Rachel PiÑA - AZCOPT 2026
My Time in Fort Stockton
My Time in Fort Stockton
My Time in Fort Stockton
As a city girl, many of my patients asked me if I was miserable in this town of about 8,000 people. The reality is that I really enjoyed it; the calm roads, quiet nights, close drives to the grocery store and short trips to San Antonio on the weekends. Its a clean and admirable small town. I do wish that I had explored more outside of For
As a city girl, many of my patients asked me if I was miserable in this town of about 8,000 people. The reality is that I really enjoyed it; the calm roads, quiet nights, close drives to the grocery store and short trips to San Antonio on the weekends. Its a clean and admirable small town. I do wish that I had explored more outside of Fort Stockton, many people recommended a visit to Alpine and Big Bend National Park. I think I will have to come back to check those places off my list!
My time in West Texas
My Time in Fort Stockton
My Time in Fort Stockton
From the very start, West Texas Eyecare made me feel welcomed. They are one of the few rotation sites that offer free housing to students, which to me it shows how much the doctors value and appreciate their students. To top it off, the duplex is extremely close to clinic (about 4 minute drive) and very comfortable, better than anything I
From the very start, West Texas Eyecare made me feel welcomed. They are one of the few rotation sites that offer free housing to students, which to me it shows how much the doctors value and appreciate their students. To top it off, the duplex is extremely close to clinic (about 4 minute drive) and very comfortable, better than anything I imagined!
I made many friends with the staff at both offices, the Fort Stockton and Pecos office. Many times when my schedule allowed, I would tour around the office and chat with the front desk, the technicians and opticians. They always made me feel less homesick by accepting me as another member of their team. I at first was hesitant about the traveling distance from Fort Stcockton to Pecos but I am happy about the opportunity because not I have a family in the Pecos office as well.
Coming from my previous rotation site, I felt discouraged about my skills and my confidence was to the ground when it came to everything about patient care: diagnosing, managing and treating. Three months have since passed and I am grateful to have had great teachers and mentors like Dr. Cherry and Dr. Pass. This rotation really makes students come out of their shell and exposes us to rare encounters that we only read in textbooks. The doctors make sure that students understand every patient encounter to the fullest extent whether challenging or not.
I greatly believe that being here at West Texas was one of the best decisions that I made for my career. I feel like I am leaving as a 10x better extern than how I came in, with a wealth of knowledge and an abundance of experiences from the patients that I was honored to care for.