There are many situations that can throw a wrench into your smooth eye exam flow, but encountering a patient with a long series of medications is definitely up there on the list of time sinks. Or, more commonly, your patient may only remember small bits of information about their medication – the pill color, the first letter of the drug name, the purpose of the pill – but not the actual drug name. Regardless of the situation, having a thorough record of medications and a full understanding of what conditions your patient has is vital to providing a quality eye exam. Luckily for us, Dr. Len Hua and 2nd-year student Jessica Tran of Pacific University College of Optometry have come up with a valuable list of commonly prescribed drugs to help jog our memories!
This handy one-page drug list has found a permanent home in my white coat pocket alongside an ophthalmic drop guide, a quick reference for systemic disease values, a list of common diagnosis codes and norms, and about a year’s supply of Tic Tacs – all essential tools for my survival for the first few months of clinic. You can also check out this great Top 10 list of what to keep in your white coat pockets during clinic.
Just follow THIS LINK to access Pacific’s CommonKnowledge site, and click the “download” button on the right side of the page to download the list!
