Should I forget optometry?

[Robin des Bois]

Hi and Happy New Year! So Optometry interests me, but the problem is:

1. Eye disease freak me out, can I get over this?
2. My vision is not pretty, enough to drive during the day.
3. D you need good manual dexterity?
Thanks!

 

[KHE]

Is this a serious question?

Why would you WANT to pursue optometry if eye diseases freak you out? Isn't that sort of like "bugs creep me out but I want to pursue a career as an exterminator?"

 

[Commando303]

Hi and Happy New Year! So Optometry interests me, but the problem is:

1. Eye disease freak me out, can I get over this?
2. My vision is not pretty, enough to drive during the day.
3. D you need good manual dexterity?
Thanks!

 

[mathcod]

3) No.
1) Some things have the potential to be very disturbing/gruesome, but they are not very common. Just ask yourself if you think this will jeopardize your ability to provide patient care (or at least stabilize it until they were referred) were it to walk in the door.
2) Probably you shouldn't be an eye doctor for this reason. If your vision is below 20/70 OU, then it would be very challenging to perform your job. A doc who I believed developed Retinitis Pigmentosa or some other hereditary eye condition in his 30's-40's stopped working as he was unable to see well enough. He became a pastor but still loved eye care and found a unique position working as an OD in low vision - where he was not really involved too much with diagnoses/exams but more-so towards vision rehabilitation as his own low-vision experience/optometry/public speaking skills helped with rehabilitating others. But I would argue that this is a rare opportunity and that general practice would be extremely difficult if not harmful.

 

[Robin des Bois]

3) No.
1) Some things have the potential to be very disturbing/gruesome, but they are not very common. Just ask yourself if you think this will jeopardize your ability to provide patient care (or at least stabilize it until they were referred) were it to walk in the door.
2) Probably you shouldn't be an eye doctor for this reason. If your vision is below 20/70 OU, then it would be very challenging to perform your job. A doc who I believed developed Retinitis Pigmentosa or some other hereditary eye condition in his 30's-40's stopped working as he was unable to see well enough. He became a pastor but still loved eye care and found a unique position working as an OD in low vision - where he was not really involved too much with diagnoses/exams but more-so towards vision rehabilitation as his own low-vision experience/optometry/public speaking skills helped with rehabilitating others. But I would argue that this is a rare opportunity and that general practice would be extremely difficult if not harmful.

Thanks for reply!
I dunno if am less than 20/70, I know I have 12/20 with glasses in one eye.
How often an opto has to touch the eye of his patient? I don't think I have problems with examining eyes and prescribing glasses, but some eye injuries could be disturbing. Am a premed, so I know that if I ever get into med school, I would never do eye surgery.

 

[ChocolateRun]

Thanks for reply!
I dunno if am less than 20/70, I know I have 12/20 with glasses in one eye.
How often an opto has to touch the eye of his patient? I don't think I have problems with examining eyes and prescribing glasses, but some eye injuries could be disturbing. Am a premed, so I know that if I ever get into med school, I would never do eye surgery.

12/20 vision? That doesn't even exist.

There are times you have to touch the eye if there is a foreign body for instance.

Thanks for reply!
but some eye injuries could be disturbing. Am a premed, so I know that if I ever get into med school, I would never do eye surgery.

You want to go to med school, but find eye injuries disturbing??? There are many many many worse injuries. And in med school you are going to have to see everything. I think you seriously need to think about another career if you find eye injuries disturbing.

 

[Robin des Bois]

Thanks for reply!
I dunno if am less than 20/70, I know I have 12/20 with glasses in one eye.
How often an opto has to touch the eye of his patient? I don't think I have problems with examining eyes and prescribing glasses, but some eye injuries could be disturbing. Am a premed, so I know that if I ever get into med school, I would never do eye surgery.

12 / 20 is how we measure visual acuity here atleast. I have pharmacy in the radar. I am sensitive about eyes, lol, maybe because of my vision I became overprotective.

 

[OpticalBlackOut]

12 / 20 is how we measure visual acuity here atleast. I have pharmacy in the radar. I am sensitive about eyes, lol, maybe because of my vision I became overprotective.

a. I'm not too familiar with the scope of practice in Quebec, but the best advice for pre-optometry students is always to go shadow optometrists around your area. The more exposure you get to the field, the better.
Since you wear glasses, you probably already know an optometrist...start there.
b. The field is evolving towards more medical practice, it would be beneficial to look into being an optician if you're not comfortable with that.
c. 12/20 can probably converted to a decimal, sounds like it would be ~20/40 in conventional snellen.

 

[snooze]

You should probably go shadow an optometrist in your community and decide for yourself.

 

[drumstix]

2) Probably you shouldn't be an eye doctor for this reason. If your vision is below 20/70 OU, then it would be very challenging to perform your job. A doc who I believed developed Retinitis Pigmentosa or some other hereditary eye condition in his 30's-40's stopped working as he was unable to see well enough. He became a pastor but still loved eye care and found a unique position working as an OD in low vision - where he was not really involved too much with diagnoses/exams but more-so towards vision rehabilitation as his own low-vision experience/optometry/public speaking skills helped with rehabilitating others. But I would argue that this is a rare opportunity and that general practice would be extremely difficult if not harmful.

having bad eyesight means you can't be an optometrist? this is the first time i am hearing this.... please elaborate further. i guess i'm wondering what the cut off point is and if in the future, they're going to screen people based on their eyesight? this isn't the air force..

 

[mathcod]

.....

Not sure if serious, but as I stated it can be very challenging to perform your job as an eyecare provider with poorer vision while examining the health of the eye. And as an anecdote, I provided the true story of a doctor who felt it was a DISSERVICE to his patients to work with impaired vision.

 

[ChocolateRun]

having bad eyesight means you can't be an optometrist? this is the first time i am hearing this.... please elaborate further. i guess i'm wondering what the cut off point is and if in the future, they're going to screen people based on their eyesight? this isn't the air force..

Playing devil's advocate, when you applied on Optomcas, you agreed to the ASCO Functional Guidelines. They state that you must have good visual abilities in terms of visual acuity, color vision, and binocularity. How do you expect to discern small details on the fundus when you have poor visual acuity? That said, having "bad eyesight" is such an incredibly vague term. Are you 20/400 without glasses but 20/20+ with glasses or are you 20/400 without glasses and only 20/80 with glasses? Both can be said that you have bad eyesight, but the latter is functionally impairing whereas the former is not. If you have visual field defects, how do you plan on performing and properly evaluating confrontations? The list can go on and on.

 

[drumstix]

i mistook "impaired vision" (a disability) with "bad eyesight" (a vague phrase, but meant in the 'normal' range). thanks all.