The Unofficial Guide to First Year - University of Oklahoma Health ...

UNOFFICIAL GUIDE
• Teaching style: He mostly sticks to the syllabus and doesn’t seem to
elaborate much further. The only part of the syllabus that he explains in
extra detail is the area about the phototransduction cascade (WILL BE
ON THE TEST), as the figure in the syllabus can be quite confusing.
Come to think of it, Dr. Blair agreed with us that even after his
explanation it still seemed a little fishy…but just ask if it doesn’t clear up
for you!
• Test questions: Know the differences between exo- and esotropia, know
the phototransduction cascade (especially how the Na+ levels are affected
in light and dark), know the main reasons that cause glaucoma, and
know about the retinal pigmented epithelium. I should add my personal
opinion that his questions seemed to come from areas that were not
emphasized in lecture, and so I had a lot of trouble with his section on
the exam.
• To go or not to go? You can go if you are interested in the eye, or you
consider yourself a gunner. However, make sure that you at least listen
to the explanation of how the phototransduction cascade works, or
perhaps just read the note groups
“I suppose you could say that
everyone has an El Guapo. For
some, shyness may be an El
Guapo. For others, lack of
education may be an El Guapo.
But for us, El Guapo is a large
ugly man who wants to kill us!”
-Lucky Day (Steve Martin)
The Three Amigos (1986)
DR. ELLIOTT ROSS – WHY COULDN’T YOU BE MORE LIKE
HERMAN JONES??
• What he teaches: Dr. Ross has a short section on the vestibular ocular
reflex for the second test block and comes roaring back in for the third
test block to present some of the most clinically relevant and flat out
riveting information of the semester (not read: He is the best lecturer).
He teaches all about aphasias, aprosodias, agnosias, neglect/abulia, as
well as giving his two cents on pain (not nociception) and emotion.
• Teaching style: Dr. Ross will go through a ton of slides and adds quite a
bit of information not found in his syllabus during lecture. In addition,
you had better have your listening hats on, because he doesn’t like
slowing down to answer questions during lecture (however, outside of
class he would get back to you promptly and seemed to be quite helpful).
Dr. Ross shows some amazing videos to help us understand how
agnosias, aprosodias and aphasias present clinically. Once again, if you
are a visual learner, these videos are money at helping you to keep the
differences between the different types of lesions. While Dr. Ross is not
the greatest lecturer at times (he sometimes seems to get off topic to “toot
his own horn”), in theory, he presents everything you need to know for
the exams within his lecture. I should add that I studied exclusively from
the lectures (which I watched twice) for his lectures in TB6, but I did not
perform very well. So I recommend reading over the syllabus as well.
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