Anybody have to choose between optometry and med school?

[HuntinDoc]

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I know these are two very different fields, but I was wondering if anybody out there had this choice and why you went one way or the other. This seems like a silly question but I really do have a passion for both fields, and would probably be happy either way. Ophthalmology would be ideal but I'm worried that with marginal grades I would really have to work hard and long to get into med school (then I would be worried about matching into ophtho), and I could probably get into opt school at least a year earlier and be on my way. I'm already 25, and feel like I don't have too much time to decide, especially because next fall my course load will be dictated by my choice. Thanks for any input.

 

[VA Hopeful Dr]

I posted this on the thread "mini life crisis", you might want to check that one out. Lots of good info.

I wrestled for a long time between going MD or going OD. My dad and both of his parents were ODs, all practiced together; so obviously there was some incentive to go that way. I had seen how many patients just loved coming in to see them because of the time and attention they got (20 minutes of doctor time wasn't unheard of compared with approximately 3-5 minutes with the local MD (note: just anecdotal)). I liked the idea of going into the family practice, and I really liked the idea of working with eyes (damn but they're interesting little things). What finally made the decision was when I saw how hard Dad had to work to get TPA passed in my state. And then again for the limited orals ODs are allowed. To me, it wasn't worth having to fight so hard to get legal permission to practice within the OD education whereas with an MD, the sky is the limit.
Bottom line, I think being an OD is great IF you don't mind having to fight long and hard for any new levels of practice. You get great patient interaction, normal hours, you can make an immediate difference in people's vision, and can often catch larger problems before anyone else. But as has been said, you can't expect to see new and interesting pathology in every patient you see.
Best of luck to you.

And in your case, I'd suggest one additional thing. You obviously have an interest in eyes: but what area of eyes? If you want to do ANY surgery, go MD. If you are content to spend a good bit of your day refracting perfectly healthy eyes, go OD.

 

[HuntinDoc]

I posted this on the thread "mini life crisis", you might want to check that one out. Lots of good info.

I wrestled for a long time between going MD or going OD. My dad and both of his parents were ODs, all practiced together; so obviously there was some incentive to go that way. I had seen how many patients just loved coming in to see them because of the time and attention they got (20 minutes of doctor time wasn't unheard of compared with approximately 3-5 minutes with the local MD (note: just anecdotal)). I liked the idea of going into the family practice, and I really liked the idea of working with eyes (damn but they're interesting little things). What finally made the decision was when I saw how hard Dad had to work to get TPA passed in my state. And then again for the limited orals ODs are allowed. To me, it wasn't worth having to fight so hard to get legal permission to practice within the OD education whereas with an MD, the sky is the limit.
Bottom line, I think being an OD is great IF you don't mind having to fight long and hard for any new levels of practice. You get great patient interaction, normal hours, you can make an immediate difference in people's vision, and can often catch larger problems before anyone else. But as has been said, you can't expect to see new and interesting pathology in every patient you see.
Best of luck to you.

And in your case, I'd suggest one additional thing. You obviously have an interest in eyes: but what area of eyes? If you want to do ANY surgery, go MD. If you are content to spend a good bit of your day refracting perfectly healthy eyes, go OD.

Thanks for the honest info. Speaking of surgery, that is what confuses me so much because I'm really unsure of whether or not I would enjoy doing it. The idea intrigues me but it's not exactly something I can just try out 🙂 Maybe the next step is to try to observe a surgery if any ophthos would let me. Thanks again.

 

[vtrain]

I suggest u shadow both ophthalmologists and optometrists before making this decision. Ask to observe some cataract, PK, LASIK, etc surgeries and after a bunch you should have a better idea which is the one for you. I didn't realize I wanted to do ophthalmology until my fourth year of optometry school but after observing several surgeries and seeing some of the cases that ophthos manage on a day-day basis, made me switch. In the end both professions are excellent and you will have a good life no matter which profession you pick. Also, it helps to get to know the personalities of ophthos because they generally follow certain traits and see if u fit that personality.

 

[Hines302]

Also, it helps to get to know the personalities of ophthos because they generally follow certain traits and see if u fit that personality.

Could you elaborate more on this??? Are you an OMD resident yet??

To the orginal poster my advice would be not to go to med school JUST because you want to be an OMD.... go because you want to me a medical doctor. There is always that chance you wont match into the specialty you want. If you are just interested in the eyes, and nothing else... opt school may be a better fit

 

[vtrain]

From what I've seen, ophthos and urologists tend to share very similar personalities. They are generally more laid back and less type A. the last ophtho I talked to actually told me he was going to do surgery in the beginning but changed his mind when he encountered more than his fair share of cut throat hardcore type a personalities. not to say that these personalities dont exist in ophtho, but they are not as prevalent as in other specialties. Once u hit clinics youll begin to see that each specialty has it's general personality types.