Pharmacology and Ocular Disease Exam

Today I took the mother of all exams: the Florida Optometry Board Pharmacology and Ocular Disease Exam. It's just like the PAM Exam from the NBEO Part 3, but about 100x harder!! These are obscure references and unusual presentations. You have to pick two differentials based on the initial information they give you.. then they give you a few more sentences. Based on all the info you narrow your top two choices down to one choice. From there they ask you two more questions about your final diagnosis.

Unlike the NBEO there is no credit if you pick a wrong answer, but treat it correctly. It's just wrong.

I got to the exam 30 minutes early like I was supposed to. Went through the same tutorial I went through yesterday with the jurisprudence exam. Then, the hell began. On my second case, the computer froze. I had to get the proctor to reboot the computer. Thank GOD it didn't eat my exam and I got to start over exactly where it had frozen. I would have killed someone if i'd had to start over. Then about case 17 it froze again.. and on case 22 it froze again. I was really ready to murder. The second time though, while the proctor was rebooting my computer, I took a much needed potty break. The test is 5.5 hours long.

After 27 cases and 3.5 hours.. I was done. Two of the cases weren't scored, but they won't tell you which ones since they're pilot cases for next year. I went through all of my answers.. changed only one case around... and then hit "Submit". it was the longest two minutes of my life while it processed my score. I said MANY prayers, hoped all my parents scrifices to the test gods were in line, and waited.

I needed a 70% to pass (even though Dr ken told me there would most likely be a small curve when they throw out some questions)..... and it told me.. I'd made an 82%.

I PASSED THE BITCH OF A TEST !!!

Look out clinical practical on Sunday.. you're my final hurdle!!

Florida Jurisprudence

Otherwise known as the "laws and rules" exam for the Florida Optometry Board. The minimum score to pass this test is an 84.

I showed up to take my exam 30 minutes early (like is said to on my admission packet)... and they put me right into the computer room. There was a 20 minute tutorial on "how to use the computer"..."this is a mouse".. I shit you not. Fortunately it let you go through it at your own pace (so I finished in about 4 minutes).

The test is only 25 questions.. so you can only miss 4 to pass. The text needed in this "open book" exam is included at the top of each question. In pressing the "reference" button it opened the Adobe PDF file and let you search the 174 page text. Thank god I know how to use a search function. I finished the test and checked my answers in about 20 minutes. The worst part was my heart was racing SO FAST during the entire exam.. and then, after reviewing your questions you have to hit the dreaded "submit test" button.

Then, the computer calculates your score and spits our your score report. All is well.. I got a 96.

I go back to the same place tomorrow to take my Pharmacology and Patient Management test which is 5 1/2 hours. But, it's only 25 cases so it should only take me 2 or so hours. (hopefully)

Winding down

It's my last two days of studying before boards. I'm mainly using them to review things.. if I don't know the material by now.. I ain't gonna. So, i'm looking over all those numbers and trivial things i'll forget as soon as I take it. (like that Leber's Optic Atrophy has a flat ERG and mitochondrial inheritance)

G will be home next week since his Baltimore project is done. i'm not sure whether it will make me more or less nervous having him home for my week of hell on earth. He's going to stay at home in Tampa with the doggie while I drive to Ft Lauderdale with my parents for my clincial practical.

Monday is my first test: Laws and Rules. It's computerized.. I'm taking it at the Sylvan learning Center here in Tampa. i have to get an 84. It's hurdle number 1. wish me luck !!

The battle

That's it !! The war is on !! Two days ago I found a flea on my dog..... AHHHH!! So, it's ON little parasites. The dog was sprayed down with flea spray (it's too late for Advantix now even though I'd been using it), the carpet was sprinkled with flea powder crap-ola .. which isn't cheap by the way, the doggie was bathed the next day with oatmeal bath for is raw tummy.. he was scratching and apparently hypersensitive to flea bites... since I only found one flea and one bite. He's also getting doped with Benadryl.. which we were hoping would calm him down some and make it nappy time for a day or two. No such luck. He's just as hyper as normal.

The worst part is.. now all day long (or for the past few days) I always feel like something is crawling on me. Just like in OD school when they'd talk about lice infestations of the eyelid (yes, it's just as gross as it sounds trust me) and the whole class would start scratching themselves psychosomatically. FUN! Just like that.

So far so good.. the dog is still a little raw in spots and itchy. He gets another oatmeal bath tomorrow. I'll keep alternating the spray and the baths until I'm sure it's all gone and he's done itching. Poor baby

Productivity

Today has been a rather productive day. I studied for my jurisprudence exam, got my windshield repaired by the glass guy, got some groceries, and bathed the dog.

Yes, I'm very very boring. In a about a week all my studying will be over and I can resume life as normal. THANK GOD !!

Brain Fried

I can't study any more today... I'm done. I've studied so much I'm starting to psych myself out and I've still got another week left before the big tests. I'll be studying all day tomorrow anyway after G leaves for his last week in Baltimore.

I can't believe how nervous I am. I hate crap like this. HATE HATE HATE!! I wish I were just done with all this stress already. I know it's only another two weeks but it's so much pressure !!

Trying to get things done

I'm trying to get all of my errands out of the way before the really intense studying happens for the next week and a half.

The shower in our guest bathroom has no hot water. We have no idea when that started, since we'd never tried to use it until of course my parent came to visit and they had no hot water. Now that they'll be back in two weeks we're trying to figure out what's wrong and get something fixed before then. But, who knows how bad it is or how much it'll cost. It's definitely something our inspector should have caught which is what makes me so peeved about it all. So, tomorrow I check out the BBB and try to find a plumber.

I also am taking Tiger to doggie day care tomorrow for his "evaluation". Yes, I had to fill out a three page application to get my doggie into a daycare. (I can hear Jessica laughing from here) I'm going to a wedding in two weeks and I found a place that does boarding and doggie daycare. Since it's a Friday night wedding, I can drop him off to play at the daycare all day Friday and then pick him up Saturday night when we get back. The bonus is he'll have fun and not be locked in a cage for two straight days. Another bonus is it doesn't cost any more than regular boarding!! The girl who runs it also runs flyball, so I'll have to chat with her tomorrow about Tampa flyball. The dog goes for half a day of daycare tomorrow as a try-out to see if he's cool with all the other dogs already there. If things go well, he's in! Yes, it's just like private school... for dogs. I wish it were closer to my house.. I'd take him more than just when i'm doing out of town. I'd probably take him once a week to play while I'm at work just so i know he's doing more than lying around at home. (tired dogs are happy dogs!)

The other things tomorrow are boring: getting links taken out of a new watch I got (from Overstock.com) and depositing paychecks at the bank. I can't WAIT for my direct deposit to kick in i swear.

Then for the rest of the day.. study study study !! And, G should be home some time around 6pm. He'll get in early since he's at a meeting tomorrow morning in new jersey. Assuming it doesn't run late he'll get in around 6pm.. if it does run late.. 10pm for him.

So, that's my exciting life of errands and studying for Florida Boards. Hope you enjoyed it !! :)

Pet Peeve of the Day

If your job is customer service and answering the phone to help me solve my problem.. LEARN TO TYPE!! Nothing pains me more than listening to you hunt and peck as you try to spell my name and address. It's PAINFUL! You would think after a week at your job you would realize .. you need to learn to type to do this effectively. Although, maybe that's the plan.. if I suck at this and type slowly, I get to answer a few less phone calls. Hmmm maybe this girl's a genius!!

Blog Search Hits

To prove that even my search hits aren't funny (just like my blog) ... here's my list of blog hits for the last six or so weeks......

Yes, I got this idea from my best friend.. Suz.. she gets all the credit for this fun-type idea :)

UHCO 2005 graduation yes, I graduated from UHCO in 2005 so I guess I blogged about it.. probably more than once

Grades of Ptosis I believe I talked about ptosis in relation to a patient I had back in speciality peds at UHCO

Tampa Optometrist That's me !! Honestly, I should put my office number in my profile paragraph on my sites since I get so many hits on this one

Pictures and Diagrams of Angle Closure Glaucoma I believe I mentioned a patient with angle closure I had one day.. but i have no pics.. sorry.. and you really don't want me to draw, trust me!

Paint Swatches This is, BY FAR, my biggest search term. I spent one or two blogs on G's and my serach for the perfect condo color. I also waxed poetic on how much the Behr paint matching website colors look NOTHING like the color in the can (or on your walls for that matter) DO NOT TRUST THE COMPUTER AT HOME DEPOT!!!

Optometrist,bad does someone honestly think there's a list out there of bad optometrists???

my life as an optometrist that's about as close to my blog title as anyone has gotten.. and the point of my blog in general. Quite a few OD students read my blog (hi guys!)

weird dog behavior because my dog's a freak and I blog about it

hate my optometrist then come to me!!Guaranteed you'll like me or your money back!

visage day spa louetta road this is my second most hit search term.. I went to this spa with a friend after graduation. It's heavenly there!

"get rid of roommate" I do not condone "geting rid of" your roommate.. but if you must.. I heard cement booties are the way to go. I'm also not sure why this hit my blog. I liked my roommate last year.. really

optometry sucks no it doesn't !!

graduation + europe because I did both last month I guess

So, that's it.... not super funny... but that's my blog google and yahoo search list. I hope you've found it entertaining. And now, back to studying for me...

Welcome to the Family

Yesterday was a rather historic day for me. Not in the "I did something grand sense" but in the milestone of life sense.

Let me set the stage a little bit here: My father is one of EIGHT kids (yes, you read that correctly). My father was kid number six. He has five brothers and two sisters. The seventh child (brother number 5: John) had his sixtieth birthday yesterday. So, my aunt organized a family get together.

Since I just moved to Florida a month ago, I never got to attend these mini-family reunions. I was always either in school or too far away to get there. Now that I'm in Florida with all the rest of the family.. I can go. We're not a totally disfunctional family and seem to all get along (in mild doses) for good lengths of time. That's not to say we don't have our Springer moments because we absolutely do (like any other family)... any family who says they don't is either lying or not big enough to create drama.

For anyone living under a rock for the last week I'm sure you were aware that Hurricane Dennis has been hovering off the west coast of Florida for the good part of the week (well, shit, there's another one!) Most of the morning of the party was spent glued to the weather channel and the NOAA website (I LOVE the NOAA website). I've become something of a Weather Channel junkie after living with my weather obsessed roomie in Bradenton during my Florida externship. It also helped that she worked for ABC. So, with that in mind and Dennis veering firmly to the west of us we headed out to Gainesville for my uncle's party.

As soon as G and I walked in the door it was HELLO FAMILY!! At least thirty relatives were in attendance (and this is only a SMALL fraction of the family). It is also the first time G has braved any family affair of mine involving more than just my immediate parentals. Only half of my aunts and uncles were there and it was still mildly overwhelming for him. He took everything in stride and tried to keep all the names straight. There were cousins coming out of the woodwork (including some I hadn't seen since they were seven or eight and now they're in their mid-20s). We socialize, ate, played softball, played with the dogs (there were three there), and socialized some more. The cousins around my age invited us diving on the east coast of Florida in August and I believe we're going to take them up on the offer. I think it'll be great for us to get out and do something, meet some people, and have fun!! (after my boards are over of course)

We were a little worried driving home as we were going to be driving into the storm. However, we only went through two fairly substantial bands of rain. Not too eventful, which is just how you want it when you're braving the east side of a hurricane. (the notoriously bad side to be on if you're not up on your hurricane trivia)

Regardless we had a wonderful time at the birthday party and we're definitely going to have to be at more family events in the future. It was great to finally meet all my cousin's kids !

And, for the record, G was universally loved. :) YAY! One aunt even commented on his cuteness (of course I had to agree with her)

Candidate 505120

My letter came today: I am candidate 505120 for the Florida Clinical Board Exam. My test is at 9am on July 31st. There are 150 of us sitting for the exam. AHHHHHHH !! I'm going running...

Bombings and Studying

I'm off on Thursdays so I can stay home and study. (and do laundry, catch up on errands, pay bills, and clean) I usually find lots to do besides study.

Today I have CNN on mute in the background due to the bombings this morning in London. I got an email from one of the girls from the Houston flyball team letting me know she's alright. (she was across the pond to attend a family members funeral) She just left central London last night for another part of England. She's decided to come home tomorrow. Thank god she's all right. This kind of things makes me so nervous with G traveling all the time. He flies home tonight and I'll probbaly worry until he comes in the door. Even though I know the chances of anything happening to him are SO small.... when something like this happens it just makes me nervous about his traveling job and airline security.

Well, back to the laundry.... and the Massachusettes Eye and Ear... *sigh*

Blah

I really don't want to study tonight. I'm having way too much fun on the phone catching up with friends. But, I'm feeling so guilty that I'm not studying tonight. I'm taking the damn test three weeks from today. Tonight... finish phone calls and play with the doggie.. study TOMORROW !!! (I'm going to have to force myself)

Three Day Weekend

It's another three day weekend. Although, my weekends are always three days until after boards since I have Mondays off to study! It's especially nice this weekend because G is home Friday through Monday. I'm not used to having him home four days in a row.. it's very nice!

Saturday was our day for running errands. Home Depot for a new garbage disposal (the cheap one our builder gave us ate itself), Wal-mart for light bulbs (to replace burnt out ones.. go figure) and a doormat for our condo, and finally the grocery store for odds and ends to get us through the weekend. (especially the beer part)

Sunday I spent some time studying.. and G put in our new garbage disposal (proving that yes, some men CAN read the directions). When I took a study break I went down to our pool for an hour. It was a freakin' FRAT PARTY! Most of the people in our condo complex are young, single, professionals. Although, many of them are renting from the actual owners. Well, I finally found a lounge chair and proceeded to people watch. There were about fifteen people grilling at the grill, at least thirty in the actual pool, 10+ girls on floaties in the same pool, and three neighbhorhood kids who don't live there who sneak in every day to use our pool (but they're fun so we let them). It was especially fun to watch the neighborhood kids do cannonballs on the sorority girls and watch them squeel.... which is made even more ironic by the fact that they were IN THE POOL! Hello you're already wet and by squeeling you're just encouraging the kids to do it to you more!! Dingy girls. So between the jello shots, beer, people making out, and cannonball kids.. I could only handle about an hour of it. I'm past by beer and jello shot stage and was starting to feel really old by my own pool. *sigh* Maybe I should just shut up and move the burbs and start having kids already..... (somebody hold me.. that just came out of my mouth!)

After the pool I went back to studying and making dinner. (mmm spaghetti with fresh bread from panera and good red wine!) G and I also went to see War of the Worlds. A GREAT popcorn flick. Don't expect tons of character development.. or explanation of back-story at the end at the plausability of how the entire extended family survived ... but i digrees. Overall a very good action flick with lots of tension and not too many jump out at the screen at you and make you jump moments. I have to give it 4/5 stars. I was plesantly suprised.

Scheduled

I'm registered for the Florida Optometry Board's computerized exams. AHHHHHHH !! I'm taking the Jurisprudence exam on July 25th and the Pharmacology exam on July 26th. I'm so nervous!!! I'll be studying for the next three weeks... and then I'll (hopefully) be prepared for "the week from hell". My clinical practical is the 30th which my mother will be flying in for. I don't think I've ever had this much riding on something in my entire life. (other than maybe my admission test to OD school)