Kentucky College of Optometry

Gaining Clinical Experience Home and Abroad

The University of Pikeville – Kentucky College of Optometry (KYCO) upperclassmen are embarking on an extensive externship program. Students have three rotations per year: summer (13 weeks), fall (17 weeks) and spring (15 weeks). They started the fall rotation on Aug. 26 this year and will complete it Dec. 20.

“This is a unique class that took a risk on a brand-new school,” says Assistant Dean of Clinical Affairs and Associate Professor of Optometry Cliff Caudill, O.D. “They matriculated, knowing that it was a start-up and not established nor accredited yet, but our philosophy and program enabled us to get students who were ready to take the journey with us.”

Students had more than 26,000 patient encounters during the summer rotation at 51 different sites. These sites are all over the United States in various areas of interest including primary care, surgery, pediatrics and low vision.

Students rotate within Veterans Administration facilities as well as I.H.S. (Indian Health Service) sites. UPIKE is currently in the process of evaluating international sites located in Germany and China.

“In our early clinical encounters, such as those in community health centers, patients are coming in who have more systemic problems in addition to eye problems, unlike other institutions where the focus is on younger, healthier patients,” said Caudill.

In their third year, students spend one day a week in clinics. By the fourth year, it is five days a week, significantly ramping up the volume of patients they see. They go to a variety of public and private sites, including referral centers for secondary and tertiary care.

“We have hundreds of different sites,” said Caudill. “So, there is a lot of variety for some area that they are interested in, or which they may be weak in or want to specialize in.” They may visit a one-to-two patient optometric practice in a rural area, or a referral center in an urban area for surgical care or go to a city such as Louisville or Lexington to get a taste of high volume, specialty ocular care.

Caudill emphasizes that the primary mission is to train optometrists in rural optometry to be part of the health care team beyond refractive care (for example, glasses for improving vision). The externships allow students to talk to patients about systemic problems.

“In rural settings, optometry may be one of the few contacts they have with the medical community. It is a medical model of optometry, providing more than just refractive care,” says Caudill, who has supervised clinical students for 13 years and came to KYCO for the opportunity to train students in advanced ocular therapeutics.

“Going out to where these patients are is the nature of our model. It is more of an outreach philosophy,” says Caudill. “Our mission is to try to provide care for persons in the region and to train our students. Our students get a lot of patient encounters and it helps them learn what type of practice mode attracts them. When they come out in fourth year, they have to come out ready to practice.”

Welcome Class of 2023

Students in KYCO’s fourth incoming class are well on their way to setting the standard for excellence in optometric education and vision care.

The Class of 2023 is the product of some remarkable numbers. Sixty-four students selected were chosen from 772 total applicants. Forty-three of the 64 students, nearly two-thirds of the entering class, consider themselves from rural backgrounds. This class includes 17 men and 47 women with an average age of 22.

Striving for excellence begins with inclusion in the student body. The students at KYCO represent many different backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities, coming from 24 states across the country including: Kentucky (14), Tennessee (6), Indiana (4), Missouri (4), Ohio (4), Louisiana (3), Michigan (3), West Virginia (3); two each from Arkansas, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia; one each from California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming. Within the Commonwealth of Kentucky, students represent the cities of Glasgow, Louisville, Neon, Pikeville, Clarkson, Hazard, Lexington, Winchester, Jenkins, London and Somerset.

“The students from Kentucky are truly local students who grew up here and wanted to return and give back,” said Michael Bacigalupi, O.D., M.S., FAAO, FNAP, dean of KYCO. “We have students from the Pikeville medical community following in the footsteps of their parents and other family members. One of our attractions to students from smaller hometown communities is it feels like home and they feel connections here.”

The class of 2023 shows every sign of being well prepared. As Bacigalupi puts it, “Our students continue to move the profession forward.”

By Mark Baggett