still_confused said:
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!! MD to OD !!!!!!!! unheard of, everyone knows MD rules all , why would anyone step down to any other profession?????
could it be that there is value in something not MD???
everyone wants to upgrade to the all mighty MD, why would anyone step down to lowly optometry???
im totally confused
Logically speaking, it makes no sense whatsoever. Since you've never been to medical school, you have no idea how much time and money (and blood, sweat, and tears) are spent during those four, long grueling years plus residency. Such an investment of time, money, and energy is great. After all of that, to "throw it away" to become an optometrist? That IS not only illogical, but quite stupid IMO.
Why? Before I get flamed, think about it. If you're an MD and working in Family Practice, like rpie said his brother was, why not just do an ophthalmology residency. Not all OMDs do surgery. There are some who treat basic ocular diseases and even engage in prescribing corrective lenses and contact lenses. I would guess most physicians would do that rather than spend another 3-4 years toward another degree that grants them less authority and costs them more money and time.
I did an IM residency and practiced a short while and realized that I was not happy, so I went back and did a psych residency. The MD to OD example, however, would be like an internist deciding to go back to school to get a PhD or PsyD in clinical psych after getting his MD and practicing as a psychologist. It would make MUCH MORE SENSE to do a psychiatry residency.
Here's the crux of the matter. If rpie's brother was sick of health care in general, like the cousin of one of the posters who left dentistry to become an accountant, then why go into another health care profession? In other words, if you've spent that much time, money, and energy in medical school and residency, and have practiced a few years and are unhappy, it would make much more sense to switch specialities rather than go back to school to enter another health care profession. In the case of medicine, which is all inclusive authority wise, there is ophthalmology and psychiatry. Now there are differences, but still one can be an OMD and not perform surgeries and not engage in anything invasive. There are OMDs out there who are glorified internists and are even less clinical than some ODs. Rare, but it does happen. There are psychiatrists out there who choose not to prescribe meds and who actually engage in psychotherapy. Rare, but it does happen.
I can see how a physician can wake up one day and say "screw this!" and scrap medicine and health care practice in general and enter another, completely different field like law, accounting, business, theatre, computers, etc. I had a patient who was a nephrologist for 15 years and lost a long-time patient to ESRD. This had a profound effect on him and he decided to something else outside of medicine and became a pharmaceutical sales rep. Things like that do happen, but usually from medicine to another unrelated field. But to leave medicine and enter podiatry, psychology, pharmacy, optometry, or chiropractic makes little sense to me due to the "similar" nature of the jobs coupled with the overwhelming cost and time to acquire an MD and then get an OD, PharmD, DDS, DPM, PhD/PsyD, DDS, etc.
My point was not to put down optometry, but to point out the profound waste of money and time to become a physician and then to throw it out to go into another health care profession. In this case, rpie's brother could have done an OMD residency for less money and time and restricted his practice to corrective lenses and general ocular exams/tx. How would his current practice be all that different under those circumstances? If I wanted to be more like a psychologist and less like a psychiatrist, I would limit my prescription writing and undergo more training in psychotherapy and counseling and then engage in that type of practice without junking my medical training.
Just my two cents.
Zack
