Can someone offer some career advice? I am considering changing from being a Pre-Med student to a Pr

[feedmebanhmi]

I am currently a 2nd year at a research university and originally planned to obtain an M.D. degree as a doctor. However, after two years of internships, work, clinical exposure (private practice, hospitalist, and surgical settings), and personal thought, I also have another career choice in mind: optometrist.

I hope that my motives to enter this profession are considered "acceptable," but let me list my concerns:
1. Should I continue with my extracurricular activities if I continue to change career paths to become and optometrist? I do not have any experience of shadowing an optometrist, but I do have a good sense of an idea being a patient for the past 15 years of several optometrists.
2. What are my chances in getting into Optometry if I continue to maintain at least a 3.6 GPA?
3. Because I originally came in as a pre-med student, would I be viewed negatively upon admissions for optometry school?
4. What are some things I should change? What are some things I should keep?
5. I know I do not have a strong GPA to be considered for M.D., but possibly for D.O., but that is not the main concern I have. The rest I will explain below.

Coming into college (without clinical exposure), I was prepared that I would be able to handle a difficult lifestyle of being time-constrained, stressed, and definitely hands-full to assist my patients as a doctor. I have had this dream since the age of 8. However, after a realization (TLR: a close family member past away), I realized that life is a bit too short to possibly carry out this dream.

What I do not want to do is to go to a graduate school and spend the next 10 years of my life without being able to take care of those around me (specifically my mother). I worry for her and that I may not be able to take care of her. By attending optometry school, I shorten my time in school and will be able to take care of her while I sparingly can compared to before. I value my time with her.

Secondly, I would like to make the point, and, honestly speaking, I really care about serving the community. I have been doing so for the past decade through community service.

Third, growing up with a single mother, I find that the lifestyle of an Optometrist suits my needs (well, it is possible as an M.D.). I would like to have enough time to spend it with my future children and family. It is a personal promise of mine to not have my children to go through what I had to go through growing up fatherless.

Regardless of specialty, I know that I would like to have the privilege to assist a person with his or her health issues. Optometry is a profession that I have chosen, because not only does it interests me, I can connect to it very well since I have been treated by wonderful optometrists since the age of 5.

What should I do? Should I consider this new path or continue becoming an M.D.?

I apologize for having a decently long post, but I am just "venting" out my thoughts in hope of some advice and guidance.

Current extracurricular activities: 1. Medical scribe in an M.D.'s clinic 2. Research student for an M.D.'s practice 3. Student Lab Assistant in a Research facility 4. Back-Office Assistant in an M.D.'s clinic 5. Clinical Care Volunteer at a hospital

GPA: 3.657 Cumulative 3.5 Science Major: Biological Sciences

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[thisguy88]

Honestly, a 3.66 GPA will get you into any Optometry school (and some medical schools) just as long as you score 300+ on your OAT (higher for some schools such as SUNY or Berkeley of course). In my opinion, if your stats are good, your extra curriculars do not really matter as long as you've done something. Your EC's looks good by the way so no worries there.

Your motives for going into optometry are fine, no admissions board is going to question you hard for why you made the switch. Optometry schools are honestly just looking for students who they think will be successful in their program - and you make a good case so far. You will get into an Optometry Program, no question.

The best advice I can give you is to shadow a few optometrist to experience what it is like to be one. Can you see yourself doing this for the rest of your life? You honestly have to ask yourself if you will be happy as an optometrist or would you be happier as a medical doctor, family aside.

P.S. - the whole "I like optometry because the lifestyle of this profession allows me to spend time with my family" is getting old. I would try to avoid saying something like this to an admissions committee, or at least integrate it only as a partial reason why you want to do optometry.

P. P. S. - I don't know how relevant it is here, but you can compare the course load for optometry students vs. medical students down below. I got this figure from AOSA (American Optometric Students Association). I can't tell you if this comparison is accurate or not, but remember they are only comparing an "OD degree" with an "MD degree". MD's aren't allowed to practice unless they do some kind of residency so this whole comparison doesn't really tell the whole story, but its a good start.

 

[p0intless]

Like you, I was pre-med even when I graduated college. I applied for medical school, took the MCATs and even submitted my primary applications to several schools before ultimately withdrawing (I had a decent shot too with a 3.8 GPA). That summer while waiting for my secondaries, I volunteered, interned and even worked in a research lab getting as much experience and life advice from those my senior. I learned that medicine is not just a career, but a lifestyle. Unless you are 100% sure that this is what you want to do, you should not pursue it because to quit while on the MD path would leave you in massive debt and a lot of wasted time which you will never get back. You have to be in the profession with a genuine desire to help others, often putting patients before yourself, family, friends and social events. You will be giving up a lot to go into medicine and it is a wonderful career, if it's for you. I know a lot of doctors who went into medicine for superficial reasons and they tend to burn out faster. Thus it helps to take a step back and think about what you really want in life and whether getting an MD can help you achieve those goals. Everyone has a different goal in life to be happy. Some want money or fame, some just want a big happy family to come home to at the end of the day. You have to decide what you want.

As for myself, I concluded that medicine was not for me, for the same reasons you have. I wanted a career with a work-life balance that will allow me to be there for my family while still being able to help people as a clinician. Also I come from a low income family on food stamps and government aid, so being able to work earlier is certainly an advantage for me and family. Also, I am a guy, so I am not on a "maternal-clock" but still I would like to raise a family before I hit my mid 30s and that becomes difficult (but still possible) pursuing the MD path. Since you are a woman, one thing you should watch out for if you want to have children is when that can be feasible for you pursuing an MD. I find it is a serious issue amongst older female health professionals who gave up their peak childbearing years to pursue their careers to find that they can no longer have children (also risk of congenital diseases for the baby greatly increases as woman age). I can imagine it leaves them feeling regret and depressed. You can have a child while in medical school but that will be a challenge and you will need a very supportive and financial stable spouse, because you will not be. Also, I was not a fan of the loans, stress and time I would spend in school while my non-MD peers would be hitting new life goals of buying homes, getting married, actually having disposable income, etc. Also another thing you have to consider is what specialties you want to pursue in medicine. No matter how badly you want to be a plastic surgeon or dermatologist, if you don't get the step 1 scores to match to those residencies (usually very high 95+ percentiles) then it doesn't matter. This lack of insurance and high stress to even secure a desired specialty is pretty nerve-wracking. I don't want to be 200-400k in debt and having missed out on my 20s, and possibly end up getting a low percentile on my step 1 and then having to do primary care. Not to mention there's step 2 and 3 (which are an 8 hr and 16 hr exam respectively) to have to take after. That is a terrible investment and risk in my opinion. But if you have the ability and drive, then you will be able to accomplish these goals. I found optometry school to be the easier more secure route to meet my goals. But there are also lots of cons of optometry which I won't go into in this post. But I've factored those in and know what area of Optometry I want to be in, because not all of it is good. You can find out by researching these forums

 

[RadixLuminogen]

No one can predict the future of either Profession accurately in 4 or 8 years. Or even if America will still be top dog in the world with a well middle class. The latter seems to be dipping downward. Go the path that you will enjoy more and will come out with the lesser amount of debt.