OD/PhD

[happymango]

Hello all! I've been accepted to a couple optometry schools, namely SUNY, PCO, NECO, and SCCO. In making my final decision (that I must make soon!), a factor playing in for me is whether schools offer an OD/PhD program.

In an ideal world, I'd work with patients for part of the day and do research for part of the day. I hear OD/PhDs are sought after for academia but honestly, I'm not super interested in that unless some optometry school decides to open up nearby my future home (oh please not another school). I also hear that OD/PhDs are sought after for heading up industry research but I'm uncertain whether those job opportunities are plentiful and whether they can be part-time. I've tried looking up job listings and doing some internet snooping, but I didn't really find too much information on this.

So, are there any OD/PhDs out there in this forum? Any OD/MSs that want to chime in? What do you do? Do you enjoy your work? Did you get the dual degree or do each degree one at a time? Was it worth it? Wish you just stuck to a Master's, perhaps? And, if you just know of somebody with an OD/PhD or OD/MS, I'd be happy to listen to some secondary stories and/or advice. Currently I'm leaning towards SUNY because NECO's program is pretty new and because of the high cost of living and tuition in Boston yonder. I'm only slightly hesitant because SUNY seems to have a rep. for manifesting a less than happy student atmosphere.

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[shannon804]

Hello all! I've been accepted to a couple optometry schools, namely SUNY, PCO, NECO, and SCCO. In making my final decision (that I must make soon!), a factor playing in for me is whether schools offer an OD/PhD program.

In an ideal world, I'd work with patients for part of the day and do research for part of the day. I hear OD/PhDs are sought after for academia but honestly, I'm not super interested in that unless some optometry school decides to open up nearby my future home (oh please not another school). I also hear that OD/PhDs are sought after for heading up industry research but I'm uncertain whether those job opportunities are plentiful and whether they can be part-time. I've tried looking up job listings and doing some internet snooping, but I didn't really find too much information on this.

So, are there any OD/PhDs out there in this forum? Any OD/MSs that want to chime in? What do you do? Do you enjoy your work? Did you get the dual degree or do each degree one at a time? Was it worth it? Wish you just stuck to a Master's, perhaps? And, if you just know of somebody with an OD/PhD or OD/MS, I'd be happy to listen to some secondary stories and/or advice. Currently I'm leaning towards SUNY because NECO's program is pretty new and because of the high cost of living and tuition in Boston yonder. I'm only slightly hesitant because SUNY seems to have a rep. for manifesting a less than happy student atmosphere.

If you don't want to work for academia and you don't want to work for industry and you're not independently wealthy enough to start your own company, why do you want a PhD?

 

[happymango]

If you don't want to work for academia and you don't want to work for industry and you're not independently wealthy enough to start your own company, why do you want a PhD?

YES you bumped my thread up! In undergrad, I worked as a lab aide for one year and did research for another year. From those experiences, I learned I really enjoy the scientific process and just have a passion for science, in general. I didn't want to be a full time researcher though because I yearn for human interaction with more than just the same 6 - 10 people everyday. Also, they don't seem to get compensated very well, either, which kind of miffs me.

Ok, but back to your question. In an ideal world, I could practice optometry, do research, and teach. But that's stretching reality a bit thin, though my interviewers at SUNY said they had a colleague that did just that. Obviously, if I had to prioritize, I'd pick to practice optometry. However, if I could do research too (hey, I'm cool doing that in the industry if some company is willing to let me do it part time), super! Then, if some college down the street needs a Microbiology (my favorite class) teacher, then even better. I WANT to do all of these things, I just don't want to sacrifice practicing optometry (and 4 years of optometry school) to do them seeing as how practicing optometry is my number one.

Shannon804, did you end up doing the dual program for OD/MS? If so, how's that going? It seems like I may be able to do all these things with just an MS. But, how cool would it be to be Dr. Dr. Happymango? haha, I jest you SDNers ... I know I'd still only be called Dr. Happymango.

 

[shannon804]

YES you bumped my thread up! In undergrad, I worked as a lab aide for one year and did research for another year. From those experiences, I learned I really enjoy the scientific process and just have a passion for science, in general. I didn't want to be a full time researcher though because I yearn for human interaction with more than just the same 6 - 10 people everyday. Also, they don't seem to get compensated very well, either, which kind of miffs me.

Ok, but back to your question. In an ideal world, I could practice optometry, do research, and teach. But that's stretching reality a bit thin, though my interviewers at SUNY said they had a colleague that did just that. Obviously, if I had to prioritize, I'd pick to practice optometry. However, if I could do research too (hey, I'm cool doing that in the industry if some company is willing to let me do it part time), super! Then, if some college down the street needs a Microbiology (my favorite class) teacher, then even better. I WANT to do all of these things, I just don't want to sacrifice practicing optometry (and 4 years of optometry school) to do them seeing as how practicing optometry is my number one.

Shannon804, did you end up doing the dual program for OD/MS? If so, how's that going? It seems like I may be able to do all these things with just an MS. But, how cool would it be to be Dr. Dr. Happymango? haha, I jest you SDNers ... I know I'd still only be called Dr. Happymango.

PIs get paid very well! The trouble is, you have to be good and work very hard to become a PI.

But if you really want to do optometry, I would start an OD program first, then maybe pick up the MS. OD alone is a lot of work and I'm glad I didn't add the MS on top of it.