Optometry in China

[Zooey0991]

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Hi everyone!

I am from France and i'm about to have a degree which allows me to sell glasses and do eye examination. I am about to be an optician.

The matter is I want to be an optometrist but in France we are not allowed to prescribe glasses, only ophthalmologists can. Optometry is not an official job, I mean, optometrists can't get paid for eye examination ; they have to do that for free. It isn't approved by the government.

So, I am thinking to move to an another country where it is allowed. I thought about China, and I found the Wenzhou College of optometry. I sent them an email to ask informations but no answer.

I would like to have more information about this college, do I have a chance to get in there? And what are the conditions to be an optometrist there?
(My grand parents live in Wenzhou, so I know Chinese).

Does anyone know something about it? 🙂

(and sorry for my English...)

 

[amaprez]

Dude I doubt anyone is gonna know anything about a school in China.

 

[Zooey0991]

At least I tried 🙂

 

[srwilson1]

Yea- sorry I have no idea about the school in China. It's never been mentioned before on this site (I think), so you'll probably have to look elsewhere for information. Maybe you could give the school a call? Best of luck!

 

[optoapp2012]

At least I tried 🙂

Actually one of the optometrists that I work for is from China - I will ask her sometime in the next week what she knows about it (she only works a few days a week in the office, so I'll ask her next chance I can). She goes back to China quite a bit and I'm sure she knows something!

 

[Zooey0991]

Actually one of the optometrists that I work for is from China - I will ask her sometime in the next week what she knows about it (she only works a few days a week in the office, so I'll ask her next chance I can). She goes back to China quite a bit and I'm sure she knows something!

aaww thank you so much! I was feeling a little desperate 🙂

 

[yunowu]

As an US trained dentist, I have already accepted an offer to work at a Shanghai dental clinic that caters to foreign expatriates. I will get back to you if I find out anything..

法国朋友你好:

I am fluent in Mandarin Chinese as well. I don't know anybody who is currently attending 温州 medical college. However, I have known many friends who attended TianJin Medical University.
TianJin Medical University
http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001914.shtml

Some majors of the University are national and municipal key medical science: national key major Chinese-Western Medicine Clinic(surgery), municipal key majors: Endocrinology and Metabolic Disease, Cancer, Neurology 、Medical Imaging、Urological Surgery、Internal Medicine of Cardiovascular, Nuclear Medicine, General Surgery, the municipal developing majors: Micro-biology and immunology, Ophthalmology、Stomatology. The university also has 9 research institutes, Ministry of Health's 1 key lab and 9 temporary clinic medicine bases.

I believe TianJin Medical University offers English-taught medical degree programs that strictly caters to foreigners. Contact information is on the page..http://english.enorth.com.cn/system/2001/06/22/000001914.shtml

Below are couple useful websites to browse thru if you are interested..
http://tianjinexpats.com/
A Brief Guide To Living In Tianjin As A Foreign Exchange Student
http://www.slideshare.net/stinson/a-brief-guide-to-living-in-tianjin-as-a-foreign-exchange-student

Having already traveled extensively thru out China during my younger years, I know TianJin natives are very friendly to foreigners. Hope that helps..

 

[optoapp2012]

Hi everyone!

I am from France and i'm about to have a degree which allows me to sell glasses and do eye examination. I am about to be an optician.

The matter is I want to be an optometrist but in France we are not allowed to prescribe glasses, only ophthalmologists can. Optometry is not an official job, I mean, optometrists can't get paid for eye examination ; they have to do that for free. It isn't approved by the government.

So, I am thinking to move to an another country where it is allowed. I thought about China, and I found the Wenzhou College of optometry. I sent them an email to ask informations but no answer.

I would like to have more information about this college, do I have a chance to get in there? And what are the conditions to be an optometrist there?
(My grand parents live in Wenzhou, so I know Chinese).

Does anyone know something about it? 🙂

(and sorry for my English...)

Ok so I finally got to ask about this - sorry it took so long...I didn't forget!

Basically things are the same in China as they are in France...but maybe a little worse. It's the same thing in that optometry doesn't really exist as a profession in China either. It's more like optician, because you can only do the medical side if you are a medical doctor (which optometrists are not there). She said that she had not visited the schools and didn't really know a lot about them, but that basically it's not a profession where you would make much money there. People don't pay for refractions or contact lens exams (repeat: those are expected to be free)...they just pay for materials (frames, lenses, contacts), but even those are extremely cheap there. So to make a living, lots of places stay open 24 hours per day and do a sub-par job with their patients in order to save time. Some of them auto-refract patients on a machine and then make their glasses right from that (which we all know isn't accurate!). But she said that because a patient is likely seeing at least better than when they went in, they leave happy.

Optometry is not a regulated profession in China, so there are no rules about quality of care. I honestly think you are better off staying in France. I think optometry is more like optician in most of the world - it's rather unique in the US, because we've pushed hard to carve out a more medically-based niche. That is very rare outside of the US.

Okay, that's everything she told me! She loves China, so she wasn't knocking the country as a whole. But she did say that it's not a place to make money in optometry. Good luck!!

 

[CHINAisPOOR]

Hi everyone!

I am from France and i'm about to have a degree which allows me to sell glasses and do eye examination. I am about to be an optician.

The matter is I want to be an optometrist but in France we are not allowed to prescribe glasses, only ophthalmologists can. Optometry is not an official job, I mean, optometrists can't get paid for eye examination ; they have to do that for free. It isn't approved by the government.

So, I am thinking to move to an another country where it is allowed. I thought about China, and I found the Wenzhou College of optometry. I sent them an email to ask informations but no answer.

I would like to have more information about this college, do I have a chance to get in there? And what are the conditions to be an optometrist there?
(My grand parents live in Wenzhou, so I know Chinese).

Does anyone know something about it? 🙂

(and sorry for my English...)

France?? no-no. Go to CHINA and you'll make more money there !!

 

[Tippytoe]

Unfortunately, this thread simply futher enhances my point that Optometry is a fake, made-up profession. If two (actually more) 1st world countries with BILLIONS of people can get by fine without optometrists, then why do ODs even exist?

All eyecare can be provided by opticians and Ophthalmologists.

Do you really want to be part of a profession that isn't even needed and only exist because some people bribed enough politicians many years ago? That's something to think about.

 

[Loptometriste]

Pourquoi pas étudier a Montréal? Il y a une école la.