MSCHE/ACOE Self Study

2.8 The quantity, quality and variety of experiences in the supervised care of patients are sufficient for each student to develop clinical competency for entry level practice. Students’ first-, second- and third-year clinical experience and half of their fourth- year experience occurs in the UEC, the patient care facility of the SUNY College of Optometry, which has over 75,000 on campus patient visits per year. The UEC’s location in the heart of the nation’s most densely populated metropolis, with an extraordinarily diverse clinical population, affords an unparalleled training opportunity. The College tracks the number and nature of patient encounters for each student in the UEC Primary Care Clinic and at externship site rotations. Primary care encounters have been tracked with a self-developed web-based system while externship sites have utilized the Meditrek system. Tracking of student-patient encounters during on-campus specialty clinic rotations and dispensing has been through internal tracking systems developed by the clinic or based on estimates of the service chief. It is estimated that average graduating student sees about 1,500 patients. To ensure uniformity in the collection of data, commencing in fall, 2010 student-patient encounters in Primary Care Clinic and specialty clinics will be recorded by students using the Meditrek system. During clinic rotations and screenings in years 1 and 2, the average student observes or actively participates in the care of about 51 patients, with about 5 of these being complete eye examinations. In 2009-2010, the average third-year student saw approximately 96 patients in Primary Care (range of 72-129) while the average fourth-year student examined 115 patients in Primary Care and 820 patients during externship rotations. With the implementation of the new curriculum, there is an increase in the number of hours that third-year students will be in clinic. Going forward, it is a curricular goal for third-year students to see approximately 120 Primary Care patients during their assigned rotations (in addition to those patients seen in specialty clinics). If this goal for Primary Care patient encounters is not met for a student, he/she will be assigned to additional sessions. As more experience is obtained with the new curriculum and newly implemented third year pod system (Section 2.3), this number will be reassessed. In addition to these primary care student-patient experiences, third- and fourth- year students rotate through the campus UEC Eyewear Center and specialty clinics. Student patient encounters in the Eyewear center are estimated at 55 and 35 for third- and fourth-year students, respectively. During third-year specialty clinic rotations, it is estimated that the average student sees about 50 patients. For fourth-year specialty rotations, it is estimated that the average student sees 135 patients each in the pediatrics/vision therapy and ocular disease/low vision rotations (270 total). With the full implementation of the Meditek tracking system,

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