The Visionary Fall 2009

The Visionary – Fall 2009 • Page 29 desire to promote and maintain fellowship among optometrists while creating an environment for spiritual growth. We aim to establish, maintain, and operate educational training programs and clinics in optometry and allied ophthalmic fields for students and those who are members of or affiliated with FCO International. At the end of the 2009 winter semester, a group of students from the NSU FCO chapter went to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Our goal was to provide eye care to people who are not able to access it in their daily lives. In Honduras, we partnered with His Eyes Clinic and Valerie Colby, O.D., to go out to the rural areas of Tegucigalpa to perform eye exams and give out glasses that were donated by Luxottica and Lions Club. As a result of the trip, over 500 patients received the gift of sight, and many more were impacted in Tegus and its surrounding villages. Florida Optometric Student Association (FOSA) FOSA is the student branch of the Florida Optometric Association (FOA). We encourage participation of young optometrists and optometry students to join with the FOA in all phases of its work and efforts. We inform optometry students about important political issues pertaining to our future profession in Florida and encourage student advocacy. We also provide many opportunities for optometry students to make connections with local optometrists through events we hold. This year brought us over 50 new student members. In July 2010, we will be welcoming Ernesto Cepero, incoming FOSA president elect, so mark your calendar for the FOA Convention, which will be held July 22-25, 2010, in Orlando. Nova Optometric Practice Management Association (NOPMA) NOPMA has started off the 2009-10 school year on the right foot. The first NOPMA meeting of the year welcomed the most attendees in NOPMA history here at NSU’s campus. The word is getting out that business and optometry go hand in hand. Having business knowledge is vital to being successful no matter what modality is chosen. The organization meets monthly and features guest speakers from the full range of optometric professions. These nationwide speakers bring their experience and encouragement to students considering private, commercial, and group practice. Other speakers that are not optometrists include representatives from retail and drug companies, business bankers, and financial advisors. NOPMA’s goal is to expose the members to as much business knowledge as possible before they graduate and go into practice. As a perk to joining the club and to emphasize the importance of networking, business cards will be distributed again this year to all new members. It will be an exciting and busy year for all NOPMA members. National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) The National Optometric Student Association (NOSA) continues to promote community involvement locally and internationally through health fairs, vision screenings, and mission trips. During the months of July and August, NOSA took part in the Memorial Healthcare System’s Back-to-School Health Fairs by participating in vision screenings for Broward County students at various community centers in Hollywood and Miramar. In June, NOSA, along with Dr. Sherrol Reynolds, Dr. Greg Black, and Dr. Noel Henry, participated in the annual NSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Jamaica Medical Mission. NOSA screened over 400 residents of Kingston and St. Mary, Jamaica, for refractive errors, presbyopia, advanced cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy, which are the most prevalent conditions for reduced vision in the Jamaican population. With support from NSU’s College of Optometry and the Fort Lauderdale Lions Club, NOSA’s optometry team was able to provide individuals the spectacles and therapeutic treatments needed to improve and preserve their vision health. The Jamaica Medical Mission was successful in providing most of the basic health care needs for Jamaicans through the joint effort of NOSA’s NSU student chapter, which consisted of nine members: Dr. Smith Blanc, Bupathi Dissanayake, Thanh Thao Ho, Steven Klein, Aria Murphy, Magdalena Saint- Louis, Denise Saunders, Somayeh Semati, and Jimmy Yang, along with other teams from NSU’s Health Professions Division. These teams incorporated individuals from the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and it’s Master of Public Health Program, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, and Allied Health and Nursing. During the past fall and winter/spring semesters, NOSA hosted several fundraising events such as bake sales, multicultural lunch sales, valentine candy-gram sales, and a car wash. In April, NOSA hosted its third annual banquet at which the new NOSA officers were installed. They are: Denise Saunders (president), Somayeh Semati (vice president), Huma Jeelani (secretary), Asinech Mida (tTreasurer), and Bupathi Dissanayake (fundraising chair). Optometric Student Association for Ocular Disease (OSAOD) The OSAOD is entering into its second year at NSU, and it promises to be an exciting one. The OSAOD’s first meeting of the new academic year was held on September 24, and Dr. Joseph Sowka once again served as our featured speaker. In other news, the OSAOD is looking forward to inviting speakers from different modalities of practices who will share how they have incorporated disease practice into their practice. We welcome members from all of the classes. The OSAOD will provide exposure to the first- and second-year students and will broaden the depth of disease knowledge and practice for the third- and fourth-year students. Student Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (SVOSH) SVOSH is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1997 by NSU College of Optometry students. Our goal is to provide primary eye care to individuals who do not have access either due to geographical or financial reasons. Our main mission is during spring break of each year. We travel to a Caribbean or Central/South American country where there is great need for optometric care. We collect thousands of used glasses, many from the Lions Club and local optometrists, and prepare them for distribution in these underdeveloped areas. For most of the people we help, our services may be the only form of health care they will ever receive. Our last mission, during March 2009, was to help the residents of the rural suburbs of Quito, Ecuador. It was a joint effort between NSU’s College of Optometry and the local optometrists of Ecuador. Eye examinations were given over a three-day period, with the average workday lasting 10 hours. The patients’ journey through our free “clinic” began with a thorough ocular/medical history, near and distance visual acuities followed by eye motility, confrontation fields, pupil testing, direct ophthalmoscopy, and overall health evaluation. Refractions were then performed along with slit lamp, ocular pressure, and indirect biomicroscopy. Glasses were distributed to those in need, along with medications and referrals to those diagnosed with disease and other ocular problems. Over the three-day period, the team was able to examine over 1,000 patients and dispense over 2,000 glasses and sunglasses. These trips are a great experience for not only the patients but also the students and doctors who are able to participate in the trips. students’ pages