Medical field and Optometry

[hoosier1]

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Hello, I'm new to the boards and I've been reading posts for the past couple of weeks. But my main question to those who are or want to be optometrists: How did you know you wanted to become an optometrist and not a physician? Did you volunteer in both areas and find more enjoyment in optometry? Please feel free to respond, thanks a lot.

 

[rpames]

I basically talked to a bunch of MD/DO's and worked for one for a summer. They all said, "Are you sure you want to do this? I probably wouldn't do it again." Then I spoke to several ODs and they ALL said they would do it over and they love where they are. That spoke volumes to me.

 

[meb302]

Hello, I'm new to the boards and I've been reading posts for the past couple of weeks. But my main question to those who are or want to be optometrists: How did you know you wanted to become an optometrist and not a physician? Did you volunteer in both areas and find more enjoyment in optometry? Please feel free to respond, thanks a lot.

I knew I wanted to pursue optometry from the start, as I love what the profession has to offer. It's a very clean, sociable profession. It's medical related. School is only four years of work after undergraduate. You can make a respectable income. Hours aren't too bad at all. Low malpractice insurance rates. Just factors like that combined with my amazement of eye and everything related to it made me want to pursue optometry. Working and shadowing a couple of optometrists only reinforced my feelings. Optometry is definitely a profession on the rise. Basically, I feel you should go with what your instincts tell you. If you feel medicine is your thing, head that direction. That goes for all medical professions, from dental school to optometry school.

 

[aphistis]

I knew I wanted to pursue optometry from the start, as I love what the profession has to offer. It's a very clean, sociable profession. It's medical related. School is only four years of work after undergraduate. You can make a respectable income. Hours aren't too bad at all. Low malpractice insurance rates. Just factors like that combined with my amazement of eye and everything related to it made me want to pursue optometry. Working and shadowing a couple of optometrists only reinforced my feelings. Optometry is definitely a profession on the rise. Basically, I feel you should go with what your instincts tell you. If you feel medicine is your thing, head that direction. That goes for all medical professions, from dental school to optometry school.

Good advice, but all medical fields are obviously *not* created equal, so make sure you know what you're getting into. One advantage of traditional medical education is you have a number of career paths on the continuum from "totally cerebral" to "totally manual". To extend the example, optometry would fall toward the former end while dentistry leans toward the latter. After opting out of my undergrad pre-med program, I considered optometry before settling on dentistry; I love what I'm doing now, and I think I'd be miserable in opto school. The complete reverse may be true for you, and I hope it turns out to be everything you're hoping--my only caution is to make sure of what you're getting into before you get into it. Good luck!

 

[meb302]

Good advice, but all medical fields are obviously *not* created equal, so make sure you know what you're getting into. One advantage of traditional medical education is you have a number of career paths on the continuum from "totally cerebral" to "totally manual". To extend the example, optometry would fall toward the former end while dentistry leans toward the latter. After opting out of my undergrad pre-med program, I considered optometry before settling on dentistry; I love what I'm doing now, and I think I'd be miserable in opto school. The complete reverse may be true for you, and I hope it turns out to be everything you're hoping--my only caution is to make sure of what you're getting into before you get into it. Good luck!

Agree with you perfectly!

 

[NDESTRUKT]

I have a few friends doing optometry and they seem to love it. If you really love the eye and are fascinated by how it works and how you can help people with vision problems, then go for it. In terms of the eye, you will probably most likely be the primary care provider for people...

Realize though - and make sure you are aware - of the limits that optometry does give you. You won't be able to ever pursue surgery or do invasive procedures. You won't be able to perform laser eye corrections either (for the most part - I believe one state allows that now). If you are interested in doing procedures such as that then don't go into optometry hoping that one day the laws will change or using optometry as a back-up. If you are okay with this (as in you don't want to do surgery or laser procedures) then do pursue this avenue. It's a job that is definitely satisfying if it's your interest.