I have always been interested in the medical field, and I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a doctor. Throughout high school and college, I worked tirelessly toward medical school. It wasn’t until I took a gap year and worked at an ophthalmology practice, I began to rethink my goals and future career. At the practice, I worked with nearly every specialty in eye care from cornea to retina, glaucoma, and oculoplastics. I loved learning about the eyes and found helping people with their vision to be extremely rewarding. Over my first year, I worked almost exclusively with MDs since that aligned with my goals at the time. However, things changed when a new optometrist was hired. I was responsible for introducing her to the clinic flow and became her main technician. Her residency was in ocular disease, and she taught me so much about the eyes and optometry as a field.
Before this job, I thought optometrists were only responsible for prescribing glasses and contacts. I quickly learned that they are responsible for so much more. The first thing I noticed was that optometrists are often the first provider to diagnose ocular and even systemic diseases. They act as the PCP of the eyes. Patients come in for annual visits not just for refraction but for diseases that are diagnosed, monitored, and treated by optometrists. They are then referred to ophthalmologists when necessary. I find the process of diagnosing these diseases early to be very rewarding. During my time working at the practice, we had a patient come in for a routine eye exam. After his workup, I informed the doctor that there was a large difference in intraocular pressure (IOP) between his eyes. He had no other concerning symptoms, his vision was stable, and imaging was normal. However, after dilation and careful examination he was diagnosed with ciliary body melanoma and referred to an ophthalmologist for immediate treatment and possible enucleation. This early diagnosis increased his chances of survival significantly and would have gone unnoticed if he hadn’t visited the optometrist.
While such extreme cases are rare, ODs play an important role in patient health. They are often able to build great trust and relationships with patients since they see them and their families frequently for annual and emergency visits. Over the past couple years, I found the I am passionate about this process. I realized that I didn’t want to move forward with the MD route and additional years of schooling to specialize in ophthalmology. Through watching procedures and working with surgeons, I learned that I would not be happy doing surgery and did not want to be limited to a subspecialty. I am much happier making connections and serving as a primary care provider seeing diverse patients and diseases.
Optometry is a relatively stable profession with a good work-life balance. The demand for optometrists is expected to grow in the coming years, and I am confident that I will be able to find a job after I graduate. If you are considering a career in optometry, I would encourage you to work in an eye clinic to get hands-on experience. I am so happy that I took two gap years to find what I truly love to do. I learned how important it is to be openminded and to not let others dictate what is best for your future. My advice when making such a big life decision is to slow down, be curious, and enjoy the process of finding what you want to do. For some, medical school might be the right path, but for others like me, you’ll be glad you made the switch.
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