EyeOn Patients - Illinois College of Optometry

Eye On Students
Third-year
Colleen Morrissey
enjoys her job
in the Pediatric
Outreach Program
Rewarding Work
Calming a crying kindergartner in the hallway. Watching a
7-month-old have an eye exam. Fitting a pair of glasses on a
nursery school student.
As part of her work study program, third-year student,
Colleen Morrissey, could be called upon to do any of the
above activities on any given Tuesday.
That’s the day Morrissey accompanies a handful of doctors
and fourth-year students to a designated preschool in the city
to conduct comprehensive eye exams on children, birth
through 5 years of age.
As part of ICO’s Pediatric Outreach Program, Morrissey
works with preschools and various agencies, many of which
are part of the Head Start Program designed to foster the
healthy development of young children from low-income
families. On an average day, the team sees 30 children; they
stay at one preschool for approximately eight weeks. That
gives them enough time to conduct the exams and prescribe,
make or order glasses for those who need them. While some
of the glasses are made at the Eye Institute, Morrissey
explains, others have to go through Medicaid, which typically
takes longer to process. Then she conducts follow-up sessions
to fit the students with their glasses.
15 ICO Matters / Spring 2005
On Wednesdays, Morrissey collects program-related data
and puts it into the computer. The data will eventually be presented
as research posters at meetings of the American
Academy of Optometry. An example of the information that
emerges from the data is that approximately 20 percent of the
children seen need glasses, highlighting the importance of
including eye exams in the routine care these children should
receive. Grants from VSP, Prince Charitable Trusts, and the
Northern Trust Charitable Trust help support the program.
In the year that Morrissey has worked with the program, she
has helped streamline the process. It used to take many months
from the time the exams were given before some of the glasses
were dispensed. That time frame was problematic because
oftentimes the students had moved to another school. Now it’s
a much smoother process. “It’s rewarding to see,” she says.
Another reward of the position is the opportunity to be
working with and around such young patients. “I would never
have seen kids this young if I hadn’t become involved with the
program,” she says. “I really enjoy the interaction with the
kids.” A native of Oak Lawn, Ill., Morrissey thinks that after
graduating in May 2006, she would like to enter private practice,
possibly specializing in pediatric eye care. ◆
— Ruth Carol