Undergrad business classes?

[FutureEyeDr]

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I took some business classes during my undergrad and struggled a bit (with accounting/finance) and my grades show that. Will it hurt me when schools are looking at my application? I'm a Neuroscience major and math and science are my strengths, but I do see myself opening up my own practice in the future and dealing more with the business aspects of Optometry. I just want to be assured that this shouldn't be THAT big of a concern, since a major part of Optometry is retail and you need to be good at that in order to succeed in the field.

 

[Bioflare]

It shouldn't matter to the schools whether you lack the business mindset. You can either learn it or partner with someone that does have it. Optometry isn't mainly retail, your job is to check the health of people's eyes.

Opticians work well with you and will handle the business aspects for you, stick to being who you are and what you want to do. If you came into Optometry wanting to be a salesman I think you're in the wrong field lol.

That being said, some optom colleges do offer business lessons for their students, but in no way should your own business acumen affect your entry unless it decreases your GPA drastically lol.

 

[epalacios]

being a business major myself as well as a licensed optician, it is a true observation that many optometrists I have encountered lack good business sense. However, as mentioned above, if you are motivated to learn business concepts you can still run a successful practice. There are many practice management courses available after graduation, and I think the very fact that you have a keen awareness of your shortcomings says alot about your mindset on success. Many optometrists who are bad at business don't even know that they are--it's the people who work with them that suffer the most!

I am also seeing more and more OD's pursuing MBA degrees. This might be a good avenue to look into as well down the road.