Tori Nolt – Optometry & Medical Internship

My name is Tori Nolt, and I am interning at Optometric Associates this semester. This optical practice is located in New Holland Pennsylvania on West Main Street. It provides a multitude of different eye services including medical eye care and the sale of optical frames and lenses. I have been working through a rotation of the office observing and shadowing different essential parts. I started with observing the Receptionists at the front desk and now and shadowing the Technicians. My next rotation will include shadowing the opticians and working with contact lenses and glasses. I attend my internship every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and have really enjoyed all the different aspects of office I am able to work in. I am amazed by the customer service and incredible welcoming and helpful attitude all the staff have here. Being able to get a feel for how a small medical office runs with such great patient connections has been wonderful to see. I hope to pursue a career in the medical field and this opportunity has been so beneficial.

I have learned a lot from the observation time I have gotten in the office. At the beginning of my internship, I completed some receptionist training and watched videos specific to optometry. I was able to watch videos on how the front desk manages different tasks and what takes priority in time management. This is a skill that I feel will prove to be beneficial in all areas of my life and was interesting to watch. In addition, I spent my time performing front desk job duties including organizing receipts, filing patient records, stamping mail, labeling address cards, and work in packaging. A typical day for me would include splitting my time between one of those front desk tasks and then time to observe the person working front desk. This time for observation really allowed me to learn each step with check in and checkout of each patient. I observed some billing and faxing practices and procedures while working with the front desk. I also got to see the daily duties for each receptionist as they would balance their time between answering calls, scheduling, and changing appointments, pulling charts for the next week, dealing with insurance inquiries, all while maintaining a positive and friendly attitude toward the patients. I learned how essential multitasking is while working at the front desk. I worked on a project during my time of observing the front desk. This included organizing patient files, from another eye care provider. Patients from an existing office were referred to Optometric Associates, and they had paper charts and records, which I organized by patient last name on the filing cabinets. This way, whenever the technicians need a chart pulled for an upcoming appointment, they are organized and ready to be used. I feel I have gained a lot of insight on proper customer service and learned a lot through the day-to-day interactions with patients.

I have spent time observing the technicians and have enjoyed the hands-on experience. For example, I get to shadow the technicians as they perform visual field testing for each patient. I have also observed the way they enter information into the patient’s chart and certain terms they use when entering information.  During this rotation of my internship, I have had job duties including shadowing and observing the patient and tech’s. This interaction begins when the tech calls the patient back into the room and performs standard checks including blood pressure and temperature. In addition, the technician performs visual acuity tests which I have been able to closely watch. The tech also asks the patient about any visual concerns they have and logs all information. My daily routine as part of this rotation includes following the techs from room to room. They call the patient back, perform testing, record information, and get them ready for the doctor. After their appointment with the doctor, we go back in and take them to the front desk to check out with the receptionist. I am still working with the tech’s during this time and look forward to continuing to get to work hands on with patients.

I feel this internship has been very beneficial to furthering my ideas of how a medical office operates. I feel I have grown in my communication with patients and grown in customer service. This experience has really allowed me to work closely with staff and get to experience the day-to-day tasks they have. I feel the receptionist training videos taught me a lot about how to best serve patients. I feel these discussed skills that I can take with me to any job and would prove effective in any collaborative work. I hope to attend college for nursing and become a Registered Nurse. I have always known I wanted to enter into the medical field but have recently centered my focus on nursing. I feel seeing how a general medical office runs have been greatly influential and very helpful. Even though I want to go into nursing and not specifically optometry, I feel this opportunity has been so helpful and a great experience as I have learned so much that would be great in any profession. I have learned much more about insurance aspects in medical office, how charts are pulled, what information to put in a record, and many parts of customer service that would prove helpful to the medical field. I am thankful for this opportunity and feel many aspects of what I have learned will be helpful in future medical career options.