Optometrist thinking of career switch

[HappyMilkshake]

I’ve always felt like I settled with my career decision, I didn’t even apply to medical school for fear that I would be rejected, and now I’m regretting it a couple of years into my career.

I’ve got about 3.70 undergrad gpa, 3.5 optometry gpa, I plan to take the MCAT in the fall.

I have been working for about 2.5 years in a setting with an ophthalmologist. I’m tired of not being considered a “real doctor” compared to her, and that I’m not at the top of my field. I know I would be an amazing physician and would love to be able to help my patients more than my limited scope currently allows.

To complicate things, I’ve got 4 kids, but I had 2 of them during optometry school so I think I could handle it.

I really want to do this but everyone Ive talked to thinks I’m crazy for wanting to go back to school (I’m currently 29).

Am I crazy? How do I even find time to study enough for the MCAT while working full time and raising kids? Any similar success stories? TIA

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[futuremdforme]

Time to study for the MCAT will probably be similar to finding time to study as a med student. Your options are:
- carve out time in the am/pm when kids are asleep
- potentially wait until kids are a little bit older and independent
- consider reducing work hours slightly

One important consideration is that ophthalmology is very competitive, so your chances of being accepted to that specialty even if you get into med school are absolutely not guaranteed.

 

[DocJanItor]

I mean if there were some path to go from optometry to ophthalmology then I'd say go for it, but unfortunately there isn't.

You need to stop thinking of yourself as lesser compared to the other doctor. I've had significant eye problems for most of my life, and my optometrists have been far and away better at treating my issues than the ophthalmologists (except my lasik guy, he was awesome). They also had more time and better rapport than the other doctors. The point is that you guys have similar but not equal jobs, but that doesn't mean that your part is less important.

Another issue is that you could get into medical school, do fine, and then not match into ophthalmology. Then you'd be stuck with a ton of knowledge that would be severely underutilized.

Personally, I wouldn't have attended school in my 30s if I already had kids. I'm already spending less and less time away from my infant son and it's increasingly taxing (for me). Ideally, I will be around him more when he's older because I think that will be a more important time for his development. And although I know that optometry doesn't bring in a huge salary, it has a lot of perks like good hours, few surprises, and much lower chance for malpractice.

 

[curbsideconsult]

I’ve always felt like I settled with my career decision, I didn’t even apply to medical school for fear that I would be rejected, and now I’m regretting it a couple of years into my career.

I’ve got about 3.70 undergrad gpa, 3.5 optometry gpa, I plan to take the MCAT in the fall.

I have been working for about 2.5 years in a setting with an ophthalmologist. I’m tired of not being considered a “real doctor” compared to her, and that I’m not at the top of my field. I know I would be an amazing physician and would love to be able to help my patients more than my limited scope currently allows.

To complicate things, I’ve got 4 kids, but I had 2 of them during optometry school so I think I could handle it.

I really want to do this but everyone Ive talked to thinks I’m crazy for wanting to go back to school (I’m currently 29).

Am I crazy? How do I even find time to study enough for the MCAT while working full time and raising kids? Any similar success stories? TIA

Your field is the field of optometry. You can't compare your game to the game of an ophthalmologist.

I don't know about studying for the MCAT while working full time and raising kids, but I'm going to venture a guess to say that you would probably need to cut back on work or cut back on raising your kids (the latter will probably be frowned upon).

What I do know about is going to med school being about 2-3 standard deviations older than my classmates. Who are these "everyone"s you're talking to saying you're crazy for wanting to go back to school at 29? Is it an unsupportive partner? Unsupportive family members? An employer who believes you're a darn good optometrist and doesn't want to lose you? Sexist people who think you should be satisfied with your life because you already have a decent job and children? What are their motivations for telling you you can't do it? I think you have to talk to other older successful med school matriculants to determine whether this is something you want to do. You also have to try to look into the future to envision which life would make you more miserable. Imagine yourself at 35: would you be more miserable living your comfy life as an optometrist or more miserable in med school?

Keep in mind what was posted above about Step 1 scores and being competitive for ophtho. If you want to do the physician thing you should keep your eyes open to different specialties until you get your Step 1 score and start doing rotations. Also, if you end up doing med school, you MUST have strong supports to help with your kids. I don't know of a single person at my school with children who doesn't have help in some way.

 

[stayathomemom]

Yes, you can go back to medical school at your age and with 4 kids. It's won't be easy, but you can do it.

Now, are you set on working in ophthalmology? If you are I have to caution you. It's a competitive specialty. This article states that the average successful applicant USMLE Step 1 score falling in the 230 to 240 range. That's pretty high. Are you a good test taker? Also, you would almost certainly have to move (if not already for medical school) for your residency. Is your family ok with that?

What is your support network like? I assume since you had kids while you were in school that you are familiar with the difficulties of doing so.

Is your family able to take the financial hit of you not working while you are in school, since you can't do both?