O.D.,M.D.s

Started by jchod
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jchod

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I'm currently an OD thinking of applying to med. school and subsequently applying for an ophtho residency. Anyone know any O.D.,M.D.s?
 
I did optometry before my medical degree (though I'm based in the UK). There's another optometrist on the forums who went to/is at medical school in the US.
 
I know that a current resident at Emory is an OD MD since I interviewed there. I dont know his name unfortunately, but you can possibly check out the Emory Eye Center website to track him down.
 
MPS said:
I did optometry before my medical degree (though I'm based in the UK). There's another optometrist on the forums who went to/is at medical school in the US.
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Where did you do your training? OD and MD. Are you an ophthalmologist or family practice? Are you from the UK? What made you get the MD after the OD degree?
 
I am an OD currently in med school. I just finished my second year and I am studying for Step 1 of the USMLE. Feel free to PM me with questions.

Aaron
 
Caffeinated said:
I am an OD currently in med school. I just finished my second year and I am studying for Step 1 of the USMLE. Feel free to PM me with questions.

Aaron
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hay, im just curious, how long did you work as an OD before you entered med school? what made you decide the change?
 
Tony. said:
hay, im just curious, how long did you work as an OD before you entered med school? what made you decide the change?
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I practiced optometry for 3 years before I started med school. There were a lot of reasons that I decided to go to med school. I can sum it up by saying that when I entered optometry school at age 23, I wanted to do the primary care thing, and I had no desire to do surgery. However, a few years later my professional aspirations had outgrown the scope of what I could do as an optometrist.
 
jchod,

I have a year to go at medical school - it is my current intention to do ophthalmology after graduating. My background is summarised in my public profile. Feel free to PM me.
 
Caffeinated said:
\I can sum it up by saying that when I entered optometry school at age 23, I wanted to do the primary care thing, and I had no desire to do surgery. However, a few years later my professional aspirations had outgrown the scope of what I could do as an optometrist.
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Probably not surpisingly, a lot of OD students started as premeds. I think what a lot of these students need to know is what is the best way to transition to MD after "outgrow[ing] the scope of what [one can] as an opto...]" Berkeley, in fact, will only report the final 2 years of the undergrad curriculum as a gpa. Maybe it would be a good idea to emphasize that MD schools emphasize *all* of your undergrad grades -- not just your final 2 years where you may have finally pulled it all together?
 
housecleaning said:
Probably not surpisingly, a lot of OD students started as premeds. I think what a lot of these students need to know is what is the best way to transition to MD after "outgrow[ing] the scope of what [one can] as an opto...]" Berkeley, in fact, will only report the final 2 years of the undergrad curriculum as a gpa. Maybe it would be a good idea to emphasize that MD schools emphasize *all* of your undergrad grades -- not just your final 2 years where you may have finally pulled it all together?
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btw, i have noticed that a *lot* of the berkeley undergrads were cc transfers. what's up with that?
 
housecleaning said:
Probably not surpisingly, a lot of OD students started as premeds. I think what a lot of these students need to know is what is the best way to transition to MD after "outgrow[ing] the scope of what [one can] as an opto...]" Berkeley, in fact, will only report the final 2 years of the undergrad curriculum as a gpa. Maybe it would be a good idea to emphasize that MD schools emphasize *all* of your undergrad grades -- not just your final 2 years where you may have finally pulled it all together?
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Housecleaning,

I am not sure exactly what you are implying. I don't know much about Berkeley. When I applied to Ohio State, I had to submit my ENTIRE undergrad transcript, just like I did for my AMCAS packet. It sounds as though you might be implying that most people wind up in optometry school because they can't make it into med school. While I am sure that may be the case for some optometry students, they are not the majority, and this was also not my situation when I applied to optometry school. Many optometry schools look very unfavorably upon applicants who answer the question "Why do you want to be an optometrist?" by replying "Because I couldn't get into med school." Furthermore, I cannot imagine that ones grades from the LAST half of undergrad would be that radically different from ones FIRST half. So Berkeley's GPA calculation method hardly seems worthy of mention.

I don't know what else to say except that the way to transition to med school as an OD is to do exactly what a traditional undergrad does: take the MCAT, fill out your AMCAS, fill out your secondaries, etc. I did not have to take any additional courses to apply for med school--I had all of the prerequesites by virtue of my prerequesites for optometry school. (Actually, there were more required pre-requesite courses for optometry school than for med school).
 
Caffeinated said:
Housecleaning,

I am not sure exactly what you are implying. I don't know much about Berkeley. When I applied to Ohio State, I had to submit my ENTIRE undergrad transcript, just like I did for my AMCAS packet. It sounds as though you might be implying that most people wind up in optometry school because they can't make it into med school. While I am sure that may be the case for some optometry students, they are not the majority, and this was also not my situation when I applied to optometry school. Many optometry schools look very unfavorably upon applicants who answer the question "Why do you want to be an optometrist?" by replying "Because I couldn't get into med school." Furthermore, I cannot imagine that ones grades from the LAST half of undergrad would be that radically different from ones FIRST half. So Berkeley's GPA calculation method hardly seems worthy of mention.

I don't know what else to say except that the way to transition to med school as an OD is to do exactly what a traditional undergrad does: take the MCAT, fill out your AMCAS, fill out your secondaries, etc. I did not have to take any additional courses to apply for med school--I had all of the prerequesites by virtue of my prerequesites for optometry school. (Actually, there were more required pre-requesite courses for optometry school than for med school).
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Caffeinated is right on the money once again. Dont for a second think that the majority of optometry students "copped out" and "settled" for being an optometrist. At NEWENCO, the vast majority (ie >90%) were passionate about the profession and really wanted to be the best optometrists that they could be from day one. The ones that didn't, and unfortunately there were a few, could be spotted a mile a way. Those ppl always complained, their hearts were not in it, and their attitutes were terrible. It really showed. If you want to go MD after OD, make sure you think LONG and HARD as to the reason why. Perception of added respect, $$$, etc. in the end, doesnt make it worth it in the slightest. However, if you feel that your interests have changed since starting opto school, or if you wish to broaden your scope of practice, or if you have an itch to do ophthalmic surgery, then by all means, these are all legitimate reasons and I wish you the best. However, from a personal perspective, after having just about finished first year meds, not a day goes by that I wonder if I made the right choice. Even despite the later mentioned reasons, you have wonder if that is enough to make the leap.
 
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