Grad school in Germany?

[z85]

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Hi, I'm about to be a second year at UC Davis under a biology major (planning on switching to biochemistry), and I'm wondering which schools in Germany offer optometry at the masters level. Thank you. 🙂

 

[SonofanOpt]

Optometry isn't a "Masters" program. It's a professional school - Dental, Medical, Pharmacy, etc. In order to eventually become an Optometrist, you also have to pass boards after you finish. I'm not even sure how Germany handles Optometry, but it's probably safe to say that going there then becoming an Optometrist in the states is not gonna happen.

However, I do know that in Optometry school, whenever you get to the clinical aspect of your education (4th year mainly) you can spend one of your "rotations" at different places, mainly around the states, but some have locations overseas to spend your 3-4 months.

 

[z85]

Hi, thanks for responding. 🙂I'm hoping to practice optometry in Germany. Upon further searching, I was able to find this list on the German Wikipedia. The following German universities have a Department of Optometry:

Hochschule Aalen
Beuth-University of Applied Sciences Berlin
Fachhochschule Braunschweig / Wolfenbüttel, Braunschweig
Fachhochschule Jena
Fachhochschule Lübeck

I was wondering if anyone knew of the reputation of those schools for optometry? Also, I'm keeping my options open here in the States, so I'm wondering if it would be possible to study optometry here in the States and then practice in Germany? Or if that's not possible, how would I continue my studies in Germany after obtaining a B.S. in Biochemistry from UC Davis (and fulfilling the normal requisites)?

Also, after looking at a list from the following website...

http://www.fachhochschule.de/FH/Master/FH/Technik/Optik_Akustik.htm

...a master's in Optometry/Vision Science from Jena seems to be attainable. What type of careers are available for this field? I assume that stopping at this level of education is not enough to become an actual optometrist. I am very confused!

 

[lkg2837]

As far as I understand, the profession is not exactly the same here as it is there. Therefore, education in optometry there wouldn't transfer to the US, and vice versa. If you intend to live and work here as a US optometrist, you better go to school here. If you want to live and work in Germany, look into what "optometry" there entails. I believe it's more like what optometric technicians here are, but if you choose that, you probably want to get one of their degrees over there. Good luck!

(my family is actually from Germany, and when I try to explain to them what optometry is, they're baffled that I'm spending so much time, education, and money going into the field-- because they think I'm referring to optometric technicians/ opticians. Over there, they mostly have that and ophthalmologists, less of the in between primary care that is optometry. This is my understanding anyway, I hope that made some sense!)

 

[z85]

Thank you very much! I understand now. 😀