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Optometry School vs. Medical School: Is optometry school less selective and rigorous as medical school?

I don't know much about optometry school. #medicine #graduate-school #optometry

graduate-school optometry
Thank you comment icon I'm also really interested in Optometry and while the schools will accept a variety of GPA ranges depending on the school you are looking at, it is said that the GPA averages accepted are slightly lower than those needed to "impress" medical schools. However, it is difficult to compare the two since they both require different tests to be completed. MCAT for med school and OAT for Optometry school. There are also SLIGHTLY different requirements for both schools. My friends who are planning on attending Med school do not need to take Physics AND Anatomy/Physiology. Meanwhile, as a Pre-Optometry student I must take both courses prior to applying for Optometry school. So look into that. This is getting kind of long so if you have any specific questions on what I've said, feel free to ask. Nellie
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sreejith’s Answer

optometry over medical school so you would have more time for family and travel, because if medicine, you would have likely chose a field like pediatrics that can be somewhat limiting for these activities. I'm sure there are other optometry students in this forum who can help you with their own reasoning for entering optometry.
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Cindy’s Answer

Yes. In the sense that in order to become an optometrist you don't need to complete a residency. So you are truly done in 4 years.


But optometry school is not easy, it's just more focused on the eyes and the parts of the body that relates to the eyes. Medical school is a lot more information since they deal with the whole body.


Some key differences is the malpractice insurance and cost/length of schooling.


Medical doctors make more money, but also have to pay more in malpractice insurance after they graduate, the schooling including the residency is much longer and therefore there is additional cost for schooling.


Optometrists malpractice insurance is significantly lower, and there is much less schooling/tuition involved. I would say it is less competitive to get into optometry school than medical school.

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Jared’s Answer

As there are far more medical schools than optometry schools, I would tend to think the opposite is true. However, each school is a bit different in what they are looking for. In my experience, optometry schools are well aware that eye care is a tight knit community and focus on whether or not the applicant seems like the type of person we would all be glad to call colleague (think character, integrity, caring, community involvement, etc).
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