From Optician to Optometrist?

[britopt]

Hi there - have any Opticians out there gone back to school and retrained as Optometrists? What were the challenges (money of course ;-)) Did your experience as an Optician stand you in good stead? Good idea or bad idea? Any comments or advice would be really welcome - thanks!

[Aarlan]

It may in fact be a good idea, but each persons situation is different.

Check this link, since it had a very similar query:
http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17158

Remember that you need a 4 year undergrad degree, (which must include a list of specific courses, most of which are similar, but can differ from institution to institution), and take the OAT (a knowledge based aptitude test for Optometry). Once you have done these, you apply and if you did very well on both (Average GPA 3.25-3.5 and OAT range 316-350 depending on the school), you're essentially in. Then it's 4 years of Opt school.

If you have a 4 year college degree with all of the prereqs (with a good GPA) you just need the OAT and an interview! If you have little or no college, then that's the first place to start.

What is your specific situation? What prompted you to consider Optometry?

AA

[britopt]

I trained as a dispensing optician and contact lens fitter in the UK. I also do have a degree (but it's a BA in Social Studies) so I'm assuming I will have to take the pre-requisite courses before applying to Optometry schools. I guess there's a chance that my UK qualification in Optics will exempt me from one or two of the pre-requsites but I'll have to speak with the admissions dept about that and it may be a long-shot. I'm preparing for the long haul!

Thanks so much for your interest, I'm going to check that link now!

[Aarlan]

Good Luck!!!

Also check out http://www.opted.org/

This is the most comprehensive site about each school, their prereqs, and their avg GPA and OAT scores.

Normally they are fairly strict on the Prereqs. THere are no optics prereqs, but most are bio, phys, chem, org chem, microbio, and a few other choice morsels.

I found that I was 7 prereqs short when I was contemplating the switch. I was also told that Community college credits were not as 'competitive' as a 4 year University, but I have found that some optometrists did fulfill some required classes at Comm Colleges, but I would call the Admissions to the institutions you are interested in attending and ask them specifically. Each institution is a bit different, so make sure before you undertake the classes!

AA