Blog Entry #2- Summer Mentorship

This is Chino Optometry Center where I will continue my mentorship hours throughout my senior year.   

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• Dr.Hinh and Dr.Morris
• (909) 627-7363
• Chino Optometry Center

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice? 

• Dr.Morris and Dr.Hinh are experts in the field of optometry. They have gone through very long and painful years of medical school. Dr.Hinh has been in practice for over ten years and Dr.Morris has been in practice for over 25 years. Both doctors are licensed optometrist and have been working at Chino Optometry Center for many many years.   

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.

• What medical procedures will allow an optometrist to give their patients an accurate diagnosis of a serious medical condition? 
• What methods can an optometrist use to give the correct prescription for their patients while also respecting their needs for vision? 
• What methods of communication can an optometrist use with a patient that does not speak english in order to collect imperative information?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• Before going through my mentorship I had imagined that there were many complexities in being an optometrist. I was quite nervous and very unsure about making optometry my senior project. My anxiety kicked in when I started assuming optometrist have millions of things to complete and understand on a daily basis. Although this is quite true it wasn't as absurd as I had imagined. After my first day of mentorship I knew that I had made the right decision. Knowing exactly what an optometrist does on a daily basis calmed my nerves and allowed me to understand the meaning of being an optometrist.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be? How did mentorship help you make your decision? Please explain.

• After spending endless nights of contemplating on whether I should choose optometry or nursing as my senior project I have finally made my decision. Optometry was the way to go because of the the great amount of experience I would get out of this mentorship. Being able to see how the doctors worked in the field was very interesting. This opened my eyes on how the doctors really worked instead of the stereotypical assumptions most people make of the environment. With this mentorship opportunity at Chino Optometry Center I was very fortunate to encounter medical conditions that aren't seen very often. These "rare" medical conditions would make the optometrist scratch their head as to find out what their patients have and why they have it. The optometrist quickly became a detective, asking questions and finding clues to solve their patients case. Being able to see this in action was the reason why I choose optometry over nursing.