yupyup, i too recently struggled with the question, though it started more with my parents demanding that i become a "real doctor" and get my behind into a medical school or else
whatever a "glorified technician" may do, get paid, or is percieved as in society, the real question is "do you want to do it?" i doubt optometrist as primary care caretakers of the eye will lose that role, they might lose pay, prestige, but the current role of refracting and treating mild eye diseases should remain the same.
ill leave the future at that, since i do not know the profession like others on this board, ill let them answer the techinical details
back to being a MD! why did you pick to optometry as a profession?
is it:
a) my grades suck and an OD is a cop out , in this case, take a year off get a master/job improve your candidacy and apply next year! for awhile i thought this was the reason i subconciously chose optometry, but my grades are not that bad ~3.5 and i work at the hospital and have lots of stuff med school want to see listed on my application
b) $$$$$$ in this case MD !
c) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ neither, MBA or CPA might be your better bet
d) as what most list on this board, helping others see better, not being on call, decent lifestyle , then i think you will be happy as an OD , regardless of what happens in the future
in all seriousness, be honest with yourself, and DO NOT base your decision on what people put on the internet! if you do might as well as get ready for UFO landings and other conspiracies the internet is abudant with. not saying that optometry has serious problems or hiding my head in the sand, many on this board LOVE and are SUCCESSFUL as ODs and many of them just graduated! if its bad, they should be the first running out the door when they realize they get paid nothing and do nothing (kinda what i do at my current job ^^)
people are free to post what they feel on the internet and we should listen as examples to help us make our decsion, but it should not be the only source. what drew you into optometry? im guessing like others we visited optometrists, research the profession, talk to current and future opt students as well as search ourselves for what we want. having a internet forum outweigh all the other factors is not just irrespondsible but dangerous!
im guessing that if you chose optometry, that you would do opth if you do med school (if not then go to med school and see what you like as you clearly are not that interested in visual sciences) if that is the case, you will still be able to do everything optometrist do and if the extra four years are worth the M instead of the O, go for it!
there are many paths to success (i like this term alot for some reason) and for many on this board OD is it, for others MD is the way to go, still for others they got on the OD road and disliked it and are seeking yet another road (different practice styles, whine, etc) OD is NOT the way to get rich and famous it never was meant to be ^^
to be fair, i respect MDs alot and if i felt that my abilities would be best spent there i woulud do med school in an instant. also, i have taken some health services classes that describe the current blight of the medical profession (HMOs, capitulation, slow/no reimburstment, and the ever dreaded increasing power of the insurance companies(affects opts as well)), the grass is always greener on the other side, or is it?? regardless, the grass is quite green on the opt side as well.
good luck to you ! i did alot of thinking/soulsearching/meditating and i still chose to be an OD, i hope you do the same and figure out what you want to do!
PS: i was just thinking, if i was a current OD and facing a saturated market, i would also go on forums to discourage new ODs in an effort to lower my competition!!!!! hehe (my premed personality is coming out)
