How competitive is entry to the schools for each of these professions? and how stressful are the professions themselves? Im a current college student who is interested in the health field, but doesnt want to dedicate their life to their work the way my MD sister and father have. Also, im a good student, but not exceptional (3.2ish gpa at a top 25 college), and i sometimes struggle mightily with classes like physics, so i want to work towards a goal that is achievable for. are any of these professions achievable for someone with my current stats?
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podiatry vs pharmacy vs optometry competitiveness
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Biggs, the reality is most likely that is just who your dad is. My dad is a doctor and semi-retired, and he has found new things to always be busy with. People are who they are.
You are just making excuses. If you want to spend time with your family, do whatever interests you most. Then figure out how to spend time with your family.
You are just making excuses. If you want to spend time with your family, do whatever interests you most. Then figure out how to spend time with your family.
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Then you're not interested in health care. Your work is your patients, and if you're not dedicated to them (which means dealing with the red tape, insurance, too) then you're better off going the non-profit route.
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Please do research before posting such topics. If anything shadow a field to see if you even like it.
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If you struggle with physics then podiatry is not for you. The profession is based on biomechanics and the orthopedic surgery aspect is mostly mechanical physics.
There are people that specialize in derm or find other ways to make a living with podiatry.
There are people that specialize in derm or find other ways to make a living with podiatry.
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The competitivness of any of the programs can be discovered by spending any amount of time on this forum. Each forum even has "what are my chances" threads or forums. The issue everyone had with the question is that, the OP should discover what they want to do, and not what the easiest path is.
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First of all, I apologize to the original poster for not answering the question, but I will disagree with Krabmas on one issue. Although I do agree that you must understand the mechanics/biomechanics of the body to perform surgery successfully, I don't agree that involves a particularly strong knowledge of pure academic physics.
When could you honestly say you've utilized true physics in the planning of your surgical procedures, other than determining some angular relationships? Biomechanics and/or kinematics differ greatly than the academic physics courses taught in undergraduate school, and I personally do not believe that if someone doesn't excel in physics that it would eliminate that person from being a successful surgeon in the future.
I thinks the OP has a valid question. There are degrees that definately allow for a higher percentage of time between work and family. I can speak to the optometery route at least as my wife is one. As far as family time, she definately has more of it compared to her sister who is an M.D. and a bit more compared to the DPM in the family.
She has five weeks of vacation and after 14 years I have only seen her work on patient charts/letters a handful lof time. whereas her sister m.d. has had to take her two kids to the office after hours to work on charts and notes multiple times, and they practicly are being raised by alternate caregivers. Basically, its a no call, respected, leave your work at work, healthcare field. no, there is no glamor to it (quite boring to me at least) but the pay is great and the ability to be at home with the kids is very important to her. Don't know about Pharm, and with a sister in law who is a podiatrist( different part of family) , i can definately say that for ease of family life...opto may be your best best.
She has five weeks of vacation and after 14 years I have only seen her work on patient charts/letters a handful lof time. whereas her sister m.d. has had to take her two kids to the office after hours to work on charts and notes multiple times, and they practicly are being raised by alternate caregivers. Basically, its a no call, respected, leave your work at work, healthcare field. no, there is no glamor to it (quite boring to me at least) but the pay is great and the ability to be at home with the kids is very important to her. Don't know about Pharm, and with a sister in law who is a podiatrist( different part of family) , i can definately say that for ease of family life...opto may be your best best.
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I can't speak about the competitiveness, since I've been out of that loop for a while. However, I can tell you from my perspective, our group members put in a lot of hours, though family time always takes priority.
The amount of hours you work will always depend upon the type of practice, geographic location, etc. We have a practice that involves a lot of office hours in addition to covering patients in several hospitals, performing consults, surgical procedures in the hospitals, on-call coverage, week-end coverage, etc. But once again, that's dependent on what you create or the type of practice you enter or develop.
I believe it's safe to say that although optometrists and pharmacists may work long hours and/or rotate schedules (especially retail pharmacists), they probably rarely get called for emergencies, don't have to run back and forth to hospitals, perform hospital consults, etc. They are different lines of work with different demands, and your choice should really be based on what interests you the most, because when it's all said and done you should ALWAYS find time for your family. Nothing is more important.
The amount of hours you work will always depend upon the type of practice, geographic location, etc. We have a practice that involves a lot of office hours in addition to covering patients in several hospitals, performing consults, surgical procedures in the hospitals, on-call coverage, week-end coverage, etc. But once again, that's dependent on what you create or the type of practice you enter or develop.
I believe it's safe to say that although optometrists and pharmacists may work long hours and/or rotate schedules (especially retail pharmacists), they probably rarely get called for emergencies, don't have to run back and forth to hospitals, perform hospital consults, etc. They are different lines of work with different demands, and your choice should really be based on what interests you the most, because when it's all said and done you should ALWAYS find time for your family. Nothing is more important.
D
dyk343
I have a couple friends that just graduated from pharmacy school. I believe they are working 3 days a week with 12 hour shifts. But that may be due to geographic location as they both have similar schedules/work in the same area.
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Also FWIW Podiatry has the potential to make significantly more than optometry and pharmacy does
