Navy Optometrist?

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BobDoleX

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Ok, so my friend told me that the navy had an optometry program. Basically, they need a commitment of at least 3 years and they will pay for your schooling. It seems like a ridiculoulsy good idea, and it'll save a lot of money. anyone hear about this or have any opinions??

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Yea I think most of the military branches offer this type of program. It is REALLY good if you don't have obligations (ie girlfriend you may marry or are married). I've talked to a few optometrists who have done this and they really enjoyed it and thought it was pretty much a residency except it's 3 or 4 years. I heard in the Air Force you can do 2 years at the minimum...not sure about it; can anyone verify? But they would only pay 2 years of schooling. It can be the best experience for an optometrist right out of school to get your skills down. I'm going to do this or do a residency somewhere right when I graduate.
 
yeah it sounds like such a good deal. i mean, as long as i'm not shipped off to iran or iraq or something, i dont think it'll be too bad at all. i've been checking out the air force/navy/army optometrists and it seems like navy has the best deal out of all of them. For Air force, it seems like you'll still have to pay for some of your student loans but Navy seems to pay everything (this is from their powerpoints, of course ill have to contact them to make sure). I think however, the air force still has a commitment of three, not two years.

see i'm thinking with this, you wont have a large amount of loans right out of college, you'll pay of whatever loans you'll have probably within the three years of commitment. Then, you'll already have those three years of experience under your belt so it'll be easier to get a job easier and it'll also be more higher paying. I'm also thinking without the massive loans of opt. school, it'll be easier to start your own private practice. i really wana try to get more information on this.
 
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An Army recruiter came to speak for the pre-optometry club here at FSU and he said everything is paid for with a 4 year commitment. i also asked about boot camp and he said optometrists weren't required and that they'd become officers or captains (with that pay rate). how is Navy better than Army or Air Force? are you sure about the amount paid for with the Air Force being less? where did u get that information?
 
I found a military optometry catalog on the Navy site. It seems very informative but it does say military training is required and this contradicts what the recruiter told me before. It also says Army optometrists are more likely to go to combat zones.
 
yeah i actually went to the recruitment office today but they weren't very familiar with the whole optometry thing so they referred me to someone who specializing in my case. ill be giving them a call tomorrow. it also seems like you'll be an officer when you get into the navy. if that makes any difference

anyway i got my sources when i search for Army/Navy/Air Force Optometry. Each of the sites seemed to have a specific amount of information. Basically, i found this on the airforce site: http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/doem/vision/AirForce/AirForceRecruiting.ppt

and this on the navy site:http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/doe...iles/NavyRecruiting-HPSPOptometry-May2007.pps. obviously those ppt are very similar, HOWEVER...there is one large difference. if you check under salary and what not, it seems like the navy doesn't need you to pay tuition back at all, while there seems to be a small tuition fee for the AF.

i'll be talking to the Navy soon (and probably the AF when i get back to school) so ill try to keep you informed.
 
First off, I'd say worry about getting into an Optometric College first, then worry about financing.
see i'm thinking with this, you wont have a large amount of loans right out of college, you'll pay of whatever loans you'll have probably within the three years of commitment.
As far as I know, you "should" exit school without any debt, possibly only debt from the first year if you do a 3 year program. So they pay your tuition, and also give you a stipend while you're in school.

Then, you'll already have those three years of experience under your belt so it'll be easier to get a job easier and it'll also be more higher paying.

That may be true that it'll be easier to find a job after those three years than someone fresh out of school, but I don't think your pay rate will be any higher. Plus after those three years that you served, the OD that went the "traditional" route would have more "real world" experience (dealing with civilians, insurance, etc). In the end I really don't think it will make a difference in how good a an OD you will be or give you any advantage over any other OD.
 
First off, I'd say worry about getting into an Optometric College first, then worry about financing.

As far as I know, you "should" exit school without any debt, possibly only debt from the first year if you do a 3 year program. So they pay your tuition, and also give you a stipend while you're in school.



That may be true that it'll be easier to find a job after those three years than someone fresh out of school, but I don't think your pay rate will be any higher. Plus after those three years that you served, the OD that went the "traditional" route would have more "real world" experience (dealing with civilians, insurance, etc). In the end I really don't think it will make a difference in how good a an OD you will be or give you any advantage over any other OD.


I spoke to a bunch of recruitors for the NAVY. The deal is if you want they to pay for all your schooling, you must give them four years. You can have them pay for a little as 1 year, but you will owe them 3 years. so depending on how much they pay 1-3 years... you owe them 3 years of service, while 4 years = you guessed it, 4 years of service!
 
This is unfortunate, but I told the Navy recruiters that I have mild hemophilia and I can't do any military service... kinda sucks when your genetic makeup holds you back. I also checked out the Indian Health Services but they only accept Indians and native Alaskans. Looks like I'll be doing a 1 or 2 year residency at some optometry school and still have that debt. I'll make the money back in due time so it'll be okay. Does anyone know of any other public health scholarships offered by the government? I might be in the drawing for a scholarship at SCO; we'll see. Thanks guys. :)
 
Some of my classmates entered the Air Force as optometrists this year. Their program was called the Health Professions Scholarship Program. The program requires a 3 year commitment post graduation, but paid for the last two years of OD school. Because of this, they had time to research the decision during the first two years to see if it was right for them. After graduation, they received about a month of military training in San Antonio TX, and then transferred to their new jobs. I am an Air Force OD for another reason, since I recieved help with undergraduate tuition through ROTC. Hope that helps, Good luck.
 
The HPSP program is awesome, but yeah of course I'm biased since I'm doing it. I made a small article about the Army HPSP here, feel free to check it out (the benefits are very similar to the Navy and Air Force programs).
 
Since this forum topic hasn't been updated for 3 years, I thought I would jump in and throw in my 2 cents worth. My son got the Navy scholarship. The Navy paid for everything for 3 years plus a monthly living stipend and now my son is committed to serve for 3 years. Had he gotten the 4 year scholarship, he would have served for 4 years. When we were shopping around, we found the Navy had the best program. Navy ODs work at regional hospitals, aircraft carriers or on one of the two hospital ships. My son is headed to Japan after 5 weeks of ODS (Officer Development School) in Newport Rhode Island. The Navy paid out about $175,000 over the last 3 years so when you figure that in with the O-3 pay, your easily making a 6 figure income for the first three years of service. While in school, my son made O-1 pay, and as soon as he graduated and became a doctor, his rank and pay jumped up to O-3. Someone with past military experience always has better employment opportunities because he/she has shown leadership abilities, character, and commitment. These are strong qualities an employer looks for.
 
I do know that during the training for optometrists in the navy, the optometrists don't get to do too much. A lot of contact lens exams and general eye checks...Kinda boring from an ophthalmologist standpoint. I spent 6 months at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the optometry students and optometry service was next door. Once they had a patient who had a single drusen and they called every single student in the clinic to come look at it...
 
More insight from anyone would be awesome.
 
I do know that during the training for optometrists in the navy, the optometrists don't get to do too much. A lot of contact lens exams and general eye checks...Kinda boring from an ophthalmologist standpoint. I spent 6 months at Bethesda Naval Hospital and the optometry students and optometry service was next door. Once they had a patient who had a single drusen and they called every single student in the clinic to come look at it...

I am doing my summer externship at a Navy Base. The base where I am is different than most Navy bases. It is mostly higher ranking enlisted and officers so I definitely do a lot of general refractive and presbyopic exams. I have been there for a month and have seen tons of red eyes including one case of herpes simplex keratitis, corneal abrasions, one case of Fuch's, diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy, glaucoma and glaucoma suspects, armd, central serous retinopathy, Graves ophthalmopathy, punctal stenosis, peripheral retinal degeneration (lattice, snail track degen, atrophic holes). I have also seen several PRK post-ops. We don't do any new contact lens fits but if a patient is already a contact lens wearer, we can update their prescription assuming they still have a set of lenses that we can look at on their eyes and do an OR. I'm sure this is still pretty boring stuff for an ophthalmologist though, lol.

The equipment at the base is nice. We have electronic phoropters, auto and nct, a fundus cam and a vf machine. There is no OCT so we do end up sending out a fair amount of patients to an ophtho in town (there is not one on the base) for an OCT.

The optometrist I work with enjoys his job and feels good about his scope of practice. I have definitely learned a lot in my short time as an extern. Obviously I can't speak for any other Navy base in the country or the Navy in general but my experience thus far has been very positive.
 
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I am doing my summer externship at a Navy Base. The base where I am is different than most Navy bases. It is mostly higher ranking enlisted and officers so I definitely do a lot of general refractive and presbyopic exams. I have been there for a month and have seen tons of red eyes including one case of herpes simplex keratitis, corneal abrasions, one case of Fuch's, diabetic and hypertensive retinopathy, glaucoma and glaucoma suspects, armd, central serous retinopathy, Graves ophthalmopathy, punctal stenosis, peripheral retinal degeneration (lattice, snail track degen, atrophic holes). I have also seen several PRK post-ops. We don't do any new contact lens fits but if a patient is already a contact lens wearer, we can update their prescription assuming they still have a set of lenses that we can look at on their eyes and do an OR. I'm sure this is still pretty boring stuff for an ophthalmologist though, lol.

The equipment at the base is nice. We have electronic phoropters, auto and nct, a fundus cam and a vf machine. There is no OCT so we do end up sending out a fair amount of patients to an ophtho in town (there is not one on the base) for an OCT.

The optometrist I work with enjoys his job and feels good about his scope of practice. I have definitely learned a lot in my short time as an extern. Obviously I can't speak for any other Navy base in the country or the Navy in general but my experience thus far has been very positive.

Last year my son spent one of his 4th year rotations at the Navy base in San Diego and at Camp Pendleton and love it. I don't know what all he got to do in the clinic since I am just the dad, but he loved the efficient way the clinic ran and the respect he was shown as a resident. He got a big kick out of chewing out a Marine recruit for wearing his contacts for 3 months straight. :laugh: The time he spent in San Diego made him feel good about his decision to go Navy. :thumbup:
 
This past year I applied for the Navy's HPSP program for the 2011-2012 school year but didn't get it since my application was sent in late. And my recruiter said as of now, no spots will be available for the 2012-2013 cycle for a 3-yr scholarship through the HPSP or HSCP programs. Does anyone know if this is indeed true or if there is a small chance something will come up for the next cycle??? Does anyone know if the programs will open up later on for new optometry applicants???
 
This past year I applied for the Navy's HPSP program for the 2011-2012 school year but didn't get it since my application was sent in late. And my recruiter said as of now, no spots will be available for the 2012-2013 cycle for a 3-yr scholarship through the HPSP or HSCP programs. Does anyone know if this is indeed true or if there is a small chance something will come up for the next cycle??? Does anyone know if the programs will open up later on for new optometry applicants???

My son applied for the Navy 4 year scholarship just before he started Optometry school, he was 4th on the list but they only gave out 3 scholarships for that year. That put him first on the alternate list but no one dropped out of the program. Then when the new fiscal year started, he was first in line to get one of the 3 year scholarships. I would say put your name on the alternate list and perhaps someone will drop out, but the Navy only has so many slots available and when they have enough signed up, there isn't anything the recruiter can do about it. I wish you luck.
 
I'm also considering the Navy's excellent HPSP program although I'm up against the age cutoff to complete my 4-yr Optometry education and become a commissioned Naval officer before 42nd birthday. Yes, I'm excited to say I'm taking a new direction with my career mid-stream.

Also I wanted to clarify about IHS (Indian Health Services) as I've spoken to a recruiter. Their loan repayment program is not exclusively offered to Native American Indians, though those candidates will get 1st preference for desired placement across US areas. I was assured there are plenty of openings & opportunities for all ethnicities. So yes, caucasians, asians, african americans, etc, can all receive up to $40K in loan reimbursement for a 2-year service commitment. You must put in 1-year of service as an IHS OD before the 2-yr commitment(40K reimbursement) commences. Every year thereafter, there's an option to re-up 1-year at a time for another $20K in loan reimbursement per year. It's OK and common to work 6-8 yrs or more with IHS to repay ALL your student loan debt while making an excellent salary. Some IHS ODs work at federal ihs sites while others work directly with Tribes. So, this is certainly something worth considering along with Military funded scholarship programs. Good luck all!

www.ihs.gov/optometry
 
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