New Optometry Schools??????

[zytyl1987]

Some time ago, I read about a possibility of a new Optometry School.
I would like to know more information if anyone knows anything about any new schools of optometry.

If i remember correctly, it was called Western University of Health Sciences?
Or is there another new school of optometry?????????

any information would be helpful...or links to refer to please?

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[IndianaOD]

Some time ago, I read about a possibility of a new Optometry School.
I would like to know more information if anyone knows anything about any new schools of optometry.

If i remember correctly, it was called Western University of Health Sciences?
Or is there another new school of optometry?????????

any information would be helpful...or links to refer to please?

You are correct, they have appointed a dean. The school is also adding dentistry and podiatry. It will be in Pomona, CA about 20 miles south of SCCO. If you go to the western website they have a little tidbit. Its a shame it will be controlled by some money hungry osteopaths. We really don't need another school. Maybe I'll start up a med school in the future!

 

[ODduck]

While I agree that opening another OD school is definitely not a necessity, it IS nice that another West Coast school is opening. When I was applying I had no desire to go back east and be that far away from my family and girlfriend. I just think that it is ridiculous that there are 3 schools west of Texas, especially when so many students from California are interested in pursuing Optometry.

 

[eyestrain]

While I agree that opening another OD school is definitely not a necessity, it IS nice that another West Coast school is opening. When I was applying I had no desire to go back east and be that far away from my family and girlfriend. I just think that it is ridiculous that there are 3 schools west of Texas, especially when so many students from California are interested in pursuing Optometry.

You won't think its nice in a few years when another school starts graduating a bunch of new docs.

 

[cunikki]

It is definitely not nice. I am sure i am just biased because i go to scco but there is absolutely NO NEED for another optometry school in orange county, let alone california. it is rather ridiculous that they are even trying to get one there. there is really no need for another optometry school in general, but california is definitely oversaturated with doctors. in reality all opening another school here is going to do is let in the mediocre/poor candidates that couldn't get into scco or another school to begin with. they are planning on charging about 40k for tuition which is much much higher than scco. basically what you are going to end up with is a bunch of people failing the boards because they didnt have the ability to get into another school in the first place. i am very glad that they are not even opening until 2009, at which point they will not yet be an accredited school, and not getting optometrists out at the earliest until 2013. honestly i think pretty much anyone looking at hiring them will know that the only reason they went to a non-accredited school half an hour away from scco is because they couldnt get into scco. i think its secretly a ploy by walmart to get half assed doctors to work in their stores

 

[hoosier1]

Western University is opening in 2009 I heard

 

[zytyl1987]

since im a Sophomore in Undergrad right now... that means i graduate in 2009!
which is when that new school opens!

i wonder if i really should apply there after i graduate from UCM

 

[Spearmint1]

If you've got the grades and oat scores at that time, then apply. Ignore other people's rant about an oversupply, they're not you. Do what's best for yourself.

 

[JeffChou]

It's actually 16 miles north (and east) of SCCO.

Their founding dean will be some lady from NECO (their current associate dean of student affairs, a licensed optometrist ). She seems pretty experienced and involved with optometry (as you can read from their website). She was also a tenured professor at SCCO up until 2003. I wouldn't worry about the DOs, I think the ODs will still be in charge of this program. If you look at the administration for the other programs they offer, you'll see that each school is run by administrators with experience in their respective fields. I see nothing that suggests that DOs have any collective overarching control in this school. It's also a non-profit school. I'm not sure if I'd want to be in the first graduating class though. I'm sure that there are some people who will still choose to go to Western University because of location. Many students just don't want to move away, even if they are competitive enough to get into other schools.

I can understand why they'd open up another school here though. Regardless of the market saturation of optometrists, I'm sure they won't have a problem with getting enough applications to fill up a class. They are in the most populated state with the second most populated city close by AND in a region where there are only 3 schools on the west coast.
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Source: http://wsprod.westernu.edu/wu/newsreleases/nr_detail.jsp?id=3180

 

[still_confused]

man whatever happened to optometry being an indepedent profession. DO's running an optometry school??? I think ill start my own osteopathic school and see what happens. If the dean of the new school isnt an optometrist, it shouldnt even be recognized. Now i know about the antitrust issues, so they can be accreditted and what not, but nothing wrong with refusing to hold externships for thier students, ignoring them at meetiings, and giving them the good old silent treatment.

Optometry needs to stop playing the little brother seeking the attention of the bigger brother (medicine) and stop caring what other professions think. Optometrist are damn good at what we do and if we project that confidence (as many teachers at my school show with thier swagger around here) what is medicine going to do? They can laugh at us, belittle us, and question our training, but they have nothing to back it up with. Titles and acceptance no longer matters, its competancy and results that America demands and optometrist can more then fulfill that.

 

[CatsandCradles]

Some time ago, I read about a possibility of a new Optometry School.
I would like to know more information if anyone knows anything about any new schools of optometry.

If i remember correctly, it was called Western University of Health Sciences?
Or is there another new school of optometry?????????

any information would be helpful...or links to refer to please?

Yes, I beleive you are correct, Western has a new optometry program.

 

[jefguth]

Well if Western U plan on setting tuition at $40K, I don't think they will get too many students deciding to attend since other established and accredited schools are significantly less money, and in reality, just about everyone that has the smarts to survive optometry school will get in somewhere at an established school. However, I'm sure it will be welcomed by the hordes of Cali students that would otherwise attend an existing school.

 

[qwopty99]

Their founding dean will be some lady from NECO (their current associate dean of student affairs, a licensed optometrist ). She seems pretty experienced and involved with optometry (as you can read from their website). She was also a tenured professor at SCCO up until 2003.

she was specifically hired because she apparently has experience with getting optometry schools certified with ASCO. for WesternU, getting their program accredited is obviously of paramount importance. in this respect, she was probably most qualified for the position.

as for her tenureship at SCCO... i recall seeing some of their faculty emeritii (e.g. Dean) as being "only" ODs. they don't seem to have many (any?) research going on there, and probably next to no OD/PhDs in the entire school. a medline search of her name yields just two hits - so it's not like she has much research background. i don't really think her SCCO tenureship (professorship) would really be recognized by "actual" universities with research standards required for professorship.

her medline citations here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...=PubMed&orig_db=PubMed&dispmax=20&dopt=DocSum

 

[cunikki]

im not really sure what her research experience has to do with anything. the problem with opening another school is that it is not like california is in serious lack of ods. there is an optometry sign on every street corner in all of orange county. for some reason it seems like a lot more people are trying to become ods in cali than in other places.... if they are qualified students they should be able to get into some school. the worry is that people who arent really qualified but are able to pay the money will end up going to that school because it will probably be a lot easier to get into (especially at first). given enough tries these people will probably be able to pass the boards and end up further oversaturating the system or givign in to the corporate system and working at walmart... which is degrading and severely hurts our profession (especially in the eyes of the public). even if there was a real lack of schools it just does not make sense to open one there; a much smarter idea would be somewhere in the utah/colorado/new mexico/arizona/wyoming area of the country which has no school at all. even if you were planning on applying to go to school in 2009 if you had the ability wouldnt you rather go to a school with an established program than try to start a brand new program with teachers who may or may not know how to get people through the boards?? or go to a school with established clinic and rotation program so you could see quality patients? even though the admissions process is pretty selective there still ends up being some students who really arent qualified/educated/smart enough to make it in the program... so if that happens at any regular school you are just going to get a lot more of that at a new school.

 

[JeffChou]

Maybe she isn't the most published optometrist, or experienced administrator. What is positive, is that she is an optometrist, and will likely have that perspective while running the school. It won't be some DO (or any private entity) that will sit back and count dollars while the school churns out diplomas for tuition.

Pomona is just as good a place to put another optometry school as any other state. All those states someone previously mentioned, although don't have an optometry school, don't have very many people either. Wyoming's population is like 500,000. Even Hawaii's population is greater than that. I don't know how to judge the geographical "need" for a school, but I'd just go with population if I were thinking of opening up my own new school. SCCO and Berkeley are all in very populated places and receive a lot of regional applicants. There would undoubtedly be a greater demand/need for an optometry school in Los Angeles County considering it is the largest county in the nation (about 10 million people), than in Arizona, with about 5 million people in the entire state. Even though SCCO, in nearby Orange County (3 m), is so close the population of the Southern California (around 24m) is already greater than the population of Texas (23m, the second most populated state). I don't think the school will have trouble finding qualified applicants.

Going by just population figures, I can easily see why LA county will be having a new optometry school. Whether or not we need the extra ODs is another argument. Since each school opens up independently, we can't just vote for a school in the middle of nowhere to start up an optometry program. Each one just goes according to whatever demand it feels it may fulfill.

It seems that accreditation is the only way to halt the increase in degrees. Can anyone explain the whole process of accreditation to me? What happens to students if a school isn't accredited, or loses accreditation (either temporarily or long term)? Is there any way to stop the increase in schools if one day, 20 schools across the nation decided to open up an optometry program?

 

[qwopty99]

im not really sure what her research experience has to do with anything.

i didn't say research was important. this is what i said (learn to read):

she was specifically hired because she apparently has experience with getting optometry schools certified with ASCO. for WesternU, getting their program accredited is obviously of paramount importance. in this respect, she was probably most qualified for the position.

after my comments here, i COMMENTED on her research background, since someone else COMMENTED on how she had tenure (somewhat implying that she had academic credentials)

What is positive, is that she is an optometrist, and will likely have that perspective while running the school.

uh - it's not that hard to "find" an optometrist. so just cause WesternU found one to run their school isn't anything to write home about. i mean really, i think its obvious any new school will start with an OD to get it off the ground. why would any school start with a non-OD to develop an OD curriculum?

It won't be some DO (or any private entity) that will sit back and count dollars while the school churns out diplomas for tuition.

given their intended 40K tuition and class size, how do we know this won't happen?

 

[JeffChou]

i didn't say research was important. this is what i said (learn to read):

she was specifically hired because she apparently has experience with getting optometry schools certified with ASCO. for WesternU, getting their program accredited is obviously of paramount importance. in this respect, she was probably most qualified for the position.

after my comments here, i COMMENTED on her research background, since someone else COMMENTED on how she had tenure (somewhat implying that she had academic credentials)



uh - it's not that hard to "find" an optometrist. so just cause WesternU found one to run their school isn't anything to write home about. i mean really, i think its obvious any new school will start with an OD to get it off the ground. why would any school start with a non-OD to develop an OD curriculum?



given their intended 40K tuition and class size, how do we know this won't happen?

My COMMENTS about tenure and Dr. Elizabeth Hoppe's degree were directed to earlier COMMENTS in this thread voicing concerns about a DO sitting back and greedily lining his pockets. That's the reason for my emphasis on the founding dean's optometric background. Additionally, the other degree programs are all run by affiliated educators. For example, I don't see DOs involved in the administration of the PharmD program. Neither would I suspect that their OD program would be run by greedy osteopaths.

Now, regarding tuition, I would hope that this non-profit school will use it for the program, and not for someone's bank account. Ohio State's out-of-state tuition is even more, but no one questions that cost. Ohio's just happens to be partially subsidized for residents. Unless there is reason to suspect some underhanded scheme to hide personal gains, I'm give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

[qwopty99]

My COMMENTS about tenure and Dr. Elizabeth Hoppe's degree were directed to earlier COMMENTS in this thread voicing concerns about a DO sitting back and greedily lining his pockets. That's the reason for my emphasis on the founding dean's optometric background.

so we're in agreement. both our comments are directed at cunikki's, "im not really sure what her research experience has to do with anything."

its a foolish statement to make. we're talking about a school opening a graduate program. and research experience of the founding dean is irrelevant? r u also going to suggest the dean's academic qualifications are equally as irrelevant? there is absolutely nothing wrong with commenting on them. cuni, what opt school did u graduate from?

 

[cunikki]

i was simply saying that a dean that has a lot of research experience vs a dean that has little research experience is really not very important compared to a dean that can get qualified teachers to teach students to pass the boards and a dean with clinical experience that can preside over an institution that ought to be molding students into clinicians. i know a lot of schools have a large research program but really the POINT of optometry school is to learn how to be a clinical optometrist. if you are really that interested in research you should get a phd in vision science or something else from a graduate institution. if you want to see patients and treat them you should go to optometry school
i am a second year student at scco... so no i do not have a degree yet, but im not really sure how that makes my opinion less valid.
just because there are a lot of people in a city does not mean it requires 2 optometry schools when there are only 16 total in the entire united states. im sorry my personal opinion on a better location for a school doesnt fit your requirements. basically when it comes down to it; the point i want to make is that at my school in orange county there are 98 accepted applicants a year. hopefully the admissions process does a fairly good job so that these are the most qualified applicants that apply each year.. but even so there are always students that drop out cause they cant cut it or students that have to repeat a year. so if there are really not 98 qualified applicants right now how is it going to help our profession to start spitting out more los angeles/orange county optometrist-want to bes that werent even good enough to get into existing schools?

 

[Opii]

While I agree that opening another OD school is definitely not a necessity, it IS nice that another West Coast school is opening. When I was applying I had no desire to go back east and be that far away from my family and girlfriend. I just think that it is ridiculous that there are 3 schools west of Texas, especially when so many students from California are interested in pursuing Optometry.

I second that.

 

[Opii]

Does anyone know anything new about the Arizona and second Texas optometry schools ?

 

[eyestrain]

I second that.

I don't get it. Sure opening another school nearby would be nice for you Californians to stay closer to home for the four years of optometry school, but what about the following 30-40 years when you're practicing? Will you be happy about more schools then? I believe the term for that is "myopic".

 

[cunikki]

I SECOND THAT!!!! myopic is the word for it. i never really understood why so many californians want to be optometrists anyway. from what i have seen a lot of them just think it will be an easy road to easy money... i know a lot of the people struggling in my school are californians who seem like they dont really even care about being an eye dr in the end; they just decided on this as a career cause they thought they couldnt get into med school and want the prestige of being a doctor
even if another school makes it easier for you to stay close to home and go to school; what are you going to do once you graduate and there are no jobs in california? orange county is sooo oversaturated already

 

[hfpepperbean47]

man whatever happened to optometry being an indepedent profession. DO's running an optometry school??? I think ill start my own osteopathic school and see what happens. If the dean of the new school isnt an optometrist, it shouldnt even be recognized. Now i know about the antitrust issues, so they can be accreditted and what not, but nothing wrong with refusing to hold externships for thier students, ignoring them at meetiings, and giving them the good old silent treatment.

Optometry needs to stop playing the little brother seeking the attention of the bigger brother (medicine) and stop caring what other professions think. Optometrist are damn good at what we do and if we project that confidence (as many teachers at my school show with thier swagger around here) what is medicine going to do? They can laugh at us, belittle us, and question our training, but they have nothing to back it up with. Titles and acceptance no longer matters, its competancy and results that America demands and optometrist can more then fulfill that.

What if the person were a PhD? Would they be any less qualified than an OD to start up a school if they had the right people helping?

I do agree somewhat with your second paragraph. Many medical doctors have a bit of a complex...but i know many that don't (even cornea surgeons and retinal specialists at johns hopkins, widely regarded as a top 3 clinical opthalmology institute...behind wills and the eye and ear infirmary in boston). It all depends on who you have had experience with.

Now, rest assured, this is merely my opinion based on what I've experienced and people I've met and interacted with.

 

[zytyl1987]

WOW i did not expect so much feedback from this thread!!

thanks for all the useful information! and uh.. the heated arguments too...

 

[Spearmint1]

I SECOND THAT!!!! myopic is the word for it. i never really understood why so many californians want to be optometrists anyway.

I don't get why someone from Littleton, CO gets to come to california for optometry school but a resident can't? Not every optometry student in california choose optometry because they couldn't get into med school. So let says, if they started a school in CO back when you wanted to apply to optometry school, you wouldn't take advantage of it? If given the choice most people would rather stay closer to home than move halfway across the country or even state.

And how do you know there is no job in california? Don't make my mistake and base your argument on vague statements.

 

[cunikki]

umm there are already 2 schools in california. if you are not good enough to get into one but you live in california that doesnt mean that they should open up a brand new school for you. a big part of the reason i am at my school is that colorado pays for over half my tuition because there are not enough drs in colorado to meet the demand. this is not true in california. i am not just making it up; i know plenty of students at my school that struggled to find jobs in cali where they wanted to practice and sometimes moved somewhere else. also on my schools website they have job listings. more than 75% of them are for less than 20 hours a week meaning you would have to fill 2-3 part time jobs to make ends meet. there are simply too many doctors here already, and another school will not ease that burden. it just seems like a larger proportion of california undergrads want to go to opt school than other states undergrads. i dont know for sure that that is a fact but my undergrad had 30k students and had about 15 taking the oat each time it was offered 2x a year when it used to be written and not on computer. there are many more students at cali schools taking the oat than that. i was just commenting on the fact that it appears that a larger percentage of cali undergrads want to be optometrists than other states? i dont konw what that means but from personal experience i have spoken with many who also applied to med schools and did not get in or also some that thought opt school would be soo easy and that is why they did it and now they are struggling or having to repeat a year.

 

[Spearmint1]

(Countering Cunikki's argument)
It's true california has 2 schools already, but one of which is Berkeley, one of the tougher schools to get into and their class size is only 60. So the only really option for staying in california is scco or now this other school. As to your question of why there is a higher proportion of california students applying to optometry school. Well simply it's a numbers game. California's population is 5X more than any other state, we have the most number of applicant to any form of professional or grad school. As for your assessment of the job prospect, it's pretty narrow. California isn't just LA or ocean county, which the media likes to portray. Take a few hour drive up north or south of LA and I am sure there are job openings in the central valley, Northern california, Bay Area, and san diego county.

There are some on here who hawk of an oversupply and commercial, but they're from other states who don't deal with the high cost of living, housing, and other issues that come with larger state (pop. wise).

(General)
Oh one more thing, I don't understand why new graduates come out and expect to make in the hundreds of thousands. Having an OD doesn't makes you a good business person. Like every other profession, you've got to advertise yourself and stop and yelling at your high school graduate managers to do your work for you. Also, I think it's pretty childish to start calling names about people opening up new schools and claiming it's all for profit. Grow up.

 

[JeffChou]

umm there are already 2 schools in california. if you are not good enough to get into one but you live in california that doesnt mean that they should open up a brand new school for you. a big part of the reason i am at my school is that colorado pays for over half my tuition because there are not enough drs in colorado to meet the demand. this is not true in california. i am not just making it up; i know plenty of students at my school that struggled to find jobs in cali where they wanted to practice and sometimes moved somewhere else. also on my schools website they have job listings. more than 75% of them are for less than 20 hours a week meaning you would have to fill 2-3 part time jobs to make ends meet. there are simply too many doctors here already, and another school will not ease that burden. it just seems like a larger proportion of california undergrads want to go to opt school than other states undergrads. i dont know for sure that that is a fact but my undergrad had 30k students and had about 15 taking the oat each time it was offered 2x a year when it used to be written and not on computer. there are many more students at cali schools taking the oat than that. i was just commenting on the fact that it appears that a larger percentage of cali undergrads want to be optometrists than other states? i dont konw what that means but from personal experience i have spoken with many who also applied to med schools and did not get in or also some that thought opt school would be soo easy and that is why they did it and now they are struggling or having to repeat a year.

The point isn't to make a new school for subpar applicants to have a chance. They're opening up a new school probably because they think will benefit the reputation of the school. It's just going to be a lot easier to get in until the school is established enough to command more competitive applicants.

 

[cunikki]

the point of opening a new school isnt to let in subpar applicants. it is to make money. the side effect of opening such a school is that subpar applicants will be going there. there is absolutely nothing that this school can offer that scco cannot. they dont have the reputation, they are not accredited, they cannot possibly hope to get the amazing rotation sites. its not like people who apply to scco and get in are going to choose to go to a different school 20 min away where the tuition is 16k more. whetehr you like it or not the first couple graduating classes at the very least are going to be the people who couldnt get in anywhere else

 

[qwopty99]

can anyone provide information showing the opening of the school is here to fill an unmet patient need?

 

[eyelectric]

the point of opening a new school isnt to let in subpar applicants. it is to make money. the side effect of opening such a school is that subpar applicants will be going there. there is absolutely nothing that this school can offer that scco cannot. they dont have the reputation, they are not accredited, they cannot possibly hope to get the amazing rotation sites. its not like people who apply to scco and get in are going to choose to go to a different school 20 min away where the tuition is 16k more. whetehr you like it or not the first couple graduating classes at the very least are going to be the people who couldnt get in anywhere else

I completely agree that a big reason for opening the school is to make money. However, there is obviously a demand for the school (from optometry applicants) or else they wouldn't be spending the money to hire staff, build infastructure and start a brand new program. I completely understand where you are coming from, but just because the new school will be offering the same program as SCCO isn't an excuse to stifle competition. As for subpar applicants, yes their performance to date is a good indication of how they will perform in school, but it is by no means a guarantee. If they are able to graduate and pass the boards then it doesn't matter what kind of applicant they were. Don't get me wrong...I'm not a big fan of another school opening in the part of the country where I plan on practicing, however, there is no use complaining about it. If the demad is there it is going to happen. The real question is what are you going to do in order to set yourself apart from other practitioners in a field where the competition is continuously growing?

 

[qwopty99]

the presence of applicants isn't just cause to open more schools.

do u see allopathic medicine doing the same?

 

[Dr. Gangrene]

You won't think its nice in a few years when another school starts graduating a bunch of new docs.

 

[IndianaOD]

The new school will be an OD mill plain and simple. My bet will be little to no research will take place there. The above poster is exactly right, with all the allopathic applicants why don't they just keep opening up new med schools.

There are already too many ODs graduating each year. PERIOD.

When 34% of graduates sell out to commercial for a mediocre salary and the low ball insurances keep gaining ground we have problems.

Note: 90% of entering OD students claim they want private practice per a recent survey. Over 50% of them are taking jobs they don't want...does that show oversupply or what?

 

[eyelectric]

the presence of applicants isn't just cause to open more schools.

It is just cause to the schools themselves. You and I both agree that this is bad for the profession. The point of my post wasn't to condone the opening of new schools; I was merely pointing out that right now it is market driven. Therefore if the demand exists someone will be there to fill it. The AOA and the ASCO should pull their heads out and do something about it, however that doesn't seem to be happening. Maybe optometry should be using allopathic medicine as an example and be doing whatever they are doing to prevent new schools from opening (if that is in fact the case).

 

[jMoo]

being native to socal, i think the overpopulation is inevitable whether a new school is there or not. a lot of californians who go to out of state schools still come home to practice. as for having a school in another state, as long as its not restrictive to applicants like oklahoma is, then it would be great. i think having the new school in another state limits the amount of californians that get accepted. due to a higher population, there are more graduates from undergrad institutions. however, like the person from colorado said, his/her state pays for his/her tuition because there is a demand in her state. if colorado had a school, due to their high demand, would they not be biased toward accepting a larger population of people from their own state? as for the expensive tuition, i think it may turn out to be like med schools in the carribean. so technically, every profession has a so called easier school to get into. new schools will be built whether we like it or not, we cant stop them now, but after we graduate, each person has the opportunity to be on boards that can slow down the process of this expansion. afterall, any school, private or public, is a business. just for the record, this is only my two cents. im not here to offend anyone.

 

[zytyl1987]

being native to socal, i think the overpopulation is inevitable whether a new school is there or not. a lot of californians who go to out of state schools still come home to practice. as for having a school in another state, as long as its not restrictive to applicants like oklahoma is, then it would be great. i think having the new school in another state limits the amount of californians that get accepted. due to a higher population, there are more graduates from undergrad institutions. however, like the person from colorado said, his/her state pays for his/her tuition because there is a demand in her state. if colorado had a school, due to their high demand, would they not be biased toward accepting a larger population of people from their own state? as for the expensive tuition, i think it may turn out to be like med schools in the carribean. so technically, every profession has a so called easier school to get into. new schools will be built whether we like it or not, we cant stop them now, but after we graduate, each person has the opportunity to be on boards that can slow down the process of this expansion. afterall, any school, private or public, is a business. just for the record, this is only my two cents. im not here to offend anyone.

 

[Opii]

I am 100% in favor of opening 3 schools in the southwest. After all there are only 3 schools west of Texas. So 3 schools would be fair to students from that half of the nation so they can be close to home during breaks for 4 years. It would also be beneficial for practacing doctors to have contact with educational institutions close by. There are many marriages and relationships destroyed due to the long distance separations. There is also cultural bias when west coast students have to apply to the east and abroad. Finally if you did make it in one of the eastern schools you have to endure the cultural differences for 4 years. The solution is having a school close to your "turf" (in your part of the country) and close down the number of seats across the nation. The places where there are heavy pockets of schools are heavily saturated already anyway. The 2 California schools and the 3 Northeast schools and the 2 southeast schools (Fl & PR), all these pockets in the country can afford to close down a few seats each. ..... duh... who are the myopes now???

Why do you think this is approved and happening already? All the ranting in this unimportant forum won't change the course of things to come. Only create more bitter optometrists back stabbing each other which renforces the weakness in our profession to defend ourselves in more important battles. Go ahead, continue back stabbing each other and see what happens...

The reason I am not too concerned with oversaturation (for myself personaly) is because I am not doing it for the money (like some of you are) I am doing it for the love of the art of optometry, kind of the "starving actor mentality"... so if you want to make money go into finance or better yet sales, heck just open up the frames stores or the exclusively nonprescription sunglass stores. Those seem to be popping up everywhere lately.

 

[qwopty99]

rather than opening schools so that star-crossed Pre-Opt lovers aren't kept apart, a better justification to open schools might be:

can anyone provide information showing the opening of the school is here to fill an unmet patient need?

 

[qwopty99]

Why do you think this is approved and happening already?

umm... circular logic no?

and what exactly is approved? ur telling me that the school is accredited?

 

[qwopty99]

btw - why stop at 3 schools? why don't we open a school in the hometown, heck, on the same street corner of every wannabe-optometry student?

that would certainly reduce the cultural bias u refer to.

 

[Opii]

It's actually 16 miles north (and east) of SCCO.

Their founding dean will be some lady from NECO (their current associate dean of student affairs, a licensed optometrist ).

One thing I would like to know. Why the hell "some lady from NECO" I don't care how many abreviations she's got after her name, I am tired of having the east coast tell the rest of the country what is right for us. Doesn't the west coast natives know what the west coast needs. Heck I'm sick and tired of having my east coast friends think Los Angeles, San Diego, Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas is only 2 hours apart from each other as if it were NYC, Boston, Newington and New Haven, ... that is so lame. So how the heck is this lady going to solve the true western regional problems in eye care?

 

[Opii]

umm... circular logic no?

and what exactly is approved? ur telling me that the school is accredited?

If they are going to invest money on opening it, they must know they have a good chance it is going to happen.

 

[Opii]

btw - why stop at 3 schools? why don't we open a school in the hometown, heck, on the same street corner of every wannabe-optometry student?

that would certainly reduce the cultural bias u refer to.

Yes, open an optometry school on every street corner of every wannabe optometry student. Can YOU tell me why Boston, Miami, Chicago or Berkley needs more optometrists? I say cut their classes down to half and open the 3 schools with the same amount of seats in their already chosen locations.

Well we are on our way to Walmart I am afraid. The pharmacologist and the optometrist in every corner Walmart. I do think we have nobody to blame but ourselves... so I am starting to embrace the "starving optometrist" mentality sooner rather than later.

When I say cultural bias I don't mean racial I mean simply by regions. I hope you are not denying it exists. How many people from Tennessee get to go to SUNY? NECO? If you want a doctor to be truly concerned with their local community they have to have an attachment to it too, thus Tennessee school opens up, old farts up east throw a hissie fit, Tennessee gets doctors for their region. I don't care what old farts up north bitch about let the rest of the country take care of themselves. If you want to have a member from East LA go back to East LA to serve their community they have to go somewhere else FAR away where the culture difference and the bias is very much in existance. Thus there won't be many who make the whole educational trip. There are more obstacles to overcome than the natives who live across the street to their respective school.

Solution: 3 schools in the southwest. I hope this NECO brainiac lady knows this and doesn't repeat the same money hungry pattern most private schools have.

Another Question: Why the heck are so many Deans in so many schools from NECO? Can't other schools produce Deans? Or is there some monopoly on the subject matter of Dean-ology that only NECO knows about?

Another Question: The oversupply exists NOW! So you can't blame the new schools for that can you? They DON'T exist! You can only blame the old schools for that!

 

[zytyl1987]

Okay, obviously what we need here is the Dean of this new optometry school to join in this discussion and clarify EVERYTHING. Someone send her the link!!!!!

 

[Opii]

the presence of applicants isn't just cause to open more schools.

I do agree with this statement completely.... in addition cut the existing schools' class size down to half.

It's ridiculus when Berkley accepts all the residents from Okland Hills - 4 years later those residents are gonna want to open their practices on the corner of 17th st and Harrison.... Not too smart no? These new O.D.s with their new bout of the "4th year syndrome" will think they can open up there. All of them will think they are too good to be working in East LA or in rural Oklahoma.

Solution: open 3 southwest schools in their already chosen locations. Cut down class sizes in long existing, oversaturated cities.
Civilizations change and populations move. We cant have the same old schools in the same old place for hundreds of years just for the sake of "tradition" - how bout some practicality, flexibility and logic? The old school mentality is stiffling this profession, and these new "academia faculty" that has been successfully molded by the old farts worries me. This means there will be another generation of young narrow minded academics "leading" this profession to the cliff like brainless Lemmings.


Who were those pre-opts in this thread who needed myopic correction again??? Line up for some dial spinning. That will be $5.00 dollars each. Yes boys and girls $5.00 dollars. If I raise my prices I will be out bidded by the optometrist across the street!




.

 

[Opii]

Okay, obviously what we need here is the Dean of this new optometry school to join in this discussion and clarify EVERYTHING. Someone send her the link!!!!!

Gimme her phone number, I'm calling her right now, right this minute and give her my 2 cents, dang it...

 

[Opii]

I'm chat happy today it's Friday night and have nothing better to do. Did you all see the new Smilies?

FYI: ... Cool

 

[zytyl1987]

actually, i've been trying to get her contact information on her school faculty listing, however, i have been unsuccessful so far in finding her.

It would be so helpful for this discussion if she joined us.