University of California, Santa Cruz

Optometry Clinic Administrator: George Lee, OD, Chief of Community Clinics

Clinical Faculty Members: Drs. Teresa Nguyen at teesanguyen@berkeley.edu and Tracy Wang at tracywang@berkeley.edu

Type of Practice: Primary Care and Contact Lenses

The UCSC-UCBSO Eye Clinic, a primary care clinic within a multidisciplinary setting, provides eye care to students (similar to Tang Eye Center), with an option to provide faculty and staff eye care services at a later date. UCSC patients are self-referred, referred by the staff physicians and/or staff members of the Student Health Center or by other patients seen by the clinic. The practice model is similar to a private practice. The students at UCSC are provided services on a fee for service basis or those who have accepted the option of student health services coverage (similar to Berkeley’s Blue View SHIP insurance) may use the eye clinic services. While UCSC campus faculty and staff are not yet eligible to use the eye clinic services at this time, once the campus health center administration approves their use, most UCSC benefited faculty and staff are covered by VSP insurance. The Eye Clinic will accept most vision insurance plans that students may have through their parents.

Transportation & Directions

• Transportation is the responsibility of each clinician and faculty member. Clinicians should check with their clinical instructor to determine if car-pooling is a possibility. From the UC campus, take 880 South and connect to Highway 17 just after Highway 280 in San Jose. Continue south on Hwy 17 following signs to Santa Cruz. Go briefly on Hwy 1 toward Davenport and San Francisco. Travel on city streets (Hwy 1) and turn right onto Mission Street. Continue on Mission St to Bay St. Turn right on Bay St and continue toward campus. Turn on High St and continue to Coolidge Drive; follow Coolidge Drive to the top which will turn into McLaughlin Drive. Continue on McLaughlin Drive past two STOP signs. Driveway into Student Health Center is on your left. Note: if you pass the flashing red light, you have gone too far.

Equipment

• There are two exam lanes. Students need to bring their personal equipment including diagnostic kit and fundus lenses. Please note that neither UCBSO nor UCSC are held responsible for any equipment left behind.

Clinical Attire

• Professional attire is expected. Students are to bring their clinic jacket and name tag. All clinicians will be required to have immunizations current in order to provide patient care. Additionally all clinicians are required to follow appropriate compliance and complete HIPAA training.

Patient Care

• There are two complete exam lanes in a large room with dividers dividing the two lanes. The exams are driven by the attending faculty member with the support of the clinician. Due to the limited space and time allotment for each exam, the faculty member and clinician should function as a team to provide patient care. There is an extensive selection of frames and sunglass frames. Clinicians will be expected to do frame selection, lens selection, lens measurement and dispensing of eyewear along with completing eye exams.
• Exam procedures include case history, spectacle neutralization, confrontation testing, visual field testing, ocular health examination, contact lens fitting and refitting, CL insertion and removal training. All clinical documentation will be made on the student health center’s EHR system Point n Click.
• Comprehensive exams are scheduled every 45 minutes. Follow up appointments such as contact lens follow-up or DFEs are scheduled for 15 minutes. Routine Contact lens fittings are encouraged to be completed during the initial comprehensive exam visit.
• Demographics: UCSC campus students, faculty and staff
• Prerequisite:
  • 4th-year clinicians: satisfactory completion of 3rd-year clinics
  • 3rd-year clinicians: satisfactory completion of summer clinic

Fees

• The Optometry Clinic is open to all registered students. Students who have paid their quarter health care coverage are eligible to receive eye exam services at no additional charge other than their insurance co-pays and overages. Faculty and staff when eligible will have their exam services covered in accordance to their vision care plan coverage. Deductibles are required to be paid and may not be waived.

Ophthalmic Eyewear Dispensary

• Eye wear materials are paid for by the patient in accordance to the usual and customary fee schedule. No eyewear may be processed prior to full payment by the patient. All eye wear jobs are processed through the UC Eye Wear Center Lab.

Contact Lenses

• As with spectacle materials, all contact lenses material are paid for by the patient. No contact lenses order may be processed without full payment. The majority of contact lens orders may be ordered through AB Con-Cise Contacts Lens Co.

Referrals

• Referrals can be generated from within the Student Health Service to the Optometry Eye Clinic. These are typically urgent care cases. Patients seen in Optometry with general health issues are to be referred to a primary care provider in the health center

Goals (and Educational Objectives)

• The Optometry clinic is UC’s own private practice and not just another institutional health care clinic. We must make a professional impression not only to the patients, but to all others within the health care facility. Excellent patient care should be delivered to the patient as efficiently as possible with sound clinical judgment. Strive to think much like a private practitioner and never give away your professional services.
• Educational Objectives
  • Experience Optometry care within a multi-disciplinary health care setting.
  • Opportunity to interact with other health care professionals
  • Inter- and intra-clinical referral procedures and protocols
  • Opportunity to work with diverse group of ethnicities
  • Efficient assessment and evaluation of patient cases is expected
  • Ability to manage, assess ocular manifestations of systemic diseases; treat ocular diseases within the scope of CA Optometry guidelines
  • Expect ability to perform examinations efficiently in a fast paced designed clinic
• Resident/Student Responsibilities
  • Provide care to a large volume of patients
  • Seminar and case discussions
  • Communicate with other health care providers
  • Referrals to other health care providers
  • Complete all referral/consultations request for each patient
  • Complete all necessary examination services coding for billing
  • Ability to work efficiently and cooperatively with attending OD, resident and students
• Faculty Responsibilities
  • Facilitates efficient patient flow among faculty, resident and student
  • Provide direct patient care as necessary
  • Facilitates appropriate inter or intra clinical referral/consultation
  • Mentors resident and student in patient care
  • Evaluates resident and student clinical performance
  • Seminar, grand rounds and case discussion

Absence Policy

Any leave must be requested at least 30 days in advance of desired day off and be pre-approved by the attending faculty in addition to being submitted into Meditrek. Requested leave will be granted only at the discretion of the attending doctor. Leave requests made with less than 30 days’ advance notice may be denied.

• In addition to normal seminar presentations required for all students, granted day off will require an additional assignment prior to the end of the session: PowerPoint presentation, summary of assigned journal articles on a particular topic, or an AAO style case report. The type of assignment will be determined by and reviewed by the attending doctor.

• NBEO Boards:

  • No additional assignments required for the actual exam date only.

  • NBEO part 1 or 2: travel days will NOT be approved as these tests are offered locally.

  • NBEO part 3: students are encouraged to schedule their test on Monday or Friday or federal holiday; one travel day is allowed.

  • No requests for NBEO III leave will be granted for the first week of the session.

• Residency Interviews – virtual interviews are encouraged. Otherwise, multiple interviews should be scheduled on the same day or within a few days of each other to limit clinic time missed.

• Law Test: students are requested to schedule their test in the morning of a second or fourth Wednesday of the month to coincide with clinic downtime so that they are able to return for clinic in the afternoon. Days off to study for the Law Test will not be granted.

• National Meetings (AAO, AOA, SECO, etc): only 1 conference per rotation per student.

• Religious holidays: no additional assignments

• If you are sick and need to call in an absence, please inform the attending doctor via TigerConnect and email as soon as possible.

• No more than 4 days can be missed in a session. Missing more than 4 clinic days will result in an incomplete grade for the session.