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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
NSU Optometry Students Conduct Teddy Bear Clinic
Recently at NSU’s Day for Children, 5,000 children and their families learned about health and health care services and accessed screenings and community agencies and had a lot of fun. Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital at Memorial Healthcare Systems set up a ‘teddy bear clinic.’ Children received their own brand-new free teddy bear ‘patient’, then gowned up with mask and hair cover, and took their teddy bear through a series of stations to get their teddy bear’s vitals, stethoscope, immunizations, AND, new this year, their eyes checked– thanks to NSU optometry students.
The kids used an occluder and tested visual acuity, dilated (with saline eye wash) and performed direct ophthalmoscopy on their teddy bears– among other tests. The optometry station was the most popular; and the results were a win-win for all–the optometry students who learned how to interact with kids and their parents in an interdisciplinary fun community setting, plus the young children who learned what an eye exam was all about (and hopefully won’t be afraid of dilation) and got a free teddy bear, and the parents who learned the importance of comprehensive eye examinations from optometrists.
Curious George is getting his eyes dilated by this young ‘doctor’ with the help of his mother and second year NSU optometry student Danny Hamilton.