Pupillary Pathways

When you have a busy day and patients scheduled back to back, it’s easy to get flustered at things that are out of the ordinary. If you work in private practice or retail optometry, most of the patients you see on a daily basis are relatively straightforward.

It’s easy to get in the groove of seeing young, healthy and straightforward patients on a daily basis, and it’s also easy to become nervous when things get a little more complicated, such as kids, elderly, and patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

This is where you have to sometimes get creative and possibly prioritize and split your exam if necessary.

When taking a case history, you've been taught to start with a chief complaint and then thoroughly investigate further through asking questions about the history of present illness (or HPI).

The following article summarizes seven strategies you can share with your patients to help combat digital eye strain. 

Did you know that they first eye chart ever created was created by Dr. Küchler, a German ophthalmologist? He designed a chart in 1836 using figures cut from calendars, books, and newspapers glued in rows of decreasing sizes onto paper.

I don't remember learning about him in Optometry school! 

Here are 5 essential tips for keeping your patients eyes healthy this summer.

Regardless of the training you will receive in optometry school, the fainting of a patient is a very stressful situation for the doctor, patient, technician, and anyone else involved.

These are often unpredictable occurrences, but by simply understanding the warning signs of an impending vasovagal episode, knowing preventative measures that can be taken, and reviewing the necessary steps that should be taken if a patient does faint will help you to safely and confidently handle the situation when it occurs.

Because if it hasn’t already, it will. Likely many times throughout your career as an optometrist. 

Over the last twenty years, the delivery of healthcare has changed significantly in many ways: from the conversations doctors have with their patients in the exam room, to how information is exchanged and delivered, and to how insurance companies have placed more of a financial burden on the patient. As a result, both healthcare providers and patients alike have had to learn how to adjust to these changing times.

Fortunately, these changing times also bring about significant improvements in the way we deliver healthcare. As optometrists, we specialize in the delivery of eye care. Like other healthcare specialties, our industry has seen much advancement in technology that allows us to provide a significantly higher level of care to our patients. We now have tools to help evaluate the eye in more detail, with more accuracy, and with more confidence to detect diseases than ever before.