If i go to college and major in ophthalmology?

Question

Im now a junior in highschool and my grades are very poor. Im a C student who is about rank 150/220 in class. If i go to college and study this field, can i become a docter? Can i make something of myself in college and do something? If not what would a degree in this get me. what other jobs are out there that deal with eyes, besides being a eye docter/surgeon

ya, im aware that i wont be accepted in to any great schools or even med school, However if i go to a normal college and major in optics what job awaits ?

Answer 1

I agree with freto, if your grades are poor then you may want to try looking into a optometry school or osteopathy. They are not as stringent as Med school and you still come out being a doctor but faster. Doctors of Optometry make decent pay as well so look into other avenues.

Look at the University of Houston College of Optometry

***Added: By the way to the Optometrist that posted below me, in no way did I intend to make it seem that optometric school was inferior, and if you read my post carefully, I also included osteopathy school too. Optometry & Osteopathic school is just as difficult as any doctoral program lasting 8+ years of study. I am giving the asker my opinions on the best route to become a doctor since in fact most medical schools are the hardest to get into with poor grades not to mention the wait list. A better route would possibly be an osteopathic school, then completing a ophthalmology residency. AGAIN, its not that you have poor grades and you can't get into Med school, its the fierce competition to get in.

Answer 2

Ophthalmology is a speciality in medicine. You need to get a college degree, then a medical degree, then you can take ophthalmology. You have to be a doctor first, before you take ophthalmology.

You can become an optician (fit glasses and contacts) or an optometrist (examine eyes but not do surgery) if interested in eyes. You could also get a college diploma in medical reception and work for an optometrist, ophthalmologist or optician.

I don't think your grades are good enough for ophthalomology or optometry and you may have trouble getting into optician program. Study harder and pull up your marks to ensure you are accepted into science program at college, study hard there and see how it goes.

To your additional details: Optics is a division of physics. You will need good marks in high school math and physics to study optics in college. There won't be much about eyes in the optics course -- it will be about lenses and imaging. Work could be in designing lenses, optical systems, sighting systems, projectors, cameras, teaching science. I expect you will need to do graduate work to work in optics.

If you are interested in eyes and vision, you should study biology not physics.

See below for some career information links

Answer 3

Ophthalmology is a specialty in medicine. You may not be accepted at med school with poor grades. competition for med school entry is tough. I do not know entry requirements but there is an excellent school of optometry in Memphis, Tn

Answer 4

First, you need to learn how to study. Then you need to at least get into college. Then you need to get great grades in college, get accepted to med school, get great grades in med school, hope you make the cut for an ophthalmology residency, do the residency and BOOM! You're an ophthalmologist.

Answer 5

First, you cannot major in opthalmology at the undergraduate university level. You will need to major in some field that includes the prerequisite courses you will need for admission to a professional school. This could be pre-med, or biology, or chemistry, etc. You just need to make sure you take all the prerequisite courses you need for admission.

As to your grades in high school. In one way it really doesn't matter that you are a C student and in another way it really does. As long as you are able to take the ACT or SAT tests and score high enough for entry into a university (and different universities have different entry requirements) you will probably be accepted at some university (maybe not exactly the one you want but you'll get in somewhere). Once you get accepted to a university to pursue your bachelors degree THEN it is CRITICAL what grades you make. So why is it important about your grades now? Because your study habits now can be a predictor of your study habits later. You will have to make some major changes and commitments if you expect to suddenly start performing better at a HIGHER level of education than you are now at a lower level.

Now as to what the future can hold. If you perform well at the university level you can apply for admission to one of two doctoral programs. You can apply to Medical School or you can apply to Optometry School. You will be required to compete against other applicants in relation to both you undergraduate grade point average and also how you score on an admission test required by either school. Medical school will require you to take the MCAT and Optometry School will require you to take the OCAT. If go to Medical School you will become a medical physician and receive the degree of MD upon graduation. You then must compete for a residency in opthalmology where you will learn to specialize in the field of eyes. If you go to Optometry School you will become an optometric physician and receive the degree of OD upon graduation. So an opthalmologist is a specialized MD that is licensed to perform any ocular surgery or procedure for which they are adequately trained. It's a little different though for an optometric physician from state to state. As an optometric physician you will be capable of performing any ocular surgery or procedure for which you are adequately trained as long as the state in which you practice licenses optometric physicians to perform that specific procedure or surgery. For instance, the state of Oklahoma optometric physicians are legally licensed if qualified to perform several different types of surgical procedures such as yag laser capsulotomy, PRK laser vision correction, anterior corneal stromal puncture, foreign body removal and use any topical or oral medication for treatment of eye disease (other than schedule I or II controlled substances). In other states, though, an optometric physician may not be able to perform surgeries such as laser not because they are not trained well enough to do it but because their state legislators have not authorized the profession to perform these surgeries in that state.

This may have been more information than you really wanted and may have dealt with questions you really weren't interested in. To summarize, don't beat yourself up yet over grades. Take this as a wakeup call that you've got to make some changes starting now if you want this in your future. And no one can do it for you. It's up to you. And you have two different directions you can go to become a eye physician. Hope this helped.

After posting my answer I read the answer above me from the chiropractor. I know he probably didn't intend it this way but what he said was quite insulting to the practice of optometry. Optometry is in no way whatsoever "inferior" to the field of ophthalmology. And contrary to what he may have been lead to believe it isn't easy to get into optometry school either. Optometry school is not where the ones who weren't good enough to get into medical school go. If I had wanted to be an opthalmologist I could have gone to medical school. That's not what I wanted to be! So I became what I wanted to be. An Optometric Physician! And I am proud to be one. Wouldn't change my decision for a moment.

Added: To the Chiropractor who posted above me. Thanks for the note. I know your profession has experienced the same thing as mine. It seems like we constantly have to prove the level of our competency at the same time that medicine is just accepted in their competency. I became credentialed in laser in Windsor Canade sitting right alongside medical doctors who were there for the same credentialing. It is just frustrating that I have to defend my competency when the medical doctors who gained their credentialing along with me are just accepted without question. Thanks again.