#humansofoptometry

I had the pleasure of writing a post for Outoftheboxoptics this month as part of the #THECOVID-19EFFECT and #humansofoptometry features. They are are ingenious company who specialise in OSCE training and educational resources.

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What a whirlwind these past two months have been, on the 17th March Aston University had suspended all face to face teaching. This left unfinished taught content, cancelled practical assessments and a whole lot of uncertainty among all students! With such an abrupt end to first year it was easy to feel alone and apprehensive about how things would pan out.

With upcoming practical assessments for subjective refraction and slit lamp biomicroscopy we were quite concerned as to how we were going to be able to pass the required competencies in order to progress into second year. Despite this concern Aston very swiftly redesigned all teaching and assessments to accommodate for the evolving pandemic. Within weeks, students received module-specific adjustments outlining how changes were going to be implemented.

The move to online teaching was relatively straightforward with recorded lectures supported by zoom video conferences – a welcome addition to our lacklustre routines. Innovative “virtual experiments” were introduced for Optics and Medical Imaging whereas unique patient simulators were used for Clinical Practice module assessments. This was an efficient way of to satisfy the learning objectives and complemented the now scheduled online examinations replacing written ones.

I think at Aston we have been very lucky to have such a phenomenal team that have been able to provide that reassurance and continuity in a time where our day to day life has completely transformed. Whilst it is important that we must adhere to social distancing we must not socially isolate ourselves; something that I’ve found quite a challenge.

Working with the Association of Optometrists, the student committee has helped formulate an “Ask the Experts” article which will be released soon, aiming to answer many questions students may have, in one place. There is also a student specific email which will be released bringing together resources and highlighting their locations on the 11th May so I urge all to keep an eye out for this.