OD vs PA vs MD

[owlcityeyes11]

Hi everyone,

I just finished my freshman year of college, and the whole year I considered myself to be pre-physician assistant. However, I am reconsidering this goal because the demanding patient care hours do not seem possible to me while I am taking classes. I have done some researching, and I think that I may be interested in optometry school because it has similar prereqs, not a lot of patient care requirements, and is easier (or so I've heard) to get into than med school. I am also considering med school, as well, but not as seriously.

I know this is very broad, but can anyone offer me insight on these three graduate school options? i.e. grades required, volunteer experience needed, overall opinion)

Thank you!

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[optojake]

Getting into optometry is just like getting into any other type of grad school. You will take an extensive amount of undergrad sciences so a high GPA is needed (shoot for around a 3.3 and you should be fine). Also you have to take a standardized test, the OAT (Opt Admissions Test), which will be used to compare you to other applicants on a neutral playing field. Obviously the higher this score, the better. And the more volunteer/work experience you have in the optometric field, the better you look to optometry schools. As far as being "easier" to get into, I'm not sure since I only applied to optometry school.

Optometry is also a GREAT profession. You'll notice it has its problems just like other health care fields, but its so dynamic. You can go into private practice, corporate practice (wal-mart, lenscrafters, etc.), government work, research, educational, OD/MD surgery center, and a few more options. You can spin dials all day ("Better 1... or 2?") or do more of the medical aspect such as co-managing cataract surgery/LASIK, treating diseases, etc (though you will still spin dials, regardless of how you practice).

You'll also make a comfortable living. You typically won't become uber-rich, but you'll be pretty well off. Most graduates have about $160,000 in optometry school debt (depending upon which school you go to since tuition is variable among them). When you graduate, your expected earnings can vary greatly depending if you open your own practice or work 6 days a week for someone else. To ballpark it, you can probably expect to start at $70,000 - $85,000 (but this is geographically variable too). And obviously that number goes up with the more experience you have. I think the average OD in America makes somewhere around $120,000 (or somewhere around there), so you'll have a nice living, no doubt.

There are 19-20 schools (I forget exactly), some new and some very old. As for which schools are best, it depends on who you ask. Its hard to actually tell since the best school is the one that fits you the best.

If you have anymore questions just let me know. I know this is a lot. Some may also disagree on some of the things I've stated, and if so, remember a lot of this is geographically dependent.

 

[optojake]

Oh and look at www.opted.org. They have the list of schools on there as well as tuition, average GPA/OAT scores of those accepted, prerequisites to each school, and more insight into the profession. The best way to see if you like optometry is to go volunteer and get some first hand experience. But again, its a WONDERFUL profession, and can be very rewarding to see how many patients you can directly help.

 

[Oogilily]

Optometry school isn't easy to get into. Don't fool yourself. It is competitive and you have to work hard to get into it. Also, when you are in optometry school, it isn't easy. Many say the curriculum is harder than other professional schooling. Basically I guess it is a pet peeve of mine when people want to come to optometry school because it is easier or easier to get into. It's not, plain and simple. And one thing I wish we had was more patient care hours because you will learn much more seeing patients than you ever will in a text book. So I wouldn't let that deter you from what you want to do.

 

[JMU07]

not a lot of patient care requirements,

What do you mean by this? I'm not trying to be smart, just asking.

 

[Mewcakes]

Maybe he means like..when you have a patient have surgery or something you have to take care of them before and after the procedure? Our patients are mostly have only a couple encounters a year? I have no idea, just guessing.

 

[dontlikephysics]

What do you mean by this? I'm not trying to be smart, just asking.

I think what he/she means, is that most PA schools REQUIRE a MINIMUM number of patient contact hours for admittance. This is normally between 500-2,000 hours of DIRECT patient contact, and they prefer you to have done this as a paid health care provider (EMT, respiratory thearpist, etc.). Optometry schools require you to have done some shadowing, but this is not that same as the requirements for most PA schools.

I thought of PA school for two years actually, but I wanted to be an optometrist since I started college and I found myself unhappy pursuing something else. To be honest, I thought PA school was easier to get into than optometry school due to you not having to take the monster known as the OAT. But I found out that there is nothing easy about trying to get into PA school either, and if I busted my tail in college and post-college then it's going to be for my first choice in my future career goal and not my back up plan (this is not to say that PA is not a good career choice, I'm just giving you my opinion).

One more thing to the OP, if your interested in PA school but worried about getting the minimum patient care hours, try looking for a school without these minimum requirements (ECU didn't have this requirement when I thought about doing it). But make sure you pick something your going to be happy with 20-30 years from now. And don't pick something just because it's "easier" (not that your doing that, just think about it) because you may end up regretting it later on.

 

[optojake]

i concur with what everyone else said. optometry school is NOT something you can just walk into. over the past decade it is becoming a much more popular profession to get into, therefore the competition has increased. i cant say it is more/less competitive than med school because i didnt apply to med school. there are way less slots for students in OD school compared to MD school but there are also less applicants.

optometry school itself is also difficult. it requires complete dedication of most of your time.

 

[JMU07]

I think what he/she means, is that most PA schools REQUIRE a MINIMUM number of patient contact hours for admittance. This is normally between 500-2,000 hours of DIRECT patient contact, and they prefer you to have done this as a paid health care provider (EMT, respiratory thearpist, etc.). Optometry schools require you to have done some shadowing, but this is not that same as the requirements for most PA schools.

Ohhh, you're probably right. I forgot about that. I think it's kind of a shame that OD schools don't require a certain number of hours (well maybe some do, I don't know), shadowing or otherwise. I think exposure in the field is extremely important before making a big decision like this.

 

[owlcityeyes11]

Thanks for the replies everyone, especially optojake- that was very helpful.

I did mean that the patient care hours were the 500-2000 hours required for pa schools...I just think that they don't cater to undergraduate students who want to enter pa school right out of college very well- it seems like it's more of a school you would be most competitive applying for after working as a nurse assistant or an EMT for a few years after college, and I'm not really interested in doing that.

I will look for some PA schools that require less hours, but now that I am researching optometry more I have come to realize that the eye really interests me, so I am leaning towards optometry. I don't feel like it's "giving up" on pa school because I was never really sure why I wanted to do pa school in the first place...I just kind of picked it and didn't really research my other options.

I did not mean to say that I was pursuing optometry because I think it would be easier to get into grade-wise and for the amount of work put in...I know it will be difficult and I will have to study a lot. The only problem with pa school is that I would have to take the same classes and work in patient care at the same time, so I think I wouldn't get as good grades.

Another note- I am concerned about the competitiveness of optometry schools- some of them look like the class sizes are only about 30-40 students, and the acceptance rates are not high. I have a high gpa right now (I haven't taken orgo yet though haha) so the numbers are concerning nonetheless. I see that the average gpa for opt schools is around 3.3-3.4, so if I get above a 3.5, is there a good chance I will get in? (I also go to a competitive college, if that helps.)

Thanks for your advice!

 

[optojake]

if you dont mind me asking what school do you go to? i would say if you have a 3.5 GPA and do well on the OAT and have some volunteer experience (that is key) you'll have no problem. just APPLY EARLY in the process. schools love it when you do that. if you have any more questions, i'd be more than happy to answer them for you. just PM me or e-mail at [email protected].

and i can't vouch for PA school because i never looked into that, but it would be hard for me to go home everyday after my externs and feel more satisfied and pleased with what i've done in my patients lives. optometry is very fulfilling.

 

[KHE]

Another note- I am concerned about the competitiveness of optometry schools- some of them look like the class sizes are only about 30-40 students, and the acceptance rates are not high. I have a high gpa right now (I haven't taken orgo yet though haha) so the numbers are concerning nonetheless. I see that the average gpa for opt schools is around 3.3-3.4, so if I get above a 3.5, is there a good chance I will get in? (I also go to a competitive college, if that helps.)

Thanks for your advice!

You need to kind of start over and not really worry about the schools, or the competitiveness or any of that. You have to decide what career you want to pursue and then worry about the other stuff later.

PA, MD, and OD are all sufficiently different careers that it leads me to believe that if you're having a hard time deciding, you haven't really thought it through well enough and you've gotten yourself into that mode that so many people do of "well, I kinda wanna do some kind of doctorly thing... that would be kinda cool, but I don't know if I want to do all that med school work so let me think about being an optometrist! Hey that sounds kinda kewl!"

That's a recipe for an unfulfilling career.

Decide what you want to do and then go after it. Don't let the requirements or the potential work load decide for you.

 

[owlcityeyes11]

You need to kind of start over and not really worry about the schools, or the competitiveness or any of that. You have to decide what career you want to pursue and then worry about the other stuff later.

PA, MD, and OD are all sufficiently different careers that it leads me to believe that if you're having a hard time deciding, you haven't really thought it through well enough and you've gotten yourself into that mode that so many people do of "well, I kinda wanna do some kind of doctorly thing... that would be kinda cool, but I don't know if I want to do all that med school work so let me think about being an optometrist! Hey that sounds kinda kewl!"

That's a recipe for an unfulfilling career.

Decide what you want to do and then go after it. Don't let the requirements or the potential work load decide for you.

You make a good point that I am having a hard time deciding...I plan on shadowing an optometrist this summer to see what I'm getting into and whether or not I want to pursue it.

How did you decide to become an optometrist? I know I have time, since I haven't even started my second year of college yet, but I would like to decide this summer probably so that I can prepare adequately for whatever I decide to do.