4th year costs?

[imemily]

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It seems as if most schools during their 4th year require students to go through externships or internships during their 4th year.

Since students will not be attending school, and thus not taking classes in their 4th year, how is the tuition that was required in years 1-3 justified for the final year?

In comparison, M.D.'s during their residency are paid a salary. I am not entirely sure, but it seems as if 4th year externships are unique to Optometry.

 

[nc2tarheels]

I may be mistaken, but I don't think every opto school has a 4th year externship. Some schools cram in the "classroom" time and some don't, thus the schools that do, have an entire year of externship.

 

[cjensen20]

It seems as if most schools during their 4th year require students to go through externships or internships during their 4th year.

Since students will not be attending school, and thus not taking classes in their 4th year, how is the tuition that was required in years 1-3 justified for the final year?

In comparison, M.D.'s during their residency are paid a salary. I am not entirely sure, but it seems as if 4th year externships are unique to Optometry.

i think you are talking about two different things..

4th year clinical rotations and residency

4th year clinical rotations you should still be eligible for financial aid, same as any other year, because you are still matriculated at your school. At my school, we get Pass/Fail credits for that year on rotations.

on the other hand, residencies are optional and are done after you have graduated. Depending on the program that you get into determines the amount of pay (stipend), if any, that you will be receiving

 

[imemily]

Don't schools require you to do do externships at different settings, such as a VA hospital for example, in your final year?

I was under the impression that optometry school consists of 3 academic years where you are in school, whereas the final year is more of an experience year, where the student travels to various externship sites ( 4 3 month rotations) and gains experience.

What I don't understand is why the tuition remains the same, when the student isn't even in school but rather working for other docs/institutions.

 

[nc2tarheels]

I don't believe every school has an ENTIRE 4th year off campus. Some schools do (NOVA).

 

[Commando303]

It seems as if most schools during their 4th year require students to go through externships or internships during their 4th year.

Since students will not be attending school, and thus not taking classes in their 4th year, how is the tuition that was required in years 1-3 justified for the final year?

In comparison, M.D.'s during their residency are paid a salary. I am not entirely sure, but it seems as if 4th year externships are unique to Optometry.

Don't schools require you to do do externships at different settings, such as a VA hospital for example, in your final year?

I was under the impression that optometry school consists of 3 academic years where you are in school, whereas the final year is more of an experience year, where the student travels to various externship sites ( 4 3 month rotations) and gains experience.

What I don't understand is why the tuition remains the same, when the student isn't even in school but rather working for other docs/institutions.

Most O.D. and M.D./D.O. colleges are alike in that students spend the first two years mostly in the classroom, and the final two largely gaining clinical experience through externships/rotations; in either path, tuition is collected for those four years. Afterward, medical residents are paid a (meager) salary, as are optometry ones; the difference is, med. students must complete post–four-yr. work, whereas O.D.s can just go out and look for a job, once they've received their degree.

 

[KHE]

It seems as if most schools during their 4th year require students to go through externships or internships during their 4th year.

Since students will not be attending school, and thus not taking classes in their 4th year, how is the tuition that was required in years 1-3 justified for the final year?

In comparison, M.D.'s during their residency are paid a salary. I am not entirely sure, but it seems as if 4th year externships are unique to Optometry.

Basically the schools say it costs "XXX" dollars to educate a student and they divide it by four. Would you feel better about it if 4th year was free but they increased the cost of the other three years by 33.33%?

 

[imemily]

Basically the schools say it costs "XXX" dollars to educate a student and they divide it by four. Would you feel better about it if 4th year was free but they increased the cost of the other three years by 33.33%?

I think that may actually be better, as lest interest gets added and you can start repayments a year sooner, compared to the 4 year scenario.

I just think its stupid to charge a student full tuition when they wont be using the faculty.

 

[Ediddy]

I think that may actually be better, as lest interest gets added and you can start repayments a year sooner, compared to the 4 year scenario.

I disagree.
More interest will be added because you would be taking out a larger loan during your first, second, and third years. And you start repaying your loans as soon as you want to (even before graduation), however you'll probably need an income to pull that off- which will come after graduation in both scenarios.

I do agree with you though, that we arn't really costing the University much during our 4th year, but I think KHE is right about the overall cost for a degree. Besides, your school is all about the benjamins, I don't think they're looking to give us any finacial breaks. Here at Pacific University they once even asked us to donate extra money in addition to our tuition. Shameless...

 

[JMU07]

I think that may actually be better, as lest interest gets added and you can start repayments a year sooner, compared to the 4 year scenario.

I just think its stupid to charge a student full tuition when they wont be using the faculty.

Yeah, it sucks, but that's why the docs at the extern sites are called "adjunct faculty." So technically you ARE still using the faculty. Externs are for you to learn, nobody is ready to go out into the real world with no supervision after 3 years. At that point, most of us have only been seeing patients for a year. Yeah, we are seeing patients for the extern sites, but the docs are still supervising you and signing everything off. It would be nice though if tuition was at least reduced during 4th year.

 

[ABaverage]

I like to compare OD externships to MD "rotations". They are hands on learning experiences and help you gain extra insight to different fields. MDs do get paid for residencies.. but ODs do, too!!

Either way, we still have to pay for fourth year.... even though the majority of our time won't be on campus or school clinic.