First of all, learn how to speak english! "Attempt to through PR"....Give me a break. I went to the school in PR and passed all parts the first time and have 2 successful practices. There are students at that school that work hard and become very successful. No other school can compare to the knowledge you obtain in clinic. It is my true feeling that the majority of graduating students (at most other schools) are just competant at refraction and NOT at treating ocular disease.
I really don't think that throwing out names of other schools that have nothing to do with this ordeal is a joke!
I'm a bit offended by this, and I think my colleagues at those "most other schools" will likely be too. I'm currently at my rotation at the Portland VA Medical Center, which is a prestigious site for its ocular disease residency training program. The staff doctors here, including the ophthalmologists, have expressed that they are really impressed with the students and residents and that they're doing a great job here. This is pretty high praise for students who are in their first 4th-year rotation in a clinic with such a high proportion of ocular disease, and it shows we were well-prepared clinically in our first 3 years at each of our respective schools. We didn't waste the first 3 years just learning refraction and optical stuff, while that is obviously important too.
The students and residents here represent NECO, Berkeley, SUNY, SCCO, and Pacific, and though I may be slightly biased because I am one of the students, I honestly am really impressed by my colleagues here too and their patient skills (another important, often-overlooked skill) and knowledge about the diagnosis and treatment of ocular disease. And this is just one opinion about one rotation and my first time interacting clinically with students from other schools. Granted, we don't know EVERYTHING yet and we are still learning a great load here at the VA, but that's the point of an externship. If we knew everything already, we wouldn't need to go on rotations. But you have to actually practice what you learn in the books. In class and in the clinic at school, we established a solid foundation, and now we're building up on that.
I respect my colleagues at all the colleges of optometry because I know how difficult it is to get into optometry school, seeing how few of them there are in North America. Isn't it true that at ALL schools, there are "people that work hard and become very successful"? There is no particular school that is "the best" because all are strictly regulated and accredited. Notice how there are no rankings for optometry schools. We are all getting a rigorous and intense training and we're all going to be well-trained optometrists by the time we graduate. I hope you will recognize this and respect our professional colleagues too, instead of putting them down.
On a less serious note, I'm not used to all this rain and hail in the summer here in the Northwest...!
And since this is a thread about boards, congrats to all who passed!!! =D Let's enjoy our summer now!
