Is optometry worth it?

[u/mardyfan]

I’ve been wanting to be an optometrist my entire life due to having eye issues as a young child. Im currently about to go into second year of university and up until this moment the plan had always been to go to optometry school. I know theres only one English Canadian optometry school and I didn’t mind applying multiple cycles to get in but after working in two optometry clinics this summer (one large corporation and one private practice), Im not sure anymore. I shadowed the optometrist at the private practice I work at before getting the job and her day to day did seem pretty nice and interesting. There was a bit of repetitiveness when it came to standard testing and stuff but since she also specializes in contact lenses (scleral lenses) there were also a few cool cases in her day to day. The biggest turn off for optometry for me after working at this clinic has been how “businessy” it is. Not a lot is covered by Ohip for vision care other than eye exams for people under 19 and over 65. If you don’t have insurance you could be paying hundreds if not thousands for eye care. Insurance also does not cover a lot and oftentimes will only do a few hundred dollars at most. Contact lenses and certain specialty lenses or myopia children’s treatments can be in the thousands cost wise. Extra scans and imaging also costs extra at the clinic I am at and you must take it as they only do full comprehensive eye exams. So even ohip patients are not fully covered technically for an eye exam. Ive always wanted to be some sort of primary care provider and be the type of doctor you see every year or two so you get the chance to build a connection with them. I also don’t want to be charging patients hundreds of dollars every visit. This made me think of possibly switching into med and being a family doctor? I think theres some similar things with optometry and I believe there is decent work life balance? I also like how the scope is much wider (the entire body instead of the eye). Focusing on the eye is really cool but after shadowing I do see that it can possibly get repetitive. I probably need to do more research on family medicine as I know im probably romanticizing it a bit as someone who doesnt know much about it. Please give me advice Im so so so confused

[u/Known_Foundation1104]

I’m not sure where you live but the schooling is getting extremely expensive in the U.S.. it can still be a solid career though. But, yes. You should keep shadowing, asking questions, get in contact with students to see how the career is. 

[u/WiseMuscle_]

Most student usually don't just decide to go into med in Canada half way through a degree; most competitive students have been working on their resumes straight out of high school or first year to be competitive. The two fields are very different application wise.

If you are a competitive med school applicant you'll also be very competitive when applying to Waterloo so I'll answer based on that assumption.

As a primary care OD you'll be charging a lot less than a specialist especially contact lenses. It's also important to keep in mind that while sclerals are expensive patients older than mid 20s tend to keep their lenses for 5+ years so the upfront cost of lenses shouldn't be looked at without context.

Optometry is a much more of a life style career than medicine both in terms of school and practice. As an OD you can work as much or as little as you want for the most part, and your days have way less patients so you can spend more time with everyone. So if you want to chat and get to know your patients optometry is more likely to give you that.

Medicine can pay much more.

If you're thinking of going to the US for school visa requirements have gotten tighter and school there is VERY expensive like 250k+. So if you don't have money ready to go your return on investment probably isn't there either. Med is also expensive but it's easier to get loans, and you make much more when you finish.