Reflection

Journal Entries

Sunday: We met at Motor Pool and left for Blanding. As we traveled I started thinking about the Navajo people and how much I didn’t know about them. Driving across the baron wasteland, the thought of the people that used to live in similar landscapes blew my mind. Upon arriving at the Stone Lizard motel in Blanding, we unpacked and began cooking dinner. The group leader and myself got dinner cooking and everything set out. We met together as a group and discussed where we would be traveling to Monday.

Monday: At 6-7 am all the students started getting ready to go out to the many different clinics and practices. At 8 o’clock I arrived at Blanding Family Vision Care to work with Dr. Ron Kirk. Starting at 8:30 we began to see the first patients. As the patients entered, Dr. Kirk asked each individual if it was okay that I would come along. As he proceeded with each and every patient, different procedures and different instruments were used to fit their needs, but the main point that stood out to me was the excited, loving, energetic personality of Dr. Kirk made every individual feel cared about. I get excited about hopefully giving that same love to my own patients. Every individual was valued and cared for personally. Another thing I enjoyed was seeing all the new equipment I have never seen. There is a small handheld device to measure the pressure of patients eyes, scanner that measure prescription in glasses, and other thing I haven’t seen in use before. Dr. Kirk did a very good explaining new concepts to me and also clarifying other things I had seen once or twice before. We saw all types of people as patients. It was cool to see Dr. Kirk interact with people that just needed their frames fixed to fit better, so normal eye exams, and also deal with an issue that will require seeing a specialist. Later that night, we went to Shirley's, a Navajo local, to learn about her life as a native of the area. She fed us Navajo tacos, made a Navajo tea, and gave a full story of her life and explanations for each tradition and belief they lived by in her family.

Tuesday: On Tuesday we spent the beginning of the morning doing paper work and waiting for patients that were late due to weather. In Blanding, people will travel from surrounding areas (up to an hour and a half or more away) to come see Dr. Kirk. One of the first patients to come in had previously had a pre-operation checkup. She came in for a post-operation check up after her lasik surgery. Dr. Kirk allowed me to look into her eyes and see the scaring and other things. As he showed me her eyes, he explained to me the recovery process and everything to expect after surgery. Next we saw a few patients that came in as a family. Each patient took their turn sitting in his chair, have their eye pressure checked, and then a prescription given to them. An interesting dynamic for the four corners area is the care provided for the Native American patients. Kids under 18 are eligible for new glasses (any pair at the clinic under $109 is covered) and those over 18 are eligible for glasses every two years. Many of the patients, wether something is wrong with their eyes or not, will wait until their eligibility is renewed to get glasses even if their prescription is completely changed. A cool (yet simple) thing I learned was the reason doctors have you look into a mirror that reflects the image either projected or on a screen. It allows doctors to have smaller office spaces. This is because the mirror reflects what is behind you. So if the room is 12 feet long, then the doctor can test a patients eye sight from 24 feet. Simple, but effective. Throughout the day, Dr. Kirk showed me how to check prescription on current glasses through a machine they have in their office. As glasses are put up to the device, the computer reads what the prescription and astigmatism are. The machine is also able to determine if the glasses are bifocals or progressive lens.

Wednesday: From when we started at 8:00 until 4:45, we stayed busy the entire day. We saw a handful of families. One family had a young 3 year old kid who did not want to cooperate. Watching Dr. Kirk be able to help an unwilling, nervous, uncomfortable child was amazing. He was not able to ask the child which option of lens was preferred, so watching him find the exact prescription with handheld lenses caught my attention. In a field like optometry, doctors will see patients that vary in age, gender lifestyle, opinion and nervousness about being helped. I was able to see men, women, and kids of all ages today. A common trend I seemed to follow was women being much more willing to come to the eye doctor the minute their eyes change. Men more commonly waited until they were not able to function at work or home with their eyesight. A kind older women came in for a regular check up. Her husband also came to have Dr. Kirk do a follow up on a condition he was dealing with. He has a medical condition called entropion. This happens when a person’s eyelid (usually bottom) fold inward and their eyelashes rub against the person’s eye causing irritation. They fix this with a surgery that is a reduction of the skin. Later we saw an older lady who had lost her vision in one eye and Dr. Kirk’s goal was to correct her one functioning eye. The best that could be done for her functioning eye was 20/40 vision.

Thursday: Thursday was amazing. It consisted of seeing almost every type of situation possible. First we saw a man with cataracts. Cataracts is a clouding of a lens in the eye. The surgery to correct cataracts is amazing! Optometrists do not do cataract surgery, but they do the pre operation and post operation check ups. Ophthalmologists, who go through different schooling than optometrists, do these types of surgeries. Dr. Kirk’s son lives in Richfield and is the primary ophthalmologist for most of his patients who need surgeries. His son also comes once a month to Blanding to provide care for those in the four corners area. We also saw a patient that had dealt with retinal detachment. Their appointment was for post-operation check ups. This particular patient had a fluid leaking back underneath the retina which caused a portion of her vision to appear as if she were looking through a glass of water. After her we dealt with a family that had a daughter with severe autism. I had no idea how Dr. Kirk would help this young patient, but he maneuvered around on the floor while I acted as a distraction for her to look at. He was able to get a ballpark estimate of her prescription. I really like seeing Dr. Kirk help this patient that was too scared to interact with him. Lastly, we saw a patient that suffered from essential tremors. His leg and hand were constantly shaking. Apparently he had missed a day or two of his prescription which caused his tremors to be acting up. As Dr. Kirk put his equipment, eye drops, or any instrument near this patient’s face, the patient began to tremor violently and uncontrollably. This made his check up very difficult. It was personally hard to watch this patient be visibly embarrassed, but the way Dr. Kirk handled the situation was amazing. He made the patient feel comfortable and not like a burden. Dr. Kirk also invited me to join him and his wife for dinner that night. Well dinner was being prepared, he took me to see some remains of Native American’s that had lived there a long time ago. It blew my mind that we only drove 3-5 minutes and we were able to see the old houses that they lived in. The thing that baffled my mind was that the old wooden posts still stand. Their rock walls still standing have fingerprints pushed into the cement. It blows me away that there is still protected areas that are so untouched. Dr. Kirk shuffled around for a little while and pulled up a few pieces of pottery. He then challenged me to begin looking, and it shocked me how much I was able to identify. Each piece of pottery either had a design on the interior or a pattern on the exterior. As we found pieces, we carefully set them in places where other observers can come and enjoy the wonders of the four corners area.

Friday: Time to go home. We had planned to stop in Moab and ride horses, but a overall decision by all the students changed our plans. All of us decided we would rather get home early and have our weekend in Cedar start a little earlier. One car left at 5:00 in the morning and the other two cars of students left at 6:30. As we drove home, we each talked about our overall experience and favorite moments of the previous days. Everyone found success and further passion towards their field of study. The trip was a success.