by Aaron Morgan

Created on: December 07, 2008

An optometrist is simply an eye doctor, a professional who examines eyes and explores ways to correct their patients' vision problems. Optometry is a very complicated field where there are not always easy answers; it may take a great deal of investigation to determine how best to help each and every patient. Most of the time a pair of glasses or a set of contact lenses is prescribed, but other times this is not all that needs to be done. Optometrists are mystery solvers who have to rely on their patient to tell them how they see as they cannot put themselves in their patients' place and see how they see the world.

If you are interested in a career in optometry, your first step would be to learn all you possibly can about the profession. Search the internet, watch videos, read books and professional journals, talk to a school guidance or a career counselor, job shadow, and most importantly get in contact with and talk to practicing optometrists, they are the best ones for the job of telling you what the work of an eye doctor is all about as that is what they do every day on the job. Most optometrists will be very helpful, so don't be afraid to ask to set up an appointment to talk or job shadow one; it'll be a very rewarding experience.

After you gather your information, start looking at four year colleges and universities that you may like to attend and apply to them in pre-optometry. Not all schools have this specifically, but most all have pre-professional programs and will lead you in the right direction. You will take many courses that are concentrated in science and math studies, They will be challenging and you will really have to do a lot of studying to get through them, It is in your best interest to show up to class every day and get the best grades that you possibly can as it's really tough to get into actual optometry school which comes after college. You will probably have to apply to several schools before you'll get accepted and its likely you might not get into your top choice. There are not all that many optometry schools in the country so it is very possible that you may have to go far from home to complete school, just something that you need to be prepared for when considering optometry as a future career for yourself.

After your studies are complete and you have realized your dream, you can apply for a license, open your practice, and start having patients.

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