Watch This BEFORE Applying to Optometry School 

I’ve been recently looking into becoming an optometrist. I’ve been in the eyecare field off and on since 2009 and I just find such a joy in providing care to those who need help with their vision. I’ve worked at a variety of clinics…from ophthalmology practices ranging from general ophthalmology, to corneal and glaucoma specialists, to regular optometry practices and some ophthalmology practices that do refractive surgery. I started as a receptionist in 2009 at a retinal specialist clinic and then took some time elsewhere and got back into ophthalmology in 2014 and became an ophthalmic assistant (basically the tech for the clinic). I’ve learned so much. I was a scribe for a while, while teching and learned the ins and outs of so many eye diseases and have learned things to tell without looking at the eye that could be causing peoples vision loss, as well as participating as a surgical tech doing procedures such as lid lesion biopsies, lasik and PRK surgeries, corneal cross linking and other less surgical procedures such as lipiflows for dry eye. I have always found eyes to be fascinating to me and I always love to learn more and more everyday…as much as I possibly can. I started looking into optometry because I can’t see myself going to medical school to become a doctor and then specializing into ophthalmology, so I figured the next best thing for me was optometry. I feel can dedicate the time for that. I’m at a place in my life where I’m not in a relationship and my son will be 18 next year, so I can dedicate all my time to getting my degree, without the holds in my life like a marriage or raising a kid. I want more with my life than to just be a technician. 65k a year just isn’t gonna cut it the rest of my life and I want more. It’s not financially driven all the way, but extra money is definitely a factor in this decision, on top of my already evolving love for eyecare. I live in Alaska, so they don’t have any optometry programs here, but I’ve researched some and know there’s some programs here that allow tuition assistance down in the lower 48 states as long as I sign off to work for a place up here after I get my degree. I’m super ok with that. I just need to figure out now which place I wanna go to and how I go about living in another state alone and being able to financially support myself while I go through school. Do you have any advice on any scholarships or programs that help out with living expenses while someone is going through school? I don’t need much to live on. I don’t need to go travel or go out or whatnot. I just am worried how I’ll make it all work while living in a new place and be able to afford rent somewhere and food and basic necessities, as I’m guessing at some point, I won’t be able to work while I go to school.

I was shadowing and the optometrist was like “we aren’t real doctors” and he was moping around like crazy about that. It made me regret for a bit picking optometry over med school. The dentist I shadowed was super happy about what he was allowed to do in dentistry. I’m super concerned now. But you are an inspiration in optometry. I still will continue with optometry because I’m good at physics and I believe in my future. I love the schools I applied too. I hope as optometrists we can push the boundary of our career. Maybe with more residencies we can do more

Do optometrists have a demand like other health professionals and also please can you make a video on explaining different specialties in optometry that will be a lot help. Thanks❤️

hello josh! I’m finishing my bachelors in biology in December with a measly 3.1 gpa. These last two years i’ve tried to be more competitive by completing research courses and shadowing over the summer. So far i’ve done two undergraduate research projects(both have been ecology related), shadowed a general surgeon for 300+ hours, an optometrist for around 50 hours, and i’m currently doing an undergraduate practice course at a clinical laboratory for abt 120 hours. I’ve also been a member of two student organizations that require volunteer work since freshman year. I haven’t even begun the OPTOMcas procedure. I planned on taking the OAT after graduating so I can put 100% of my effort into studying and get more experience working at an optical clinic but recently found out I’ll be a late applicant. I feel like there’s absolutely no hope for me to get in by 2024 (if i even get it at all). I’m just really stressed out and lost. What should I do?!?!

What are optometrist school lectures like? Do you get called on a lot?

I'd love to go be a VT doc. Lol now just to decide whether or not I want to lose being a VT to be a VT doc. Lol!

Hey Josh, thanks for another great video! I was meaning to ask, do you know where you're hoping to do your rotations during your 4th year of optometry school? I think most schools require you to do at least one of your rotations at the institution you're attending. However, I was wondering... if you attend another university for your last two rotations, does that make you a student of that university? For example: if i'm a Midwestern optometry student (4th yr), and chose to attend The Ohio State University for rotations, does that make me a Buckeye ?

I have been so torn on whether to apply to optometry school or med school this upcoming application cycle, about how many hours a week do you have free in optometry School? Also do you believe more states are going to push for laser privileges (YAG, SLT, LPI) and possibly injections for retinal diseases? I live in NJ so thats unfortunately not approved here yet and that's probably the biggest thing holding me back from being 100% sure about optometry school. If optometrists were approved to do either laser or injections in NJ it would be a no brainer for me.

But sad reality most cases optometrist encountered in their practice were candidates for eyeglasses only and few cases only for eye infections, glaucoma etc..

Optometry school is ridiculous too long. It should be a masters degree at the very most. Their scope of practice is so limited there is no reason for a 4 year doctoral program.

Hey Josh, I’m going to college soon and I really want to start getting some experience in the healthcare field and also have something on my resume for optometry school applications in the future. When did you become an optician or work in an eye clinic before optometry school? What’s the best way to go about it? Thanks.

i wanna do optometry but im rlly scared bc i suck suck SUCK at physics and i also love psychology but for personal and financial reasons i feel like i can't rlly pursue a career in psychology unfortunately

Hey Josh thakns so much for your vids! This might be the stupidest question ever, but can I not even start working on my application optomcas until the cycle opens june 29? Thanks!!

Any advice for Canadian students? We only have two schools here, one in English and one in French. Also in Canada there’s very little opportunities for shadowing. I have been contacting doctors and optometrists for 3 years trying to find a shadowing experience.

Does anyone know if optometry schools can see if a course was taken online? I took Physics over the summer, but they say that they don’t accept online physics labs. But it doesn’t specify on my transcript so idk how else they would see

What are the requirements for an indian optometrists to apply for a job in ur country....??do optometrist have value nowdays as if there are lack of job vacancy???

hii what are your opinions about OD/MS dual degree programs ? Thank you!

Is optometry mostly about physics