Which Optometry school has the most comprehensive classes??

[geronamo26]

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I've heard that maybe Oklahoma's school of Optometry has the most because they include surgery?? Btw, have any of you noticed that there are more prereq classes for Optometry than for Medical school? Just food for thought!

 

[dontlikephysics]

I've heard that maybe Oklahoma's school of Optometry has the most because they include surgery?? Btw, have any of you noticed that there are more prereq classes for Optometry than for Medical school? Just food for thought!

I'm not sure I fully understand your question. Some optometry school's curriculum differ in certain aspects, for example NOVA has anatomy and physiology courses as seperate courses where I think some other schools include it as one course. Other optometry schools will teach you some aspects of the business side of optometry. And some optometry schools will put you in a clinical setting year 1 (PCO does this), where as some others will wait until you complete your didactic courses.
So as far as "comprehensive", I'm not really sure if any one school is better than another. I think that goes along the lines of ranking optometry schools, and there is no reason to do that. Any optometry school you attend will teach you what you need to know, it's up to you to do the work. I recommend you do some of your own research at the schools your interested in. Some posters may give you biased results here based on the schools they go to.
Also, I don't think Oklahoma's school of optometry is any more "comprehensive" in their curriculum than other schools just b/c OD's can perfrom lasik in that state. Take a look for yourself. GL.

http://optometry.nsuok.edu/CurrentStudents/Curriculum.aspx

 

[Mewcakes]

I've been told that med schools want to teach you their own curriculum in their own way. So pre-med students often don't have to take anatomy in undergrad because med schools plan on telling them to forget everything they learned because they're going to teach it to them right when they get there.

 

[Commando303]

Btw, have any of you noticed that there are more prereq classes for Optometry than for Medical school? Just food for thought!

I've been told that med schools want to teach you their own curriculum in their own way. So pre-med students often don't have to take anatomy in undergrad because med schools plan on telling them to forget everything they learned because they're going to teach it to them right when they get there.

I agree with Mewcakes: I think O.D. schools focus on teaching you the specifics of optometry but wish you to have a general knowledge of the body, as well, so leave the latter education to your career as an undergraduate student. Medical colleges, on the other hand, must, for the specific sake of your profession, train you to be acquainted with a broader range of material, so opt to deliver such education, themselves.

 

[HonestAbbey]

HERE'S THE HONEST TRUTH. All schools will pretty much teach you the same thing education wise. Technical skills like BIO may be different. I know of a school in the south that does Gonio (who the heck knows why) instead of BIO. The classes are THE SAME!!!!!

What you need to look for is the clinical experience. I know for sure that the very best clinical experiences are from schools with clinics somewhat in the ghetto. ICO has an incredible reputation for students with amazing clinical skills. You even have to learn how to draw blood and do injections in the eye. NECO has several clinics and the best ones to learn from are the VAs. Berkeley also has an amazing clinic as well as SCCO. I know for a fact that the best externs I've worked with are from ICO, NECO, BERKELEY and SCCO. Most other students pissed their pants but these guys know what they're doing.

 

[DJD27]

Other optometry schools will teach you some aspects of the business side of optometry.

Can anyone elaborate on this point? For anyone interested in running their own practice, business management is obviously a crucial aspect of training. I plan on taking a couple business courses as undergraduate work but if I know a couple schools that place an emphasis on that side of things, I might as well wait.

In short, which schools include business management in their curriculum?

 

[RegularGuy]

Can anyone elaborate on this point? For anyone interested in running their own practice, business management is obviously a crucial aspect of training. I plan on taking a couple business courses as undergraduate work but if I know a couple schools that place an emphasis on that side of things, I might as well wait.

In short, which schools include business management in their curriculum?

Am I a terrible person for saying that I don't want to have "comprehensive" classes? My gf is in med school and she memorized all the tiny muscles in her hand. (and spent so much time working on corpses that her skin smelled like formaldehyde) So her anatomy course was more comprehensive than mine. But I would hate to have taken that class.

I guess I just think that my time is valuable and my ability to retain information is limited. I'm all for schools that teach you what you need to do to be a great optometrist very well.

Anyway, SCCO has a MAJOR private practice influence. A classmate told me his admissions interview went something like this:

Interviewer: So what do you think about the corporatization of optometrists? What do you think about optometrists working at Walmart?

Applicant: I love Walmart! I think they're great.

Interviewer: SCCO DOES NOT GRADUATE WALMART OPTOMETRISTS!

Ha!

Personally, I think that working at Walmart is perfectly fine. But it seems that SCCO's general opinion is that private practice is the best for our profession. I've heard that one of the greatest criticisms given by optometry students is that they wish their schools prepared them for he business side of optometry. It seems that SCCO is trying to address that problem.

We have a private practice club that holds lunches and lectures about pricing practices and how to have a successful practice. We also have a practice management symposium once a year with some pretty good speakers. We even have multiple practice management classes where we have to do things like make business plans and analyze potential practice sites. Also, students can't go to this, but they also had a Practice Management Institute (http://www.pmcscco.com). I mention this because I feel like students get alot of exposure/expertise/help in terms of practice management because the school is so committed to it.

I'm not sure what other schools are doing, but SCCO is almost crazy for private practice. Of course, I want to do private practice, so I like this!

But, if you want to work for Walmart, it's wise to keep it on the down low here.

 

[JMU07]

Yeah SCO is the same way - VERY private practice oriented. We also have a club like the one you described. This isn't a bad thing. I mentioned working at a corporate place during my interview and it wasn't a big deal.

Also, we are trying to start up an MBA program with Christian Brothers University. It's cohort-based, meets one night a week for two years. It hasn't started yet to my knowledge but my class is trying to get enough people together for it to get going.

 

[chocol8]

Oh wow that sounds amazing actually. So do you think this is something SCO will do for future students if your class is able to get enough interest? Or is this just something your current class is trying to put together for themselves only?

Yeah SCO is the same way - VERY private practice oriented. We also have a club like the one you described. This isn't a bad thing. I mentioned working at a corporate place during my interview and it wasn't a big deal.

Also, we are trying to start up an MBA program with Christian Brothers University. It's cohort-based, meets one night a week for two years. It hasn't started yet to my knowledge but my class is trying to get enough people together for it to get going.

 

[JMU07]

Oh wow that sounds amazing actually. So do you think this is something SCO will do for future students if your class is able to get enough interest? Or is this just something your current class is trying to put together for themselves only?

It's for future classes too. If it doesn't happen with us, I'm sure other classes will try it as well!

 

[HonestAbbey]

I'm sorry to be a down but the majority of optometry schools are private practice- biased. You will get the same freaking education at every school, I've had to emphasize this a billion times already. If you wanna be a good optometrist, go to the school with the best clinic. Find out how large the patient base is, how much the clinic brings in every year, ask residents or doctors which students from what schools impressed them the most during externships.