Changing Gears from Optics to Ophthalmology

[eebrost]

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I am a 1st year graduate student in optics at the University of Rochester and will be finishing with an M.S. this next spring. I came to the U of R expecting to go into eye care research (of which there are many opportunities) so that I could eventually get a R&D job in the eye care industry. However, over the past few months I have done some soul searching and have come to the realization that I would much happier being involved in the clinical side of eye care where I can directly help patients, rather than working behind the scenes with the optics.

As I am still in my first year of grad school I feel highly compelled to continue my education and go into ophthalmology even though the road is not easy. However, not having considered health care much until recently, I am pretty unfamiliar with the overall process.

What I am wondering is: what are my chances of making it into med school/ how I should strengthen my application. My undergrad is a B.S. in physics from a private midwest university, 3.5cGPA 3.7sGPA. I have 2 years of physics research with 2 publications, and an REU. I still need to take the MCAT, a year of O chem. and biology to finish the pre-reqs so it will be another year or so until I apply.

For those having applied to med school with a specialty in mind:
When applying, does it help to make your intended specialty known on your personal statement/in the interview?

For those in ophthalmology or interested:
Will my M.S. in optics help my application in any way? (Roughly 30% of the coursework and my master's essay is on the topic of the human eye.)

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Your numbers look ok, you need shadowing, volunteering, to do well, etc. so you could have a decent chance. It generally isn't good to make the specialty known because you haven't seen all of medicine. The main thing you need to ask yourself is, are you cool with not doing ophthamology. You have chosen a highly competitive specialty and you need to plan on not getting it, simply because the odds are against you. Not saying you won't but if you can be completely happy not doing it, than go for it. it is nice to aim high but you need a contingency plan. If the answer is no, than stay with optics. And the MS will likely have zero affect in getting into ophthamology.

 

[sector9]

Your numbers look ok, you need shadowing, volunteering, to do well, etc. so you could have a decent chance. It generally isn't good to make the specialty known because you haven't seen all of medicine. The main thing you need to ask yourself is, are you cool with not doing ophthamology. You have chosen a highly competitive specialty and you need to plan on not getting it, simply because the odds are against you. Not saying you won't but if you can be completely happy not doing it, than go for it. it is nice to aim high but you need a contingency plan. If the answer is no, than stay with optics. And the MS will likely have zero affect in getting into ophthamology.

Hmm I think the MS in the subject might help him get into an ophthalmology residency program but it won't specifically help him get in to medical school (beyond the obvious research experience that med schools like)

Agreed about the "don't tell schools you only want to be an ophthalmologist" part. You may tell them you're interested in it if asked, but don't say it's your only idea

 

[FrkyBgStok]

Sorry. You are right. What I meant is that the MS won't drastically help you. If you are competitive, it can probably help, but it won't make up for less than competitive numbers. As in, it won't cause people to say, "we want this person because of this."

 

[Catalystik]

For those in ophthalmology or interested:
Will my M.S. in optics help my application in any way? (Roughly 30% of the coursework and my master's essay is on the topic of the human eye.)

If you have research experience relevant to ophthalmology, that will help you get into an ophthalmology residency. But you will need your med school record to be extremely competitive in every way, including, clerkship grades, Step scores, deans letter, and LORs.