating as we speak and adding many more lanes in their clinic. Go ICO.

 

[in_translation]

I have to agree - I had absolutely no desire to go to Berkeley Optometry. ICO is such a diverse clinic environment in a great city! If you don't see it here, you'll probably never see it out in practice. I want to be as clinically well-prepared as possible when I get out into the "real world"🙂

 

[JeffChou]

Berkeley's clinic allegedly serves the many lower-income residents of the next-door Oakland area along with many medical cases from the entire bay area, including San Francisco. From what I remember, it is up there with SUNY (NYC), and ICO (Chicago) in terms of clinic patient visits.

Their clinical education (early exposure) is also emphasized by the school's reps and students alike. I am also told by students I know that it isn't really a research focused program (contrary to what I had previously assumed) the way many people have said. But in any case, I'll be going to ICO. Great clinic, school, and city!

 

[Noemimi]

That is true.. people assume it is mostly research based. In actuality, when in Berkeley you get pt interaction early on. That is why they have so many prereqs... they want to focus on OPTOMETRY and seeing actual patients instead of having the students spending all their time in lectures. It's a great school.

 

[artiSUN]

Yeah, I've heard from so many people who didn't attend Berkeley that it's more research based, but I've heard the opposite from friends who've actually attended. One of my friends did mention the dated equipment while he was there though as he was one of the people keeping some of the stuff from falling apart. Aside from that, it's a top notch education that'll give you a solid background. I just didn't really care to go back to the bay area though so no Berkeley for me either 😛 I'll be at ICO too for the same reasons everyone else listed 🙂