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Are there other ways than med school to get into the professional field?
I want to become an opometrist. #doctor
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Mary Jane’s Answer
Ophthalmologists are medical doctors (M.D.) who attended medical school. Optometrists are doctors of optometry (O.D.) who attended optometry school. So yes, you can care for patients in need of eye care without attending medical school, but you can't take care of patients without having either medical or optometry training.
If you don't want to attend medical or optometry school, but you'd still like to work with patients in an eye clinic, you might look into becoming a physician assistant who specializes in ophthalmology. Unfortunately, this is a fairly rare track within the PA profession so I would encourage you to search online for PAs who do this work and reach out to them to talk about how they got into their practices. PA training is typically 2 years after completing a 4-year undergraduate degree.
Another option is to look for a paraoptometric certification program. Optometric technicians operate much like medical assistants within an optometry practice. Programs are usually available at the community college level (for example, here's an online one: https://madisoncollege.edu/academics/programs/optometric-technician-online). After completing a program, you would take a certification test through the American Optometric Association (see here: https://www.aoa.org/education/paraoptometric-resources-and-certification/paraoptometric-certification-and-renewal?sso=y).
Explore optometry at https://FutureEyeDoc.org
Read more about Optometric technicians here https://www.healthgrad.com/medical/what-is-a-certified-paraoptometric-technician/
Read about an ophthalmology PA's experiences here: https://www.aapa.org/news-central/2020/12/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-pa-in-ophthalmology/
If you don't want to attend medical or optometry school, but you'd still like to work with patients in an eye clinic, you might look into becoming a physician assistant who specializes in ophthalmology. Unfortunately, this is a fairly rare track within the PA profession so I would encourage you to search online for PAs who do this work and reach out to them to talk about how they got into their practices. PA training is typically 2 years after completing a 4-year undergraduate degree.
Another option is to look for a paraoptometric certification program. Optometric technicians operate much like medical assistants within an optometry practice. Programs are usually available at the community college level (for example, here's an online one: https://madisoncollege.edu/academics/programs/optometric-technician-online). After completing a program, you would take a certification test through the American Optometric Association (see here: https://www.aoa.org/education/paraoptometric-resources-and-certification/paraoptometric-certification-and-renewal?sso=y).
Mary Jane recommends the following next steps:
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Raquel’s Answer
As Michael said, there is no way to become an optometrist without going to medical school as it is a physician specialty. Unfortunately there has not been much breakthrough of PA's or nurse practitioners into this field, so that is not a viable option either. The only way to work in an optometrists office without going to med school would just to be a front office person which would involve helping patients pick frames and adjust them but not do any actual work with patient examination, diagnosis, or treatment. Best of luck!
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Allison’s Answer
Optometry school is not medical school.
It’s a 4 yr graduate school of its own where you earn an “OD” or doctor of optometry degree. In college, you’ll need science pre-requisites, check w the individual schools as to what they require.
It’s a 4 yr graduate school of its own where you earn an “OD” or doctor of optometry degree. In college, you’ll need science pre-requisites, check w the individual schools as to what they require.