Career change - Optometry?

Beltaine

So, I went to see the optometrist for my yearly this past week.

While I was waiting, I got to looking around at all the gadgets and whatnot and thought to myself "This would be a really cool job."

I'm 32 and in a steady Network Admin job, but always wanted to get back to school and get a degree. I just never felt getting a degree in anything related to my current career would be worth the investment because I really would never see an increase of pay for getting a degree without finding a different job. (I really like it here even though the pay is mediocre) But, if I were to go to school to learn something different, there could potentially be a return on the investment.

How involved is schooling? Is this like a typical medical doctor that requires 8-10 years, or is this something more manageable?

Is it all just a pipe dream?

MagicToaster

My brother's wife is an optometrist, she just started. She began when she was 18, finished at 25. She was always studying... always! Its not a short career, or a cheap one for that matter, but it pays well in the end. I'll ask her more and post what she tells me later.

bowen

Beltaine wrote: »

So, I went to see the optometrist for my yearly this past week.

While I was waiting, I got to looking around at all the gadgets and whatnot and thought to myself "This would be a really cool job."

I'm 32 and in a steady Network Admin job, but always wanted to get back to school and get a degree. I just never felt getting a degree in anything related to my current career would be worth the investment because I really would never see an increase of pay for getting a degree without finding a different job. (I really like it here even though the pay is mediocre) But, if I were to go to school to learn something different, there could potentially be a return on the investment.

How involved is schooling? Is this like a typical medical doctor that requires 8-10 years, or is this something more manageable?

Is it all just a pipe dream?

Seems like it's an osteopathic degree as opposed to a typical MD degree, which is slightly less schooling, but still intense. Practically, there's not much difference between the two though.

bowen

Check my "Help me become a doctor" thread, it'll probably help you as much as it's helping me.

vonPoonBurGer

The university I went to had a School of Optometry, which was apparently fairly well-respected. I think? Anyway, I remember meeting pre-optometry students in first year... and then never seeing them again. Except maybe once or twice at the library, because all those poor bastards had time to do was study. The general consensus was that it was a very tough program.

If you already had a BSc (or 3 years' worth of eligible BSc credits) you'd need another 4 years of school plus at least a year of residency. So probably 5 years minimum if you meet the entrance requirements, 8 years minimum if you don't. I'm assuming that program is typical for optometry.

travathian

If you have 0 college credits it'll be at least 7 years before you finish and likely 8. You'll be hard pressed to work full time during the undergrad stuff, and hard pressed to work part time in the graduate program. Getting into a program is competitive so you need to do well in your undergrad classes, have good references, community service, do well on the entrance exam, plus interview well. The 1 yr residency isn't required in the State's unless you want to specialize. After you graduate you take state licensure exams.

So yeah, not something you just kinda do, its really all or nothing for advanced professional degrees.

"I'm 32 and in a steady Network Admin job, but always wanted to get back to school and get a degree."

Just start taking classes. Most degrees will have nearly the same coursework for the first two years. So bang out your ENG101/102, literture, history, art, maybe a foreign language, communications, etc. If you're going the BS route they require more math/science and so you'd probably need to take a math class each semester and decide which science classes to focus on. This is just enough to get you rolling down the path to something else. Part way through this you may find something else that seems interesting, but it keeps your options open.

And definitely go spend some time talking to a bunch more optometrists in your area about what they think of their job. The pay is excellent, but you'll likely be in serious school loan debt when you graduate.