I interviewed a fourth year optometrist student preparing to graduate in May of 2018
Q: What inspired you to pursue optometry?
A: There are various reasons why I decided optometry was for me. For one thing, the hours of a 9 am -5 pm work day are really good, with no overnight work or on call shifts. The job is low risk, and thus requires relatively cheap malpractice insurance with low rates of lawsuits. The job requires 4 years beyond an undergrad degree with no residency, so I can enter the practice soon after graduation. I hoped to always have a work- life balance, and this job is great for family life. The possibility to work part time is a great option for when life happens. The job market is great and it is overall great to help give people the gift of sight!
Q: What was your most beneficial undergraduate course at OSU?
A: I believe the name of the course was something involving patient disparities, which was in the department of health sciences. It provided me a lot of relevant healthcare information, such as how the living conditions provided by the government is why the highest rate of diabetes is found in the African American population. The course really allowed me to look at situations in someone else’s shoes to prevent judgements and stereotyping in patients.
Q: What was the hardest adjustment from undergrad courses to grad school courses?
A: The time spent in class was overwhelming at first; for example, on Mondays alone there were eight hours of my day spent in class. Not only were class times long, yet the workload was intense and the amount of notes to study and keep up with was difficult.
Q: Would you change anything you did in undergrad?
A: I was not sure what I wanted to do when I first started my undergraduate career, and wished I would have been more proactive early on to discover my passion sooner. I eventually started working at Hands On Experience and realized working in healthcare was what I wanted to do. Things outside of the classroom are more important than what you learn in the classroom, so I wish I would have been involved with activities sooner.
Q: How did you cope with the financial expenses of graduate school?
A: I definitely learned how to budget very quickly. I had to plan what to spend money, how much money could be spent, and how I would manage my loans. You have to be willing to live like a student even a few years after graduation to ensure that the loans get paid off. If the debt were $50,000 more, I probably wouldn’t have chosen optometry school honestly. Definitely think about the money aspect and how you will be repaying loans when deciding how to spend your money.
Q: What has been the most rewarding experience in grad school?
A: I worked at the VA, which was great. I also worked for a place called Faith Mission where people with no insurance came in order to receive glasses that they had no other way of obtaining. There was one patient who wasn’t able to see well enough to the point where someone had to help her do daily tasks, so it was great to see how this organization really changed peoples lives.