The Eyepod at ICO is my favorite place! It is where we get to practice every day for many hours. At the Eyepod, we apply what we learn in class and master particular skills. We laugh together. Everyone is so generous and willing to help in the Eyepod, sitting for each other as patients even if we all have an important exam to study for the next day.
It has happened to the best of us. We sit in class, taking in a new concept but not REALLY understanding it until we get a hands-on experience. Just when we think it doesn’t make any sense, our perspective changes completely. At the Eyepod, we have the opportunity to put words into action. Suddenly, everything we learn becomes so clear and easy to remember. The Eyepod is where one becomes confident in what they know and practiced.
At the Eyepod, we can also receive help from attending doctors or TAs. There is always someone willing to assist you; you might even make a new friend! Every person works in their own lane and gets to be in charge of the examination or set of skills being performed- a glimpse of what it will be like to be a doctor in ‘real life.’
Staying at the Eyepod for many hours at night, even until the last minute before closing time at 12 a.m., may be rough. We often work in dim lighting. Keeping those eyes open while a colleague performs retinoscopy can be quite tiring. It is in those tired moments that we laugh the most because of the silliest mistakes that we make, such as using 3D glasses and an occluder to check one’s color vision. Oops!
OK, I think I will go back to the Eyepod now and practice some more refraction and our near testing sequence. I would like to wish everyone lots of good luck in the remainder of the school year. See you at the Eyepod!
GB- Imagine. Inspire. Improvise.