How to Become a Successful Optometrist
If you care about eyes and vision health, you may want to pursue a career as an optometrist. In this position, you’ll be helping people by examining their eyes, diagnosing conditions, testing color and depth perception, and even prescribing corrective glasses, contact lenses, and treatments for a variety of eye problems.
But what do you need to do in order to become a successful optometrist? Continue reading for a step-by-step guide that will show you the way.
Invest in the Right Education
As you probably imagined, because being an optometrist involves working as a doctor, you’ll need quite a few years of schooling to be qualified to see patients and treat them correctly.
First, you’ll have to complete a bachelor’s degree in a related or relevant field, such as physiology, chemistry, or biology. This will give you what you need to then apply to optometry schools, which are competitive and can be difficult to get into.
Once you’re enrolled in an optometry program, it typically takes another four years or so to complete your studies. But once you do finish everything, you’ll be ready to meet the licensing requirements to start working.
Get Your License to Practice
Once you’ve completed the right degree program and finished optometry school, you’ll need to become licensed to practice within the state you live in. To do so, you’ll need to show proof that you have graduated with a Doctor of Optometry degree from an accredited school.
In addition to proving that you have a degree, you will also have to complete an exam that proves you know what you’re doing before you see patients. These exams could include both clinical and written portions so you can show that you know how to perform eye exam procedures.
In order to renew your optometrist license every one to three years, you will need to complete continuing education credits.
Get Real World Experience After Graduation
After you graduate, you can also gain some valuable work experience. If you wish, you can even get this experience prior to graduating. Either way, this is not a requirement, but it is a great way to obtain real world experience.
You can, for example, sign up for a residency program to gain access to special experience and training in optometry fields like pediatrics, rehab, geriatrics, family practice, or ocular disease. This experience could help you feel increasingly confident to head off and find full-time employment.
Find a Full-Time Job
Once you are ready to get into the job market, you can look for a full-time job as an optometrist by working in someone else’s practice. Before long, you may even be able to branch out further and open your own practice like this optometrist in San Diego, Dr. Rosa.
As you can see, the road to being an optometrist is a long one that requires a lot of discipline. However, investing your time in the right school and programs will allow you to have a lucrative career that you will love.