Application Question plz help!

[arian]

Choose on or more modes of practice and describe pros, cons, limitations, and advantages of your chosen modes of optometric practice.
I have already visited three optometrist, from the following practices, but I still don't know how to start and what to write for this essay and this essay is the only thing that\s holding me back. Do I also have to mention what kind of practice I want to have in the future. Please help me if you can

1) solo private practitioner
2) partnership
3) commercial

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[HOPEOPT]

Choose on or more modes of practice and describe pros, cons, limitations, and advantages of your chosen modes of optometric practice.
I have already visited three optometrist, from the following practices, but I still don't know how to start and what to write for this essay and this essay is the only thing that\s holding me back. Do I also have to mention what kind of practice I want to have in the future. Please help me if you can

1) solo private practitioner
2) partnership
3) commercial

Be honest and simple write why you choose optometry as your future career, how you see yourself fit in this field.

 

[arian]

But I thought I had to write that in the other essays where it asks you " tell us about who you're and what are your interets and when you became interested in optometry field

 

[Grover3060]

Choose on or more modes of practice and describe pros, cons, limitations, and advantages of your chosen modes of optometric practice.
I have already visited three optometrist, from the following practices, but I still don't know how to start and what to write for this essay and this essay is the only thing that\s holding me back. Do I also have to mention what kind of practice I want to have in the future. Please help me if you can

1) solo private practitioner
2) partnership
3) commercial

Hopefully when you were shadowing various optometrists you were able to talk to them about the various aspects of their practices (pros, cons, and the like). If you didn't gather this information from them the first time a simple phone call or visit to their practices could solve that. Other people have asked similar questions on this forum so sifting through threads about that kinda stuff may help as well. You need to develop your reasons for wanting to practice optometry and yes having at least a thought out answer about your future aspirations would be wise. Good luck with everything.

Brian

 

[CCTX87]

I had this question when applying to UHCO. I listed two different modes of practice and set my essay up to describe one setting and then listed all of the pros and then all of the cons and giving specific examples to show my experience. I was pretty honest in my essay and used plenty of details. If you are applying to UHCO, the essays of course are important but I know they focus mainly on GPA and OAT so the sooner you complete your application the better your chances are. Waiting around to submit your application because of an essay is putting your application behind others.

 

[HOPEOPT]

But I thought I had to write that in the other essays where it asks you " tell us about who you're and what are your interets and when you became interested in optometry field

yea may be you are write but according to my application to OSU I have to write only one personal essay talking about myself and why I chose optometry.

 

[blysssful]

yea may be you are write but according to my application to OSU I have to write only one personal essay talking about myself and why I chose optometry.

Clearly, that is not arian's situation.

arian: No, you do not have to mention what kind of practice you wish to have. I think the point of this essay is to be able to tell if you can properly assess different situations in optometry. Asking for the pros and cons of the different modes of practice allows the admissions committee to see what kind of optometrist you want to be.

For example, maybe for some people a "pro" of working for a commercial practice is that you don't have to worry about bringing patients in, because there is a whole marketing department that does that. Or maybe an advantage to working within a solo practice is that you run your practice the way you see fit. There are advantages and disadvantages to all the modes of practice, the essay is asking you to list what you PERSONALLY find advantageous about a particular one. Maybe you would LIKE being able to find various ways of bringing in new patients, so having that be done for you would be a disadvantage. Hopefully that'll give you some sort of motivation to get it done!

I agree with Brian, if you're unsure about the differences between the three listed modes of practice, you should contact the optometrists again to get their input.

 

[arian]

Thank you so much!!!!

 

[arian]

One more question, since its asking me to have personal contact with atleast three optometrists, so i need to mention their name and stuff in the essay or at the end of my essay as a reference???

 

[sWish]

When writing of my shadowing experiences, I mentioned the doctors' names in the body of my essays.

 

[CCTX87]

One more question, since its asking me to have personal contact with atleast three optometrists, so i need to mention their name and stuff in the essay or at the end of my essay as a reference???

I personally did not mention the doctors but it might be a good idea and even more so if they attended UHCO. I did talk about the name and location of the practice in my essay and the time frame in which I worked/shadowed there. Another thing that I included in my essay was the details about the setting of the optometry office (rural/urban, number of employees, chain store, eyewear retail etc.) which also helped to add in more advantages and disadvantages. Such as the advantage to having a smaller office in a rural area is that the employees knew the patients and made the overall experience for them more personable, and the office was always booked for appointments. The disadvantage for this type of optometry setting is that the optometrists had limited walk-ins for red eye exams. Hopefully this helps, but I hope even more that you finish the essay at least before the 5th which is when UHCO returns for classes.

 

[N3mesis85]

according to Dr. Shulman (assistant dean of admin at UHCO), you should include documentation in your essay. be it footnotes or parenthetical documentation.

ex: Working at LensCrafters sucks (Dr. Smith, LensCrafters).

as for the essay itself... If you're applying to UH, i would approach the two essays this way:

The first is a personal reflection on your choice of optometry as a career. keep it light. keep it anecdotal. interesting. you know, have a personality. the professor I had my exit interview with actually told me about how many horribly boring essays he has to read every day and how much he hates them. amuse them and you're in.

the second essay, the one youre having trouble with, is informative. i personally found this one to be much easier. do what they taught you in grade school. intro paragraph, one paragraph comparing the similarities of two types of practice, one paragraph stating the differences. then a conclusion paragraph. include references, and voila! youre done. shouldn't take more than an hour or two. like the other posters stated, i hope you did some research over the years with the doctors you worked with. that's kind of the point with this essay. to show that you've taken an interest in this career and actually want to know more about it. for the sake of your interests. not the essay. if you havn't, not to late to give 'em a call.

good luck!

 

[arian]

You guys are awesome. Thank you so much. I'm learning a lot. Thanks to you all I am almost done with my essays and ready to submit them. One last question for UH Optometry School when you have to list your references do you just put their Last and first names or you also have to put their address and phone number!!! This might be a stupid question.

Ex. Smith, Arnold
...Southwest Frwy
Houston, TX ????

 

[N3mesis85]

It's very flexible. to save you time, i would just list doctor's name and the location (ex: visionsource, walmart, etc)