Honestly, which is easier to get into?

[jupiterOD]

Is it easier to get into Optometry school or pharmacy school? I really want to know. I'm starting to think I will have a more stable future with pharmacy than optometry. I really don't know. No other forum besides podiatry seems to have such negative view on their profession.

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[KHE]

Is it easier to get into Optometry school or pharmacy school? I really want to know. I'm starting to think I will have a more stable future with pharmacy than optometry. I really don't know. No other forum besides podiatry seems to have such negative view on their profession.

Too many of your postings center around money, or ease of getting to school.

It's not that those things are inconsequential but why don't you slow down, take some time actually researching these fields, talking to live humans who are in the field, maybe spend a few days following some people around who are actually in the field and then decide??

I think you're getting yourself needlessly stressed out because you're going about this backwards. Pick the career you want and then go from there. Don't pick the salary or ease of admission that you want and then try to a find a career that fits those parameters. That's a recipe for disaster.

 

[SteelCity]

Is it easier to get into Optometry school or pharmacy school? I really want to know. I'm starting to think I will have a more stable future with pharmacy than optometry. I really don't know. No other forum besides podiatry seems to have such negative view on their profession.

I would say pharmacy by a hair, but they are both great professions IMO and one should feel lucky to be in either program! If your wondering if I have any statistical data to back up my claim, I dont, its just a gut feeling.

 

[jupiterOD]

I would say pharmacy by a hair, but they are both great professions IMO and one should feel lucky to be in either program! If your wondering if I have any statistical data to back up my claim, I dont, its just a gut feeling.

Well i don't want to give up my optometry school acceptance to never get into any pharm schools and i honestly like both, but from what i hear so many optometrists say, i feel like pharmacy may be more stable, the way some optometrists speak about their profession here, i have never seen anything like it and frankly am terrified about it and liking the idea of pharmacy because it's less direct patient care so I dont have to deal with all this infeirority, high school bs. I never wanted to open my own practice, NEVER, I MUCH rather be an employee and this seems more acceptable in a cvs than an americas best where pp docs are going to send me threatening letters. I like repetive work, thrive on it, what i feel comfortabe doing, so i think pharmacy may be a little better fit but i wont give up od school to not get into pharm school and never be able to make a living, i know everyone says there's easier ways to make decent money, theres really not, go to indeed.com and type in your area code and see what jobs pop up. all crap minimum wage or something you need 5-13 years experience doing the exact same job, GOD! im getting so sick of people. Im contemplating pharmacy so i can work mail order and never have to talk to anyone. I dont want my job to be my life, I just want to work my 8 hour shift and go home and watch tv! GOD! This forum is taking me to my limits!

 

[jupiterOD]

BTW, that rant was in reply to KHE's post. not that other guy

 

[blysssful]

Well i don't want to give up my optometry school acceptance to never get into any pharm schools and i honestly like both, but from what i hear so many optometrists say, i feel like pharmacy may be more stable, the way some optometrists speak about their profession here, i have never seen anything like it and frankly am terrified about it and liking the idea of pharmacy because it's less direct patient care so I dont have to deal with all this infeirority, high school bs. I never wanted to open my own practice, NEVER, I MUCH rather be an employee and this seems more acceptable in a cvs than an americas best where pp docs are going to send me threatening letters. I like repetive work, thrive on it, what i feel comfortabe doing, so i think pharmacy may be a little better fit but i wont give up od school to not get into pharm school and never be able to make a living, i know everyone says there's easier ways to make decent money, theres really not, go to indeed.com and type in your area code and see what jobs pop up. all crap minimum wage or something you need 5-13 years experience doing the exact same job, GOD! im getting so sick of people. Im contemplating pharmacy so i can work mail order and never have to talk to anyone. I dont want my job to be my life, I just want to work my 8 hour shift and go home and watch tv! GOD! This forum is taking me to my limits!

There are negative aspects of every profession, and commercial pharmacists get the same lack of respect (or whatever it is you want to call it) that commercial optometrists do. I have a few recently graduated OD friends who work in the commercial setting and love their jobs. It truly depends on the person. Whether commercial practices are hurting the profession as a whole is a different subject altogether.

A lot of the negativity of these forums comes from people who entered into the profession as an alternative to their first choice. Example: say you're craving a certain dish for dinner but don't have the ingredients to make it and are too lazy to go to the store. So, you settle for whatever you can throw together with the ingredients you've got in front of you. Will you be satisfied at the end of the meal, or will you wish you went to the store to make what you really wanted?

If you're unsure about what you want, it's understandable to be easily swayed by negative posts from disgruntled ODs who didn't do what it took to make it to their first choice (or who were unsure about what they were getting into). The best way to solve your problem is by doing more shadowing of different OD practices and pharmacists and figure out what it is YOU WANT. Figure out what it takes to actually GET THERE afterward.

As far as losing your acceptance to an OD school, you can ask about deferring acceptance for a year.


Also, I just wanted to add that if the forum is really getting to you, try to take everything with a grain of salt. Keep in mind that it's much more common to rant about something that's bothering you than it is to rave about how wonderful your life is. People often use online forums to vent to their anonymous peers, but when you're happy about the way things are going, you wouldn't have much of a reason to vent about anything.

 

[KHE]

Well i don't want to give up my optometry school acceptance to never get into any pharm schools and i honestly like both, but from what i hear so many optometrists say, i feel like pharmacy may be more stable, the way some optometrists speak about their profession here, i have never seen anything like it and frankly am terrified about it and liking the idea of pharmacy because it's less direct patient care so I dont have to deal with all this infeirority, high school bs. I never wanted to open my own practice, NEVER, I MUCH rather be an employee and this seems more acceptable in a cvs than an americas best where pp docs are going to send me threatening letters. I like repetive work, thrive on it, what i feel comfortabe doing, so i think pharmacy may be a little better fit but i wont give up od school to not get into pharm school and never be able to make a living, i know everyone says there's easier ways to make decent money, theres really not, go to indeed.com and type in your area code and see what jobs pop up. all crap minimum wage or something you need 5-13 years experience doing the exact same job, GOD! im getting so sick of people. Im contemplating pharmacy so i can work mail order and never have to talk to anyone. I dont want my job to be my life, I just want to work my 8 hour shift and go home and watch tv! GOD! This forum is taking me to my limits!

Well, no one in optometry is going to send you threatening letters if you work at America's Best but if your desire is to be a clock puncher and just work and go home, then you will definitely do better as a pharmacist. You should pursue that.

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

Well i don't want to give up my optometry school acceptance to never get into any pharm schools and i honestly like both, but from what i hear so many optometrists say, i feel like pharmacy may be more stable, the way some optometrists speak about their profession here, i have never seen anything like it and frankly am terrified about it and liking the idea of pharmacy because it's less direct patient care so I dont have to deal with all this infeirority, high school bs. I never wanted to open my own practice, NEVER, I MUCH rather be an employee and this seems more acceptable in a cvs than an americas best where pp docs are going to send me threatening letters. I like repetive work, thrive on it, what i feel comfortabe doing, so i think pharmacy may be a little better fit but i wont give up od school to not get into pharm school and never be able to make a living, i know everyone says there's easier ways to make decent money, theres really not, go to indeed.com and type in your area code and see what jobs pop up. all crap minimum wage or something you need 5-13 years experience doing the exact same job, GOD! im getting so sick of people. Im contemplating pharmacy so i can work mail order and never have to talk to anyone. I dont want my job to be my life, I just want to work my 8 hour shift and go home and watch tv! GOD! This forum is taking me to my limits!

I have a couple of pharmacy friends who tell me vivid stories about terrible patient interactions and how little respect they get because they work at retail locations. This is not surprising, I think everyone in health care have faced these types of patients.

If you really hate social interactions, maybe you should reconsider your pursuit of a job in health care.

 

[gochi]

Is it easier to get into Optometry school or pharmacy school? I really want to know. I'm starting to think I will have a more stable future with pharmacy than optometry. I really don't know. No other forum besides podiatry seems to have such negative view on their profession.

just read my recent thread titled something along the lines of "are you confused about optometry? then read this"

i've backed up most claims with facts, so its pretty much unarguable.

You should ask yourself another question. Do you want to be a pill counter for the rest of your life? Seriously, most people think that I am making fun of the profession, but I am not.

This would be a reason to pick optometry over pharmacy. But you should weigh everything out...

 

[gochi]

I have a couple of pharmacy friends who tell me vivid stories about terrible patient interactions and how little respect they get because they work at retail locations. This is not surprising, I think everyone in health care have faced these types of patients.

If you really hate social interactions, maybe you should reconsider your pursuit of a job in health care.

Can you provide an example?

 

[thanotoriousfob]

Can you provide an example?

Yea, go check out the pharm forums.

 

[gochi]

pharamcy forums are more of a joke than actual pharmacists.

 

[Kally]

Dont make your decision based on these forums, they can be useful but a lot of false information arises on these forums as well. Why not just shadow an optometrist and a pharmacist to see which profession you prefer? Im currently debating between optometry and another profession at the moment as well. Planning to do about ~50hours shadowing both prefessions in the summer, (of course i've done research as well but going out and talking to a real face and real person in the real job setting is worth your time considering you'll be doing this "job" for maybe the next 40years!!!).

 

[Commando303]

Is it easier to get into Optometry school or pharmacy school? I really want to know. I'm starting to think I will have a more stable future with pharmacy than optometry. I really don't know. No other forum besides podiatry seems to have such negative view on their profession.

So, do you care which is easier to get into or which career you'd more enjoy having? It's not very bright to be more concerned with the former.