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Anyone out there who considered dental school instead of optometry? Are you happy with your choice? My wife will be going to dental school but optometry is what I would prefer to do.
Troll! 😀 Hehehehehehe.Originally posted by aphistis
No way, opto sucks! Dental school all the way!!
...OK, sorry. I couldn't resist the bait and doing a little friendly tail-twisting. I have the utmost respect for our colleagues in optometry, and that's all I have to contribute on the matter 😀
Hmmm, optometry #2 out of 4 choices, 2nd quartile (I think), posted this in the Optometry forum -- therefore I declare you to be... 25% Troll! 😀Originally posted by flong
Dental > opto > medicine > pharm
My opinion: Take it and like it 🙂
Originally posted by yOyOYoo
I know this sounds stereotypical, but I don't think I could stand looking down into people's stinky mouths and having to drill their teeth to patch cavities. I personally hate going to the dentist, and I don't know a single person who LIKEs their dentist. I don't want to have to see patients that squirm when i'm cleaning their teeth or drilling.
I'd rather look at eyes. yes yes I know there are pathology related to eye sight, but i'm pretty sure I won't be seeing GPC, glaucoma, diseased eyes everyday... or at least I am not as grossed out by such conditions as I am with rotting teeth!!!
Originally posted by r_salis
Not to be contradictory, but I *love* my dentist.
I worked at an Optometry school for two years, and will be going to dental school in the fall. I would agree with davemo, shadow with both doctors and see which profession fits your personality best. Opto has a lot less ?gross factor? than dentistry, and you can do very well, financially, with both fields.
FYI, it's "Groundhog's Day".Originally posted by speter33
I shadowed an optometrist. God dam that job seemed boring to me. It's like you do the same thing a 100 times a day and come back next day to do it all over again. Sheesh the movie "ground hocks day" comes to mind.
If you really like the eye I think u should go to medical school and become an opthomologist. Being an optometrist in my opinion is a tiny step up from being a pharmacist. But can't compare to serious doctors like dentists and MDs, whom yes deal with discusting stuff but that's the nature of being a doc
Just curious -- do you work with OMDs or do you work for a "chain empire"? (or both?)Originally posted by Reality check
The opticians and shrewd/ cut throat businessman who hire these poor OD's out of school with over 150G's in loans and give them jobs in their multiple chain empire.
Originally posted by Reality check
I've said it once, said it twice and I'll say it again: Optometry is a waste of a profession. I'll go to my grave believing this. I don't care if you work at a top hospital or clinic with OMD's you'll never earn the respect ophthalmolgists get simply because you are an optometrist. Yea yea....North Carolina Seattle Oklahoma and so forth ...OD's are looked upon as real doctors because of medicine heavily treatment etc...... how many OD's are there from those 3 states and a few others. Chain OD's get no respect regardless how good they are.
If you want to help people with there vision don't settle for second best- go become an MD if you can do it. 70-80G's is the norm out there forget about what the AOA tells you. It's all fabrication and lies. Optometry school applications have been decreasing significantly over the past 3-4 years while med school applications started to increase/on the rise again. I make over 100G's a year helping people but I am not happy. I wanted more out of my education.
Bottom line: aim higher go the distance-suffer a bit more but you'll reap the rewards of your labor at the end. OMD's are more marketable than OD's will ever be. You know who makes tons of money in Optometry majority of the time in big cities?
The opticians and shrewd/ cut throat businessman who hire these poor OD's out of school with over 150G's in loans and give them jobs in their multiple chain empire.
You'll regret Optometry big time. But find out the hard way like thousands of us who did.
Lance Turnbow said:Anyone out there who considered dental school instead of optometry? Are you happy with your choice? My wife will be going to dental school but optometry is what I would prefer to do.
Lost_in_Cali said:hmm....I am considering the same thing, optometry vs. dental. I keep hearing mixed things about both fields, and more recently it's becoming clear and clear that ODs are generally unhappy with what they do. This is very disappointing and frustrating! I am walking down this path, taking the OATs this October, and trying to make a way into the field. But hearing such jarring things is making me second guess my choice to become an OD.
I really want to work with eyes - the eye fascinates me, but at the same time I am not up for the draining years and sacrifice that Medschool requires. My brother is going down the MD path and from that alone, I know I am not up for it - I see what he goes through, and I know that's not the path for me. Medschool is TOUGH, as I am sure everyone here knows. It's easy to say that if Optometry is not appealing then just works towards Opthamology as a default choice. It's not that simple. So now, as I had done a while back, I am reconsidering the dental profession. But at the same time I would hate to become a dentist to regret it later in life, and think of it as a fall back choice that seemed like the financially sound decision at the time.
This is so frustrating!
Hmm...Even though it's good to get a grip with reality before its too late, it would be nice to hear something encouraging about Optometry.
It's really disappointing and discouraging to get such feedback...I had such high hopes for the profession....
Lost_in_Cali said:hmm....Hmm...Even though it's good to get a grip with reality before its too late, it would be nice to hear something encouraging about Optometry....It's really disappointing and discouraging to get such feedback...I had such high hopes for the profession....
eyedream82 said:i thought this was interesting to know:
"A close patient-optometrist relationship; work schedule flexibility, particularly for women interested in raising families; increased community respect for the profession, and the personable, painless interaction between patient and optometrist were other factors that swayed talented students away from other health maintenance professions and into optometry." http://www.medical-colleges.net/optometryusa.htm