Blogpost Week 1

 For my senior project, I am working as an ophthalmic technician at Eyehealth Northwest. I chose this project because I am interested in pursuing a pre-health track in college so I wanted to get a taste of what it's like to work in the medical field. I also wanted to gain further knowledge on certain ocular diseases and the preventative care that is provided for treatment. I was inspired by my sister who had a similar job a few years back and was able to learn so much about medical treatments that are used in the field of ophthalmology. For me, I have been interested in becoming a doctor for a while, and I knew that training at Eyehealth Northwest would be a way to experience this even as a graduating senior-- and ultimately, figuring out whether I will continue work in the medical field. 

I am working with other ophthalmic technicians and the on retinal specialist in the retina department, which is different from general ophthalmology. Last summer, I actually started training to be an ophthalmic technician, but I wasn't able to really begin due to covid. Thus, I am super excited that I am able to begin my training through the lens of a senior project. The goals that I have set with my mentor for the project are as follows: 

1. Understand how ophthalmology and specialty care fits into the larger picture/ healthcare system 

2. Learn how to become an ophthalmic technician

3. Learn about anatomy and pathology of retinal diseases

Here are some pictures from my first week:


In the top picture, I am taking scans of a patient's retina by using optical coherence tomography(OCT) which requires certain adjustments to show images of the phobia. It definitely was difficult for me at first, especially since many patients are older and cannot hold still for the volume and section scans. However, I have definitely gotten better at scanning clean, clear images of a patients' retina for the doctor to see. 

In the second photo, I am numbing a patient before taking their eye pressure with the Tonopen. This was certainly easier for me to manage then taking the OCT, since I had already learned how to put eyedrops in my own eyes, so numbing and dilating a patient is far easier. And I soon learned the perfect angle to take eye pressure, since it requires light tapping on the surface of the eye. So far, I am super excited to learn more in the following week, and I have really enjoyed getting to meet so many people through my work.




Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 23, 2021 at 3:49 PM

    Sound like you´re off to a great start, Rachel! I´m so pleased that you´ll be able to continue and finish the training you had begun last year, but had to step back from due to Covid. I´d love to hear what a typical day looks like for you including your work routines, protocols, kinds of interactions with patients and coworkers, on the job training... Thanks for sharing.

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    1. AnonymousMay 27, 2021 at 10:36 PM

      Hi Lauren! I will make sure to include more of a daily routine in my week 3 blogpost! It's been super fun to meet new people all day long, especially since after such a long year with minimal social interactions. Just to briefly gloss over my day, I will usually wake up around 6:30 AM, make it to one of three offices I am working at by 8:00 AM, and then start seeing patients until around 12:00 PM when we stop for a lunch break. Afterwards, appointments will usually begin again around 1:00 PM, and then I won't finish until 4:00 at the earliest. I will make sure to go more into detail on a later post though! Thanks for commenting!

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  2. AnonymousMay 24, 2021 at 11:41 AM

    Thank you, Dr. Rachel Yoken! You were so kind when treating me this past week. You took my eye pressure better than anyone before!
    Signed,
    Portland citizens

    ReplyDelete
  3. Becky WMay 24, 2021 at 2:20 PM

    This is awesome experience, Rachel! I have had to do those tests (I have weird retinas). I am so glad you are getting to do the actual work. Have you done the visual field testing too? (Do your patients OK your use of their images in this blog? You should double-check that.)

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousMay 27, 2021 at 10:01 PM

      Hi Becky! Thanks for commenting. Actually, this is one of my coworkers mimicking what I have been doing with patients on a daily basis. Sorry to confuse you! Furthermore, I have not done the visual field testing yet since it isn't part of the normal routine when we are prepping patients. Hopefully I will get to do it eventually though! It's been really fun to do the other tests( like the visual acuity and eye pressure) and I am looking forwards to continuing my training and hopefully learning how to do a fluorescein angiogram!

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