Finland Students’ Experience

In this podcast, we'll hear from Master of Science in Clinical Optometry students from Oulu University in Finland about why they chose Salus for their clinical training.

Ansii Hakala: I'm an optometrist from Finland. I live in the northern part of Finland, so it's been a very nice experience during this time of the year because we already have snow and it's like minus five to maybe 10 degrees Celsius [in Finland]. [As a result], it's been nice to come here.

Ritva Kahlos: I'm also an optometrist from Finland. I'm doing my master’s degree there and now I'm here having this nice experience at Salus.

Q: Why did you choose Salus?

Hakala: So I think the main reason for me was to see the different kinds of eye diseases and the patient care [component] Salus is teaching. And, of course, I've known Dr. [Robert] Andersson for three to four years now and I’ve seen how well he teaches I was sure that his colleagues were going to be great and they have been.

Kahlos: And, when I heard about this training I was like this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get this kind of opportunity, improve my clinical skills and see the clinical findings that I probably will not see in Finland, that are not that common in Finland, or at least are where I work. That was definitely my reason to come here.

Q: What is your favorite part of the program so far?

Kahlos: For me, the patient care [experience] and figuring out how to draw the whole picture, putting all the puzzle pieces together. It's not about the finding, it's not about the symptoms, it's not about the patient history or age - it's like you need to collect them all. After that, you can figure out what the patient has and where to look for the findings, to see the whole picture.

Hakala: Definitely patient care for me, also. On a daily basis, we see, or I see, basically healthy eyes in Finland. So. now when we are able to see so many eye diseases every day, it's been so exciting to see those things. And, I think the most enlightening thing has been to understand the importance of the analysis. With the proper analysis, you can help your work so much.

Kahlos: You can also rule out what is not important. What you see are some findings that are not very clinically significant. So, they may mislead you or you can just say, okay, I see this but it doesn't matter,we can just sort of skip it. We write it down but then just move on.

Hakala: I like Dr. Andersson and Dr. Mark [Shust]. They are helping us so much. They are helping us to put the puzzle pieces together. They don't give us the exact answers. They are just pushing us in the correct direction.

Kahlos: Yeah, they're pushing us. Okay, do your research to find what “this” and “this” might be if you don't know it already.

Hakala: “This is something you should ask,” “Is there any trauma,” “Has the patient not been seeing so well or how long has it been since they were a child?” It's been very nice to see this, how they work and how they help us.

Kahlos: Well, all the people here have been super friendly, so nice and helpful. I mean all the supervisors, all the coordinators and all the patients. In the controlled patient care, they have been so nice. Even though it takes forever for us to complete the eye exam, they're still there. They're waiting for us, they are ready to sit there as long as we need them. It's been really nice.

Q: Can you break down the different aspects of your training?

Kahlos: Basically we have had a few lectures and then most of the time we have been in this controlled patient care [setting]. That has been the major part of the training here.

Hakala: For the first several days we had two to three patients and at the moment we're taking four per day. So it's mainly one and a half hours per patient. And, then I think for me it's been enough because there are so many things to consider in each case. In Finland, I think we haven't gotten used to it, the analysis is so much deeper compared to what we have been doing here. So it takes quite a long time. And, also we do the basic vision testing and after that, we start to use the microscope and if there are any findings in the cornea, in the eye. But then we move forward to the lens, we check the iris, we check the retina, that's the whole thing. And, then we try to put the puzzle pieces together.

Q: How do you think this program will help your career in the future?

Kahlos: Definitely for me I've got a better, deeper and also wider understanding about these puzzle pieces, like how to put them all together. So now I think I'm more ready to evaluate every single patient, the whole piece. And, also better self-confidence with using my exam routines which is something that I don't use in Finland that much. Here I check with every patient. So also these basic routines, really lift my skills up.

Hakala: I have exactly the same feeling and I would like to be here for two more weeks. We have only two more days. But basically I'm more confident about the comprehensive eye examination or what it takes, what pieces are part of it, and all the procedures, and what we're doing. I think I'm feeling that it's becoming a routine, but it hasn't been in Finland so far. So that's I think the main thing.

Visit salus.edu/international for more information.