Pharmacy instead of Optometry?

Started by Bob_Barker27
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Bob_Barker27

Bob_Barker27

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Did anybody consider pursuing a career in optometry, and why did you choose to do pharmacy instead?
 
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Bob_Barker27 said:
Did anybody consider pursuing a career in optometry, and why did you choose to do pharmacy instead?
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I was planning to do optometry, but I think pharmacy is a more promising career.
 
Was anybody thinking about doing optometry but decided to pursue pharmacy instead? What was your reasoning for doing so? Thanks.
 
I considered optometry for awhile but ultimately rejected it. One of the reasons I didn't go the optometry route is that there is not a huge job market for OD's right now. I didn't want to work my tail off for 4 more years only to not find a job. I'm also not a big enough risk taker to start my own practice. Pharmacy jobs, however, are plentiful. Another reason I didn't do Optometry was that it just seemed too narrow in focus for my interests. I'm interested in the whole body, so I didn't want to focus on just the eyes. I also considered dentistry because I could earn more than double a pharmacist's salary working as a dentist, but again, I didn't want to limit myself to just the mouth. If you're interested in both, I suggest shadowing in both fields to get a better idea of what fits you best. However, if you shadow a retail pharmacist, be aware that there are many opportunities in pharmacy in addition to retail.
 
This is a double post! You'll see my response in the thread I posted in the PharmD forum.
 
OSURxgirl,
Thanks for your response. The job market for optometrists is something that concerns me too...the fact that there are only 17 schools of optometry in the country seems to indicate there isn't a huge demand for them. I am more interested in physiology than anatomy, so it seems like pharmacy would make a better choice for me...I don't think I would like doing the gross anatomy labs required optometry school. I talked to an optometrist a few years ago and he was very negative about his profession including all the paperwork for insurance companies and that many people would go see an opthamologist rather than an optometrist for basic eye care. It seems like a lot of people are kind of down on the pharmacy profession though, at least retail. They say it's too stressful or too dull or they could be replaced by robots. I earned a degree in mechanical engineering already, but didn't like being an engineer that much. I just want to make sure I don't end up in another career I hate. I'm 27 now and I can't keep going back to school forever 🙂 Any more comments would be appreciated.
 
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