Advocacy

What to Expect from AOA on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., on April 24-26

By Will Pinkston 04.07.22

AOA on Capitol Hill

Are you joining our fight for optometry?

In less than a month, doctors and optometry students nationwide will convene in Washington, D.C., to meet with lawmakers and fight for our profession. AOA on Capitol Hill, April 24-26, is the AOA’s single-largest annual advocacy experience and the opportunity to get immersed in the issues affecting optometry. And, for the first-time since 2019, we have the chance to deliver these messages, in-person, on Capitol Hill.

The past two years of virtual, AOA on Capitol Hill programming looped in more students than ever before, but that also means this will be the first chance for many of us to experience, first-hand, the impassioned energy and debates that happen at the AOA’s advocacy event.

So, whether you’re already packing your business attire and getting hyped following #EyesOnTheHill2022, or just want to keep tabs on what’s happening in Washington, D.C., keep reading.

What can I expect from AOA on Capitol Hill?

AOA on Capitol Hill is the single-largest annual advocacy event and a cornerstone of the AOA’s federal advocacy efforts with over 500 advocacy-minded doctors and optometry students in attendance. Optometry students will join alongside doctors on Sunday and Monday, April 24-25, in listening sessions, presentations and other special events that are oriented to preparing attendees for potentially meeting with their federal representatives on Tuesday, April 26. Not all attendees will be able to meet with their legislators; however, the information provided can help optometry students get actively involved in the profession and know more about advocacy as we begin our careers. Optometry students are the future of this profession, and we have a responsibility to our colleagues to keep the profession thriving.

This year, optometry students also will participate in a number of student-specific events, such as a special track of education, an AOA+ Leadership Link opportunity and an AOSA Student Recognition Reception.

What events do I need to attend to receive my travel grant from AOA?

There’s a lot happening at AOA on Capitol Hill this year, so don’t feel overwhelmed by the agenda. To satisfy the requirements for the AOA’s travel grant, students will need to attend the AOA on Capitol Hill Welcome Reception, 6:30-8 p.m. ET, Sunday, as well as the day’s programming scheduled for Monday, including the AOA+ Leadership Link and AOSA Student Recognition Reception that evening. Please note: For virtual attendees, recordings will be available on AOA EyeLearn in the days following AOA on Capitol Hill. Viewing the student recordings of AOA on Capitol Hill will fulfill the virtual AOA on Capitol Hill requirement of Leadership Society.

When will I receive my travel grant?

Students will need to submit a W-9 form, and if you have not been contacted yet or provided with this form, please contact the AOA’s Member Services at memberservices@aoa.org. This helps expedite receiving your travel grant. All grants will be mailed to the address provided on your W-9 following AOA on Capitol Hill.

To ensure there are no bumps in the road with receiving your $425 travel reimbursement, keep in mind that you will provide receipts showing payment of any of the following: airfare, lodging, ground transportation, or parking.  Keep in mind food and drinks are not part of the $425 travel grant, but several meals and social functions are provided throughout the meeting!

How will I know if I have been scheduled for a Hill visit?

You will be receiving a notification from Advocacy Associates regarding the timing of your Hill visits. You also will be receiving an email from AOA staff confirming which state you have been matched with.

What issues are we discussing? Are there prep materials?

This year, AOA on Capitol Hill occurs in conjunction with the AOA Payer Advocacy Summit, an alignment that focuses our advocacy strengths on third party payer issues affecting optometry. Advocates will learn about and build support for an AOA and American Dental Association-backed, bipartisan bill, called the Dental and Optometric Care (DOC) Access Act, H.R. 3461/S. 1793. You can read more about this legislation here.

Additionally, advocates will work to avert impending Medicare pay cuts and urge Congress to reform the Medicare pay system, as well as emphasize the need for federal regulators to refocus their efforts on stopping online contact lens seller abuses.

Attendees will receive fact sheets and materials on-site about these and other issues discussed during the event.

How can I access the recorded sessions from AOA on Capitol Hill?

Select portions of AOA on Capitol Hill, including the morning and afternoon legislative briefings, will be available for viewing on AOA EyeLearn, April 25-26. A full recording will be available in the days following the event. Reference the user guide for more information about accessing the AOA’s professional development hub.

Please note: For virtual attendees, recordings will be available on AOA EyeLearn in the days following AOA on Capitol Hill. Viewing the student recordings of AOA on Capitol Hill will fulfill the virtual AOA on Capitol Hill requirement of Leadership Society.

Is there a place where I can find all the information for AOA on Capitol Hill?

Yes, the AOA has an event app for AOA on Capitol Hill that includes event information, social media, agenda, fact sheets and other relevant attendee documents for your reference while on-site.

To access the app, download the “CVent Events App” in the Apple or Google Play store. Open the app and search “AOA on Capitol Hill 2022,” then download the event. Enter your first and last name and email address that you registered with to gain access to the app content.

How can I follow along with what’s happening?

Follow the news and excitement from AOA on Capitol Hill on our event social wall or contribute to the conversation using the hashtag, #EyesOnTheHill2022, on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Advice Column / Pre-Optometry

Advice for Optometry School Hopefuls

By Gabrielle Magee 04.06.22

What is the key to getting into optometry school? Networking!

Not what you thought I’d say, right? When applying to schools, I was in frequent communication with my top choice program’s admissions teams. I would pick up the phone, ask for informational interviews and use them as an opportunity not only to learn more about the program, but to build rapport with the admissions teams and help them put a face to my name. Doing this made me feel comfortable on interview day because I already knew some of the people that were there, as well as navigate the application process with better guidance to have the best chances of acceptance.

Another thing that I found useful was utilizing email communication. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was difficult to shadow in person in hospitals or clinics, I still made it a priority to network. I would get in touch with local practices and schedule informational interviews with doctors of optometry to learn more about the care that they specialize in. Eventually, when it was safe to do so, I was able to go in and shadow when other applicants may have still been having a difficult time. This also broke down geographic barriers and allowed me to connect with optometrists all over the country whose specialties I took interest in. Highlighting these experiences in my application showed that I was a resourceful and outside thinker, and these were qualities that often stood out on interview day.

While it is important to network with the schools themselves, I also found it beneficial to network with other optometry students. Just before my AZCOPT interview, I received an email from the program with the breakdown of how the virtual interview day would go. Included in this email were the names of the three student panel members and their emails in case us interviewees wanted to reach out to them beforehand. Being quick to seize this opportunity, I looked up the student panel members on LinkedIn to see if I had anything in common with them, and I found out that one of them actually went to the same undergraduate institution as I did. I emailed her to introduce myself and on interview day, I had the advantage of already being connected to a student panel member.
Being quick to create and seize opportunities gave me greater advantages as an applicant; however, these skills have carried over into my career as a whole.

I am still connected with the student panel member and she is currently in my top choice residency program which has further benefited me by allowing me to ask questions, get in touch with the right people, and set myself up for the best chance of being matched with them in the future. About a month after receiving the news of my acceptance, I toured AZCOPT and there was a first-year student ambassador who stayed with me for the entirety of the tour. I made sure to stay in touch with her all throughout the summer. She helped me in my decision-making process, and when I began school, she became my anatomy and physiology tutor. Furthermore, at the start of school, the assistant dean sent out an “AZCOPT Survival Guide” and provided the email of the student who had written it. Again, I was quick to take the opportunity to connect with her, and now she too has become a close friend of mine, as well as an amazing resource. These skills advanced my application and educational experiences, setting me up for success and excellence.

Overall, my advice for optometry school hopefuls would be to make your own opportunities instead of waiting for them to come to you! A quick phone call, a short meeting and staying connected goes a long way and you never know when those connections will come in handy!

Pre-Optometry

Why I Took a Gap Year and What I Did To Remain a Competitive Applicant for Optometry School

By Gabrielle Magee 04.06.22

Taking a gap year was the best decision I’ve made during my application process. Instead of rushing to fit a certain timeline, I decided to take a mental break from school and spend more time expanding my patient care experience. This extra time before optometry school helped me become a better prepared and more confident applicant when completing my applications.

Before graduating college, I knew I wanted to spend my gap year before optometry school exploring different practice modalities. The idea of working in an OD/MD group practice has always intrigued me and I was lucky enough to find a job opportunity working as a medical scribe for an ophthalmology/optometry practice located in my hometown. I’ve had prior experience working in patient care, but this job expanded my knowledge of the optometry profession completely beyond an annual eye exam. I was exposed to a range of specialties in optometry such as pediatrics, low vision, ocular disease management and myopia control. The doctors of optometry and ophthalmologists worked closely as a team to handle many post- operative appointments for cataract and pterygium surgery follow-ups. This was a side of optometry I didn’t even know existed!

As time progressed, I became more comfortable interacting with patients coming from different age groups and cultures. I even got to assist with in-clinic procedures, such as punctal plug insertions, laser peripheral iridotomies and medical Botox® appointments! This would not have been possible for me if I didn’t decide to take a break from academics.

Prior to this year, I was certain optometry was the right profession for me. After taking a gap year to explore my specific interests, I have a clearer vision of what kind of optometrist I strive to be. Completing applications, finishing prerequisites and taking the OAT exam is an understandably stressful timeline to meet. Optometry school will have many challenges, both mentally and physically, so ensuring that you’re in the right mental state to prepare for its challenges is crucial. A gap year can be a wonderful opportunity to further your experience, maturity and character development, and I recommend it for every pre-optometry student!

Student Experience

The Fear of Finding Something

By Gabrielle Magee 04.06.22

It’s spring semester of your second year of optometry school; you’ve finally made it to the most exciting and important step in your optometric journey: clinic. On your first day, you gather all of your things — your lens set, retinoscopy handles, prism set, BIO and your trusty tonometer tip — and head into the University Eye Center. You find your room and clean your machines. Your classmate opens the EHR and, by the luck of the draw, you have a patient.

A 30-year-old, white female walks into your room, sits in your exam chair and is ready for the fun to begin. Upon a gross anterior segment examination, you find a resounding case of corneal neovascularization—and you panic. The fear sets in. You’ve only had two weeks of ant seg classes. Are you supposed to know what’s causing this? Does she abuse her contact lenses? Does she have limbal stem cell deficiency? Or could she have a severe case of Fuchs endothelial cell dystrophy? Your head is filling with possibilities. Your hands are sweaty; you’re visibly shaking— what do you do next?

I’ve found that this is a common fear among second years and newbie student clinicians, but with a little less of the drama. We practice on young, healthy, relatively normal eyes in all of our labs. Except for the few cases of strabismus or corneal scarring, most of my classmates are only battling varying amounts of ametropia and astigmatism. I so desperately want to learn how to be a good clinician, how to identify diseases and oddities on my first day in clinic, but the only way to succeed in achieving this is by seeing abnormalities in person. Pictures can only be so helpful. The eyes in them aren’t blinking or photophobic or constantly moving to find something to fixate on. It’s scary to find something even slightly different than normal on a real, paying patient.

As much as I was hoping to see something cool in clinic my first day, I also found myself hoping that I didn’t see anything at all. What if I misdiagnose them? What if I find something vision-threatening and they need emergency treatment? What if I see something so bizarre that I can’t even begin to explain it to my scribe? The fear can be all-consuming, but it’s comforting to know that everyone has been there, even the most well-renowned doctors saw corneal arcus for the first time and started shaking.

The most important thing to remember is that we’re not alone in the clinic. We have so many resources and minds to help us make the correct diagnosis and treatment plan for our patients. And when in doubt, don’t be afraid to ask for help — that’s literally what all the precepting doctors are getting paid to do. In the end, the fear will make us all incredibly knowledgeable and competent doctors of optometry someday very, very soon.

Health & Wellness

Staying healthy (and sane) in optometry school

By Gabrielle Magee 04.06.22

Optometry school can have a huge impact on both physical and mental health. For most of us, this is the most daunting academic task we have ever taken on and our past experiences may not have prepared us for the intensity of courses, exams and labs. Personally, the beginning of my optometric career was quite overwhelming, and I found myself wondering if I had gotten in over my head.  However, I was able to eventually figure out a system that worked well for me. Once I completed my first semester, I haven’t looked back. As I approach the halfway point of my schooling, I would like to share a few strategies and tips that have helped me stay active and in a good mental state, most effectively use my day, and minimize the inevitable stress that comes with such a rigorous program. 

Setting a schedule:

Whether it’s waking up early, or 30 minutes before lecture, create a consistent schedule making sure to include times for meals, study breaks and a decent bedtime. As someone who likes a detailed schedule, I like to plan my week on Sunday evenings of how I will budget my time outside of lecture. I also make time for something that interests me, such as going to the gym or watching an episode or two on Netflix before bed.  Including scheduled breaks and hobbies helps me relax between studying and come back focused and ready to press on.

Eating healthy:

As future health care practitioners, we all know the importance of having a well-balanced diet to help us function to the best of our ability. Eating healthy, or even remembering to eat at all, can be especially difficult with the seemingly never-ending cycle of midterms and proficiencies. I suggest meal prepping the night before a busy day, or even a few days in advance when possible. I am always less inclined to order fast food when I have a fridge full of leftovers. This can also turn in to a group meal prep/study session to maximize time. Eating healthy also goes hand in hand with drinking water, so I always bring a reusable water bottle with me to campus.

Staying active:

Perhaps one of the biggest changes in optometry school is the amount of time spent in front of a screen studying. Between classes and studying, you should expect to spend at least 10 to 12 hours a day doing schoolwork. The intense workload can make it difficult to do much else. That being said, finding time for physical activity will be beneficial for physical and mental health. Some of my classmates and I get together a few weekends of every semester to play basketball at a local gym to de-stress after a tough week of exams. Even small things, such as going on a walk between classes or reviewing notes on a treadmill, can be great for breaking up the monotony of constant studying.

Develop a support system:

Mental health is just as important as physical health and getting to know your classmates better will help you realize everyone is dealing with their own stress and anxiety. Having someone to talk to and provide reassurance and a new perspective when dealing with a difficult class, or just life in general, is just as important. This has been especially true for me during the COVID-19 pandemic, when I was taking classes remotely. Without the friends I made at school, I would have had no one to help me review material for exams, or vent about a difficult course or professor. I would have had no one who understood the hardships we face on a daily basis as students in such a challenging field. Having a network of like-minded people to talk to was crucial for my mental health and allowed me to get to where I am today.

Getting situated into optometry school can be very challenging and finding out what works for you is crucial for good academic performance. The sacrifices and hard work you endure now will pay off exponentially in the future. By following these tips now, you can get the most out of your day and set yourself up for success in optometry school.