I keep finding more negative about Optometry then positive. Switch it up!

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Lately I have noticed that although I seek to find the positive about Optometry, I cannot help but find more negative aspects.

Not in the sense that I am finding out new things about the career that I personally dont like, but the fact that the individual commenting will harp on all the negativity and focus on all the problems.

Pre-Optometry students seem to be ambitious and positive yet there are several Optometry Doctors that really seem to be BIG TIME downers about the profession.

Is it because the internet has so many peoples opinions?

I will get on the computer some days and after reading and researching I will be totally thrilled, siked, and empowered that I am getting into a great career.

Other days this is not the case at all. I will get on the forums etc. and what I will read is just people complaining and talking about their struggle!

Are these people really in good situations in life yet they have just been negative about everything since they where born, so therefore they refer to an excellent job as a struggle?

I do not know what is going on with this situation but I do know that Optometry is a great career choice and has MUCH MORE positives then it does negatives...

Maybe this thread can be dedicated to what you think is GREAT about optometry. The simple things you love and all the positive stuff.... I am sick of finding all the negativity! Tell us all what you love about being an O.D or a future O.D so that people browsing the forums can read something empowering and have one of those days that they feel sure and happy about their decision to be involved in Optometry... Also I think if people mentally focus on the good stuff that the profession will improve in all areas even though it is already AMAZING!

👍

 

[KHE]

Lately I have noticed that although I seek to find the positive about Optometry, I cannot help but find more negative aspects.

Not in the sense that I am finding out new things about the career that I personally dont like, but the fact that the individual commenting will harp on all the negativity and focus on all the problems.

Pre-Optometry students seem to be ambitious and positive yet there are several Optometry Doctors that really seem to be BIG TIME downers about the profession.

Is it because the internet has so many peoples opinions?

I will get on the computer some days and after reading and researching I will be totally thrilled, siked, and empowered that I am getting into a great career.

Other days this is not the case at all. I will get on the forums etc. and what I will read is just people complaining and talking about their struggle!

Are these people really in good situations in life yet they have just been negative about everything since they where born, so therefore they refer to an excellent job as a struggle?

I do not know what is going on with this situation but I do know that Optometry is a great career choice and has MUCH MORE positives then it does negatives...

Maybe this thread can be dedicated to what you think is GREAT about optometry. The simple things you love and all the positive stuff.... I am sick of finding all the negativity! Tell us all what you love about being an O.D or a future O.D so that people browsing the forums can read something empowering and have one of those days that they feel sure and happy about their decision to be involved in Optometry... Also I think if people mentally focus on the good stuff that the profession will improve in all areas even though it is already AMAZING!

👍

Don't discount the negative....for many of you out there, optometry is not going to be the career you expected. Many of you fantasize about owning and/or working in a large Guggenheim type practice with a waiting room stuffed full of cool and interesting ocular pathology and patients falling all over each other to avail themselves of your incredibly expertise. The reality of it is is that 99.99% of optometry is not like that.

That being said...at the end of the day I get paid decent money to help people see better. That is quite rewarding.

 

[hello07]

Like I said in other posts, Optometry is probably one of the easiest jobs in the world. The only hard part about optometry is becoming an optometrist- the schooling. Once you are out and know your stuff (refractions/ CL's fits of all kinds/ ocular disease-anterior/ posterior as to dx, tx and mgmt/ binocular vision/ etc......) it is cake. Like flying a plane on automatic pilot. The only time you take over is when something "interesting comes in and needs attetion." pathology or neurological etc.......or with children.
pay is nothing great but you can live decently. malpractice insurance is low. stress is low. respect varies.
Aim higher.....................if you like eyes and want to provide total eye care without all the bulls@t involved in optometry state laws........go become an ophthalmologist. You will all learn that optometry and OD's are their own enemy. MD's aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are. We are areworst enemy. Going to OD school now in 2008 and on just isn't worth the investment on your return .........................by 2 cents.
Thank you.

 

[Habitual Rx]

Like I said in other posts, Optometry is probably one of the easiest jobs in the world. The only hard part about optometry is becoming an optometrist- the schooling. Once you are out and know your stuff (refractions/ CL's fits of all kinds/ ocular disease-anterior/ posterior as to dx, tx and mgmt/ binocular vision/ etc......) it is cake. Like flying a plane on automatic pilot. The only time you take over is when something "interesting comes in and needs attetion." pathology or neurological etc.......or with children.
pay is nothing great but you can live decently. malpractice insurance is low. stress is low. respect varies.
Aim higher.....................if you like eyes and want to provide total eye care without all the bulls@t involved in optometry state laws........go become an ophthalmologist. You will all learn that optometry and OD's are their own enemy. MD's aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are. We are areworst enemy. Going to OD school now in 2008 and on just isn't worth the investment on your return .........................by 2 cents.
Thank you.

I can only imagine what your referrals are filled with.

Also, what do you think about Canadian tuition being about... half... of the American tuition? Still not worth the investment on your return?

MY two cents.

 

[hello07]

I don't understand your sarcastic comment above with my referrals filled with? Please explain.
I don't know anything about canadian tuition and your cost of living and the annual amt OD's make up there.
Try sticking to your pre Optometry classes, do well, get in and then talk to me with your expertise and running your mouth like you know what it is all about.

 

[Framecontrol]

I don't understand your sarcastic comment above with my referrals filled with? Please explain.
I don't know anything about canadian tuition and your cost of living and the annual amt OD's make up there.
Try sticking to your pre Optometry classes, do well, get in and then talk to me with your expertise and running your mouth like you know what it is all about.

Yo seriously, chill out...

I love how I try to make a thread about positive stuff and this is what shows up...

DO NOT POST ON HERE HELLO07 - NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU!


"if you like eyes and want to provide total eye care without all the bulls@t involved in optometry state laws........go become an ophthalmologist. You will all learn that optometry and OD's are their own enemy. MD's aren't as bad as everyone thinks they are. We are areworst enemy. Going to OD school now in 2008 and on just isn't worth the investment on your return .........................by 2 cents."



Seriously do you understand that the thread was made for some positive vibes?

I quote you...
"bulls@it"
"enemy"
"bad"
"enemy"
"isn't worth the investment"
"running your mouth"
....


Everyone else, continue on with that positive love! Spread the goodness and lets hear about why Optometry makes you smile!
😀

 

[spanisheyes]

Yo seriously, chill out...

I love how I try to make a thread about positive stuff and this is what shows up...

DO NOT POST ON HERE HELLO07 - NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU!

well said 👍

 

[eyestrain]

Yo seriously, chill out...

I love how I try to make a thread about positive stuff and this is what shows up...

DO NOT POST ON HERE HELLO07 - NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR YOU!

I like to hear from Hello07. Again, do students just want someone to blow smoke up their a$$es? Anyone who brings up the bad parts of optometry get attacked by pre-opt and optometry students who appear to know everything.

 

[KHE]

I like to hear from Hello07. Again, do students just want someone to blow smoke up their a$$es? Anyone who brings up the bad parts of optometry get attacked by pre-opt and optometry students who appear to know everything.

There is a lot of legitimacy to that, but there is also some legitimacy to the OPs request to hear something positive. Maybe we should have one thread for positives and one for negative.

 

[hello07]

Back when i was in undergrad and optometry school ,I don't think this site existed. Even if it did, i wouldn't be on it. i was more concerned with studying my butt off with organic and physics and optics and biochem and studying for boards etc.......All these expert pre-opt and optometry students why don't you concentrate on your academics and then run your mouths off to a 15 year veteran who just about has seen it and done it all in optometry.

 

[xmattODx]

Maybe this thread can be dedicated to what you think is GREAT about optometry. The simple things you love and all the positive stuff

I graduated from OD school a whopping 6 years ago (time flies) from spring break of second year until relatively recently I was quite down on optometry. In the past couple of years I've decided to make my own optometric positives. To look at it differently. Optometry has become a means to an end for me. It is not what my life is about. I no longer care about the nasty patients (of which there are many) or the contact lens abusers (of which there are many) or the yellers and screamers. I counsel them on the best course of action, give my opinion and then whatever they do they do. I can sleep at night.

When reading negatives or postives about any profession you have to remember that they are only the author's opinions. What may be a postive to me may be a negative to you. But after 4 years of school and six years of practice here are my postives (in no particular order):

1) I work part time and make more than enough to live comfortably. Money is not a priority in my life. Life is a priority in my life. I go through spurts of working fullish time followed by spurts of no work (by choice). Money has become a big topic on this forum lately. To put it in perspective in most commercial places (and probably most private places) you will make as much in one day as the "optician" makes in a week. They survive. You'll do fine.

2) Because of Optometry I've seen the world. Optometry has provided me with the money to travel as well as reasons to travel (initally for eye care "missions" later when I realized the err of my ways to teach). I've been to conferences all over the US and even to one in South Africa.

3) I get to help people and some are appreciative.

4) I met my wife in optometry school

5) I was able to arrange my work schedule around my master's degree schedule with very little difficulty.

6) I've seen my name in print because of optomery.

7) I have a very easy job. I'm not digging ditches. I'm not out in the freezing cold in the winter or the blistering sun in the summer.

8) I have a variety of choices of what I can do. From Academia to private to commerical to charity to institutional work. I've done them all and all are different. There is a right fit for everyone.

Well that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Once my outlook changed I was able to see the positives that were always in front of me. They are there its just a matter of whether or not you choose to recognize them.

I know I'll get blasted for working part-time but I don't particularly care. I'm happy. My wife is happy. We love life. We'll work more full-time in the coming years I'm sure but as it stands now I have 7 more weeks of work in Nome and then I'm off to Romania, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic for 5 weeks and then...?

 

[Dwight Schrute]

Here's a positive story.

Earlier this week I had my contact lens wedged so far up my eyelid I couldn't even find it. Instead of continuing to pick at it, I decided to go visit OD in my college town recommend by a professor to get it out for me. After she took out the lens, we started talking about optometry since she asked me what I was doing after graduation. She was so excited and enthusiastic about having a future OD student and wanted to tell me all about her optometry experiences.

Towards the end of our conversation I commented about all the negative thigns that I read online. Since she was getting ready to close anyway, we took a moment and logged onto ODwire and I opened some random thread.

She started laughing.

Basically, her thoughts were: "Well...some of these points definitely have legitimacy, but they don't give me reasons to log onto my computer at the end of the day and complain about how bad I have it. I make great money and enjoy patient care, and that's what matters to me."

Very interesting to see how different ODs have such different outlooks on the profession.

 

[cpw]

Thanks Matt for bringing this back to what it should have been in the first place. 🙂 Hope you're having fun in Nome.

 

[KHE]

Towards the end of our conversation I commented about all the negative thigns that I read online. Since she was getting ready to close anyway, we took a moment and logged onto ODwire and I opened some random thread.

She started laughing.

Basically, her thoughts were: "Well...some of these points definitely have legitimacy, but they don't give me reasons to log onto my computer at the end of the day and complain about how bad I have it. I make great money and enjoy patient care, and that's what matters to me."

Very interesting to see how different ODs have such different outlooks on the profession.

Your optometrists is basically correct, however it's dangerous to fall into the trap of dismissing the negativity as the mere rantings of people who must be deficient in some way. That's a common response, and it's usually not accurate. The people who are "negative" are almost universally struggling and more often than not they are not struggling because of some character flaw on their part, or some sort of clinical deficiency on their part.

The fact is, optometry is a profession that is very different in different parts of the country, and it can even be different within any particular state if the state is large enough.

I posted these threads a while back...I would encourage students to consider reading them because I tried my best to lay it all out in as impartial a way as possible....

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=427182

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=427605

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=429718

 

[stonegoat]

I have been in practice for 5 years. I love my work, but agree with those who say that optometry is a means to an end, not an end in itself....as all careers should be. If your profession and identity are one and the same, you will be one of those 75 year olds, still seeing patients....depressing....🙁

Optometry is challenging enough for me, and I make enough money to pursue my interests.

Would I do it again? Absolutely.

 

[Habitual Rx]

To the OP - Sorry for starting hello07's assault... but i must respond.

I don't understand your sarcastic comment above with my referrals filled with? Please explain.

Shady spelling, grammar... anger? It was a joke. Lighten up, Doc.

I don't know anything about Canadian tuition and your cost of living and the annual amt OD's make up there.

When I say Canadian tuition vs. US tuition, I am talking from personal experience. Very roughly, tuition in Canada is around $10,000 CAD per year while the schools I applied to in the US were about $30,000 USD per year. This is why I see a better return for Canadian ODs. In the end... I was given figures somewhere around $80,000 and $200,000 for Canada and the US, respectively.

Try sticking to your pre Optometry classes, do well, get in and then talk to me with your expertise and running your mouth like you know what it is all about.

I've done well, got in to multiple schools and I don't think I'm an expert. Not even close. I fail to see where I said that in my post.

hello07, I hope that explains my comment.

To the positive ODs, keep up your positive enthusiasm. It really makes a difference for Pre-Optometry students to see some people who love their job.

 

[hello07]

Habitual Rx- I love my job optometry and I do it very well day in day out. I take pride in my work and it shows. I don't have to sugar coat my job just because I love it. I point out negatives about my profession but it doesn't mean I hate it. In fact, you'll hear many of your patients down the road tell you "they're more impressed with your exam than the ophthalmological exam they got from Dr so and so and they will be sincere and make you feel good. It's happened to me many times. When you asked them, what didn't you like about them or why you say that? the majority of the times they will tell you "he or she was too abrupt or I wasn't impressed by them." Trust me, you'll be hearing this many times in throughout your career. I don't hate Optometry. I enjoy it but you better know the negatives invloved as well.

 

[Habitual Rx]

Habitual Rx- I love my job optometry and I do it very well day in day out. I take pride in my work and it shows. I don't have to sugar coat my job just because I love it. I point out negatives about my profession but it doesn't mean I hate it. In fact, you'll hear many of your patients down the road tell you "they're more impressed with your exam than the ophthalmological exam they got from Dr so and so and they will be sincere and make you feel good. It's happened to me many times. When you asked them, what didn't you like about them or why you say that? the majority of the times they will tell you "he or she was too abrupt or I wasn't impressed by them." Trust me, you'll be hearing this many times in throughout your career. I don't hate Optometry. I enjoy it but you better know the negatives invloved as well.

It's like a whole different person! Thanks.

I definitely agree with you. With my work experience, I feel as if the more time an OD spends in conversation explaining procedures and getting to know the patient, the more confident and secure that patient is going to feel.

I am well aware of the negatives of the profession, but I believe the positives and my outlook on it as a whole are the reason I chose to continue.

Back to the positives!

 

[Framecontrol]

BUMP!

There is a "what dont you like about optometry" thread invading this page!!!

Although it is important to recognize the downsides to the profession, lets make the positives SHINE!!!!

POST WHAT YOU LOVE ABOUT OPTOMETRY!



Personally I love the eyes.

 

[Habitual Rx]

The constant patient interaction, getting to actually sit down and learn about someone as well as forming quality relationships knowing I will be giving others the gift of clear vision are the motivations for me.