What made you choose optometry?

Started by PA_dud3
This forum made possible through the generous support of
SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

PA_dud3

PA-S1
Moderator Emeritus
7+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi all,

I hope you all are well. So I recently started working at a rural-ish Private Optometry Practice as a Tech and while I enjoy the work it can be quite stressful at times due to the volume of patients we receive and what I need to to do for each patient. The Optometrists have really taken me under their wing so-to-speak because I'm the only one in the practice who is looking Optometry school. I am starting to have a few doubts, however.

So I will be completely honest, I started out Pre-Pharmacy>Pre-Medicine>Pre-AA>Pre-Optometry. I've seen just about everything that I think is necessary to make an informed decision but I can't shake the feeling I would be wasting my time. The money for optometry is very nice and is more than enough to pursue the kind of lifestyle I hope to achieve. I also like the prestige of being the first line of defense for people's eyesight, even though many people say that Optometry isn't a very prestigious field. However I just can't help but feel like I'm only doing Optometry because I am not good enough to go MD/DO. I also worry that I won't be able to do any real medical management of patient's eye health with optometry because everything gets referred to Ophthalmology. I don't mind doing refractions and stuff ( I actually like the equipment and think optics are very interesting) but I am worried I would get burnt out doing the same thing over and over again with no variety. Would an Ocular Disease residency help with this?

So I said all that to say all this: if you could go back and do it all over again, would you still choose optometry? Would you recommend optometry to someone like me?
 
Hi all,

I hope you all are well. So I recently started working at a rural-ish Private Optometry Practice as a Tech and while I enjoy the work it can be quite stressful at times due to the volume of patients we receive and what I need to to do for each patient. The Optometrists have really taken me under their wing so-to-speak because I'm the only one in the practice who is looking Optometry school. I am starting to have a few doubts, however.

So I will be completely honest, I started out Pre-Pharmacy>Pre-Medicine>Pre-AA>Pre-Optometry. I've seen just about everything that I think is necessary to make an informed decision but I can't shake the feeling I would be wasting my time. The money for optometry is very nice and is more than enough to pursue the kind of lifestyle I hope to achieve. I also like the prestige of being the first line of defense for people's eyesight, even though many people say that Optometry isn't a very prestigious field. However I just can't help but feel like I'm only doing Optometry because I am not good enough to go MD/DO. I also worry that I won't be able to do any real medical management of patient's eye health with optometry because everything gets referred to Ophthalmology. I don't mind doing refractions and stuff ( I actually like the equipment and think optics are very interesting) but I am worried I would get burnt out doing the same thing over and over again with no variety. Would an Ocular Disease residency help with this?

So I said all that to say all this: if you could go back and do it all over again, would you still choose optometry? Would you recommend optometry to someone like me?
I enjoy optometry, and I would do it again.