Pre optometry or Pre Med

[Anatomygirrl18]

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Hello, I am currently a senior in high school. For the past 5 years I have been obsessed with the idea of being an optometrist. I have studied, researched, shadowed and am currently enrolled in a pre optometry program. I find the study of eyes so interesting. Recently I took some anatomy classes and realized that medicine is my passion. I love learning about the human body! I cannot see myself in any other profession but something in the medical field. My passion for anatomy and the medical field has made me look into pre med and eventually medical school. I'm torn however because I still like the idea of being an eye doctor. Someone help!

 

[Flam taps]

Hello, I am currently a senior in high school. For the past 5 years I have been obsessed with the idea of being an optometrist. I have studied, researched, shadowed and am currently enrolled in a pre optometry program. I find the study of eyes so interesting. Recently I took some anatomy classes and realized that medicine is my passion. I love learning about the human body! I cannot see myself in any other profession but something in the medical field. My passion for anatomy and the medical field has made me look into pre med and eventually medical school. I'm torn however because I still like the idea of being an eye doctor. Someone help!

Shadow, shadow, and shadow... and lastly SHADOW. You won’t really know for sure until you get experiences. I was torn between premed and preopto until I shadowed both professions. I was personally impacted by both types of doctors but in the end I found that I was most interested in working with my optometrist 🙂.

 

[Weirdy]

Get through undergrad first.

 

[Anatomygirrl18]

Shadow, shadow, and shadow... and lastly SHADOW. You won’t really know for sure until you get experiences. I was torn between premed and preopto until I shadowed both professions. I was personally impacted by both types of doctors but in the end I found that I was most interested in working with my optometrist 🙂.

Thank you so much! Yes, I have shadowed both an optometrist and ophthalmologist. I have only shadowed one of each so seeing different doctors would probably be helpful. My main reason for not looking at medicine is the lifestyle and amount of time taken away for work. With optometry I would be able to have a more flexible lifestyle. I still however want to look more into ophthalmology from what I hear it is actually one of the more flexible specialties.?

 

[Anatomygirrl18]

Get through undergrad first.

Would you recommend pre med or pre optometry or just A bio degree so I could do both at the end of undergrad?

 

[Weirdy]

Would you recommend pre med or pre optometry or just A bio degree so I could do both at the end of undergrad?

Doesn't matter.
Both have similar requirements with the exception of a few specific courses. All pre-health tracks in general are the same.

If I could do it all over again I would major in something I like/ was lucrative for real world jobs outside of health careers and finish all the pre-reqs on top of that.

A biology degree is a paperweight unless you are looking at research or PhD.

That way even if you need a gap year to gain experience (shadowing, working for an opto, prepping for OAT), you still have a degree you:
1) actually wanted
2) is somewhat marketable when things go south.

Take your college counselor's advice with a grain of salt. 90% of undergraduate counselors have no idea what they're talking about.

To get into opto school you need 1) highest GPA you can get 2) OAT score 3) work experience/ shadowing in the opto environment. Research is a plus.

 

[Anatomygirrl18]

Doesn't matter.
Both have similar requirements with the exception of a few specific courses. All pre-health tracks in general are the same.

If I could do it all over again I would major in something I like/ was lucrative for real world jobs outside of health careers and finish all the pre-reqs on top of that.

A biology degree is a paperweight unless you are looking at research or PhD.

That way even if you need a gap year to gain experience (shadowing, working for an opto, prepping for OAT), you still have a degree you:
1) actually wanted
2) is somewhat marketable when things go south.

Take your college counselor's advice with a grain of salt. 90% of undergraduate counselors have no idea what they're talking about.

To get into opto school you need 1) highest GPA you can get 2) OAT score 3) work experience/ shadowing in the opto environment. Research is a plus.

Thanks so much I will keep this is mind!

 

[Weirdy]

Thanks so much I will keep this is mind!

Best of luck.

Don't get discouraged during undergrad.