serious OD question

[MSc44]

---

Members don't see this ad.

hello all

ok this is a serious question on my part and im new to this forum
why would one want to go into optometry when u can get an MD and do an optho resedency

are there any benefits, from what i understand it is 4 years of OD school right?

please give me some insight because i am very serious about this question

 

[rpie]

Just depends on if you want to do primary eye care or secondary surgical eye care.

 

[ucbsowarrior]

hello all

ok this is a serious question on my part and im new to this forum
why would one want to go into optometry when u can get an MD and do an optho resedency

are there any benefits, from what i understand it is 4 years of OD school right?

please give me some insight because i am very serious about this question

I agree with you.
You should go become an OMD.
All the best!
ucbsowarrior

 

[HOLLYWOOD]

I agree with you.
You should go become an OMD.
All the best!
ucbsowarrior

if i had to do it again i would go to business school. but if my choice is b/t omd and od i would go omd b/c you can do everything if you don't want to do surgery you can do primary eyecare you can do cosmetics etc. the md is an UNLIMITED license

 

[sco1styear]

if i had to do it again i would go to business school. but if my choice is b/t omd and od i would go omd b/c you can do everything if you don't want to do surgery you can do primary eyecare you can do cosmetics etc. the md is an UNLIMITED license

I love what it entails; I did not want to specialize in diseases or surgeries but wanted the full scope of what an optometrist does. There are people for every position, that's what makes the world go round. There are people who would rather be omd's and others, like me, who want to be od's.
As for becoming an omd and then going into primary eye care, why??? Why would you waste your time studying intensely into things that you are not planning on practicing...plus omd's don't get trained in primary eye care (I'm supposing you are referring to procedures such as refraction) as rigorously as od's; it just doesn't make sense.
I guess when it comes down to it, you could use the same question for lots of professions...why would one want to be a nurse and not a doctor?...why would you want to be a teacher and not a principal?...why would you want to be anything? Hopefully because that is what you want to do.

 

[ucbsowarrior]

For starters, I did not want to go to med school or to ever be an omd. I've always wanted to be an optometrist and that's that. My grandfather was an optometrist as was his uncle and grandfather.
I love what it entails; I did not want to specialize in diseases or surgeries but wanted the full scope of what an optometrist does. There are people for every position, that's what makes the world go round. There are people who would rather be omd's and others, like me, who want to be od's.
As for becoming an omd and then going into primary eye care, why??? Why would you waste your time studying intensely into things that you are not planning on practicing...plus omd's don't get trained in primary eye care (I'm supposing you are referring to procedures such as refraction) as rigorously as od's; it just doesn't make sense.
I guess when it comes down to it, you could use the same question for lots of professions...why would one want to be a nurse and not a doctor?...why would you want to be a teacher and not a principal?...why would you want to be anything? Hopefully because that is what you want to do.

your grandfather sounded like he got grandfathered in...depending on when he worked...thus that would make him a refracting optician, as od's have only had a strong foothold over the past 50-65 yrs.

 

[ucbsowarrior]

if i had to do it again i would go to business school. but if my choice is b/t omd and od i would go omd b/c you can do everything if you don't want to do surgery you can do primary eyecare you can do cosmetics etc. the md is an UNLIMITED license

don't be weak, i almost entertained do both programs simultaneously...doable

 

[sco1styear]

.

 

[rpie]

I am unsure as to the reasons why my grandfather chose optometry (unforunately I never got to discuss it with him in detail) but I do know that he loved his job. He also was one of the most respected optometrists I've ever heard of, people still constantly remind me how great of a doctor he was. He attended optometry school in chicago shortly after being released from being a prisoner of war in japan during WWII. He was well known for working with children and vision therapy.
Maybe I got a little too defensive on this one, but I know he was much more than just a "refracting optician". As for the other family members I know his uncle also attended school in chicago but the first family member to be involved in optometry evolved the jewelry business and while that was certainly more along the line of a "refracting optician", I take pride in knowing that people like that helped the profession evolve to get to where it is today.

If your grand father went to school in Chicago post WWII, and was into vision therapy, he probably attended NICO, (northern Illinois college of optometry) in the late 40’s early 50’s, Being a Vet. He most likely attended school on the GI bill. After WWII the government made funds available to returning VETS. for higher education and home purchases. This caused record numbers of people attending undergraduate and graduate schools. Medicine, dentistry and optometry were the most popular and enjoyed large numbers of applicants, and also initiated many new professional schools being opened. At this same time osteopathic medical schools became noted because of a shortage of allopathic medical schools.