Dropped Optometry School

[droppedoptometry]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

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[lightning293]

Can I ask where you went to optometry school? Maybe it just wasn't the right fit for you?

If optometry is something you want to do, I don't think you should give up!

 

[Meeehai]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

I think you made the right decision if you didn't like it. Just like any healthcare education though, the boring didactic stuff has to come first. Good luck and I hope you find something that you enjoy more.

 

[undecisiveone1]

Can I ask what school you went to as well?

Good for you though for pulling yourself out before investing too much

 

[NFM0963]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

 

[SnozzBerry]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

@drumstix , bro.

 

[NFM0963]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

It appears he made the right choice in dropping out early in your educational venture. I don't think you were cut out for the rigors of the medical profession's educational requirements. Health care is not for everyone. In fact, after 22 years of practice, I'm not sure it's for anyone. The main reason you take biochemistry, microbiology, optics, anatomy, pharmacology, etc.... is believe it or not, you use this level of knowledge throughout your career. Depending upon the career path you take in Optometry these are but a few of the areas in which you rely on to make your best clinical decisions for your patients. Optometry/Medicine/Dentistry/Podiatry all require significant amount of educational commitment. I do not agree with your assumption of Optometry school could be completed in 2 years. This illustrates your lack of knowledge regarding the complexity of the profession and the vast breath of knowledge required to practice. Indeed, as the practice becomes more specialized and requires more knowledge training may be increased even further to 5 or 6 years. That being said, a less intense educational path may be your best option with less stress.

 

[drumstix]

@drumstix , bro.

 

[drumstix]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

Sorry to hear, but good you got out. I wish everyone who isn't into their fields would get out (no offense). You could've also pursued teaching as an OD later on, but it's after all the schooling. Good luck with everything.

 

[Futureeyedocgirl]

As a first year SUNY-O student I can say the classes I'm taking are challenging (biochem, ocular anatomy, neuroanatomy) and sometimes I question why am I learning this but after completing those courses I honestly feel more knowledgable and appreciative of the health care world. Sure I probably won't be talking about certain aspects of my histology course to my future patients but how can you call yourself a doctor and not have this science background at your disposal. Research in the field is happening every day and you need to keep up with it and understand the lingual by studying these tough subjects. It's not for everyone thats for sure but I'm very happy with my choice.

 

[SunA21]

If you think you like teaching, then go for it! I'm sorry you got put off by the basic science classes at the school - I know of at least one school that only does eye-related classes (berkeley) because they require all the basic stuff as prereqs. but if you weren't excited about the thought of being an optometrist, then I'm glad you're leaving school so you can find something you really love. Best of luck!

 

[apple896]

Can I also ask where you went to optometry school? There are some schools, like the one in Puerto Rico that I know about, which is nothing but a scam. Very unprofessional teaching, and not to mention unprofessional staff and students!

 

[dradamh]

Your experience in Optometry school could still benefit you if you decided to go into teaching or research. Consider a PhD program. That would be 5 more years though but would give you a degree for teaching or research. The optometry background wouldn't be a complete waste.

 

[generallyspeaking]

I highly doubt that optometry background would be useful for anything else, especially with just one year done.

And to add to OP's original post: the curriculum contains science that may not be involved clinically because we're doctors. We're not training to be just technicians. Doctors need exposure and mastery of this information to think critically about their field and research/review/critique. I think it is important to know the inside and outs of all things that go into producing vision (cortical, chemical, physical, physiological) as well as clinical techniques for managing vision in order to fully UNDERSTAND the pathophysiology and reasons why we do what we do, and understand what may be pioneered in the future.

Also learning>memorizing.

 

[Ferenzi]

Learn to do some online business. It has vast prospect by reaching out the entire world. Conventional professions are getting too saturated nowadays.

 

[nooneod]

you did the right thing. see my post in the "preoptometry forum" entitled "reasons not to choose optometry"

 

[EyeSeeEverything]

Today I dropped optometry school in my home state. I was a first year student. I am a Biology major, and I picked optometry because I didn't want to do med school and wanted to be on the periphery of health care. I shadowed optometrists and I thought it would be a really cool and chill job. Another reason I picked optometry was because I thought it would be an easy route to $100k out of all the health profession careers (I was wrong about that). I never attended med school, but looking at other threads and med curriculums, I could say the first 2 years of optometry school are most likely comparable to med school. The stress of optometry school was getting to me. I was not doing bad in optometry school, I just honestly didn't like it. Why do I have to take classes such as biochem and micrbio (which I took in undergrad)? Will I ever have to synthesize orgaic reactions in my career? Because of this, I had less time to focus on classes that deal with the career such as optics and ocular anatomy. I feel like the opmetry program could be less than 4 years if they just focus on the classes for our careers. Also, It just felt like all I was doing was memorizing, which is not my strong suit. I know the curriculum gets more complex and the classes get more difficult (anterior/poster segment disease, pharmacology, etc...) I told myself I don't want to be killing myself for 3 years, and then work 40 hours a week during externships 4th year. I also felt that if I had to drop, I had to drop now, so I could cut my losses.

All I know is you have to have a passion for optometry, or any other grad school program in healthcare. I was so-so about entering optometry school, and just picked it because I needed to pick a career. I don't have the passion to work in healthcare, I feel like the education and working in it leads to burn out.

Now I have to figure what I want to do with my life. I went right into optometry school from undergrad. I was thinking biology teacher at high school or college level. I actually honestly enjoy teaching. Money is not the important thing for me. Enjoying life, spending time with family, and having time off is on the top of my list (kind of like what most Europeans value).

I would appreciate any advice from anyone too.

Thanks

I'm in the same boat. I applied for Fall 2016 entry. I submitted my application in February and was accepted in early March. I accepted my seat in late March and ultimately withdrew in June a couple of weeks after graduating from undergrad. I had several reasons for withdrawing. First, I had every intention of going to med school but at the time I would've been applying, my GPA would've been a bit low (biochem ruins lives) to go to a good med school school, so I kind of defaulted to optometry school. I had thought about optometry before and was actually very interested in the profession from everything I had seen in my shadowing. However, as time went on I realized several things didn't really add up. I was accepted to an out of state private optometry school, and tuition plus costs of living would've meant that I was going to graduate with $270k worth of debt plus $20k of debt from undergrad. Also, the market is oversaturated and salary is declining, which would've made it incredibly difficult to pay off all the loans. I don't think I would've struggled with any of the classes per say, I already took Biochem 1 and 2, and was a behavioral neuroscience major as an undergrad, so course load didn't really have anything to do with my decision.

Now, I am back at my undergrad university in the Masters in Management program, and I am looking into a career in healthcare consulting, particularly in biotech or pharmaceuticals. I feel like my undergrad career wouldn't be a complete waste, I'm getting a business education in addition to my arts and sciences education, which makes me very well rounded. I don't know if this helps you at all, but I just wanted others to know that dropping out isn't totally unusual. I did it before I even stepped foot on campus as a student and I'm glad I did.

 

[deleted547631]

I'm in the same boat. I applied for Fall 2016 entry. I submitted my application in February and was accepted in early March. I accepted my seat in late March and ultimately withdrew in June a couple of weeks after graduating from undergrad. I had several reasons for withdrawing. First, I had every intention of going to med school but at the time I would've been applying, my GPA would've been a bit low (biochem ruins lives) to go to a good med school school, so I kind of defaulted to optometry school. I had thought about optometry before and was actually very interested in the profession from everything I had seen in my shadowing. However, as time went on I realized several things didn't really add up. I was accepted to an out of state private optometry school, and tuition plus costs of living would've meant that I was going to graduate with $270k worth of debt plus $20k of debt from undergrad. Also, the market is oversaturated and salary is declining, which would've made it incredibly difficult to pay off all the loans. I don't think I would've struggled with any of the classes per say, I already took Biochem 1 and 2, and was a behavioral neuroscience major as an undergrad, so course load didn't really have anything to do with my decision.

Now, I am back at my undergrad university in the Masters in Management program, and I am looking into a career in healthcare consulting, particularly in biotech or pharmaceuticals. I feel like my undergrad career wouldn't be a complete waste, I'm getting a business education in addition to my arts and sciences education, which makes me very well rounded. I don't know if this helps you at all, but I just wanted others to know that dropping out isn't totally unusual. I did it before I even stepped foot on campus as a student and I'm glad I did.

You made the right decision. There's still plenty of time down the road to return to your goal of becoming a physician if the dream continues to tug at you. It's the only doctoral degree-granting health profession worth going for nowadays, in my opinion, due to market saturation of all the other professions (dentistry, pharm, et al.)