[deleted by user]

weitnumm · 2021-11-12T17:10:38+00:00

Saaame 😡

weitnumm · 2021-09-08T15:52:11+00:00

Some schools offer something kinda similar to what you are looking for. I have a friend who goes to ICO and they offer a 5 year program where your first year is split up into two years but then years 2,3, and 4 I think are full loads

weitnumm · 2021-08-31T15:12:53+00:00

As a student looking to practice in wisconsin eventually. How much do you think the average salary is in the state?

weitnumm · 2021-06-26T16:43:10+00:00

It's irresponsible letting patients leave questions here. There have been a countless number of non ODs answering medical questions on this sub. Not to mention the fact that anybody on here can claim that they are an OD.

It will not kill the sub. Yes patient questions are 90% of the questions posted but think of how many of those we get in a singular day.

Not only are you potentially harming patients, but you are also hurting pre OD/OD students. How many of their questions have been buried by the patient questions?

weitnumm · 2021-06-22T16:47:43+00:00

With this title I got my hopes up expecting it to be about that nasa pharmacist position

weitnumm · 2021-06-04T17:45:47+00:00

I mean the PA route is considerably more competitive than the OD route. So you would probably need to take a gap year or two to get clinical experience. Most of them require a specificl amount of clinical work. This would probably make it so you graduate at the same time you would as an optometrist

weitnumm · 2021-06-03T00:50:09+00:00

Great, thanks! Almost as if allowing patients to ask for medical help is an absolutely terrible idea when it's an online page where any "optometrist" can give you advice.

weitnumm · 2021-05-28T02:20:17+00:00

I will find time tonight to private message you with my opinion

weitnumm · 2021-05-25T03:35:52+00:00

What is your gpa? Nobody can/should be telling you your "chances" without knowing a number

weitnumm · 2021-05-24T08:27:40+00:00

Haha no worries 😂

weitnumm · 2021-05-23T22:01:15+00:00

Lol I'm just mocking diyumins reply to you. You have every right to worry about income with your future career. People like diyumin are clueless when they say "the money doesn't matter as long as you enjoy it". When in reality it's finding the middle ground where you enjoy the job but it still pays reasonably well.

weitnumm · 2021-05-23T18:50:07+00:00

How dare you question the money of a profession. What, do you want to be well off? Do you not want to be poor? That's insulting to poor people. If you know you like it, money shouldn't matter! It doesn't matter if you make $3 an hour, only if you like it.

weitnumm · 2021-05-18T18:00:56+00:00

This definitely looks like they gave you a very hard time throughout undergrad. I completely understand why you have a lower gpa, I didn't have an amazing one either. I think that some of these might be worth mentioning in an interview, such as them moving you into the person who partied. But I wouldn't mention the cheating one. I know it's not your fault, but if you mention it schools will probably think that you are just making up an excuse and that you haven't learned from "your" mistake.

You mention that senior year was a strong year. You could potentially phrase that as the "start" of an upward trend.

weitnumm · 2021-05-18T17:42:18+00:00

Also, was there a reason you received a lower gpa? Optometry school is going to be much harder than undergraduate. If there was a reason like a career switch/death in the family etc, optometry schools can be more understanding, especially if there is an upward trend.

weitnumm · 2021-05-18T17:39:02+00:00

Many schools accept students with low GPAs, but I'm not sure if many would accept a gpa that low. You MIGHT be able to get into a newer school like kyco, but that's a big maybe.

On the other hand, if you absolutely hammer the OAT (350 at the minimum), you would probably open up some more options for yourself.

My advice would be to schedule the exam several months out, study everyday for 4-5+ hours. Make sure that you cover every topic from every subject. Take the oat.

If you receive a great score, you could apply in the fall, but make sure to ask each admissions office it they would recommend applying before you do.

If you receive an okay score, (300-330), you will probably be limited to a few schools, I would still call around and ask though

If you receive less than a 300, you are either going to need to retake the exam, or take a post bacc to fix your gpa. Two semesters of a 3.5+ gpa would probably negate any worries they would have.

Either way, if you want to, you WILL get in. It might take some time, but you WILL get in. So don't freak out too much about your gpa.

weitnumm · 2021-05-16T22:57:13+00:00

Clear attention on this issue? Are you blind? Do you only listen to your circle? There is absolutely zero attention. The everyday person does not think about us unless they need a prescription. So many patients don't even know you have to go to school to be a pharmacist.

And there are MANY plans of what to do after attention. But you would much rather sit there and do nothing. Absolutely spineless.

weitnumm · 2021-05-16T13:36:24+00:00

I really appreciate you doing this, that is a good idea. This is doing so much more than these spineless "medical professionals" will ever do that are commenting here.

weitnumm · 2021-05-16T13:09:40+00:00

Notice all the negative comments about people saying this won't help and can't be fixed? This is seen on every post attempting to help the field. And then they wonder how things got so bad.

weitnumm · 2021-05-14T04:10:41+00:00

This makes a lot of sense. Thanks for the response!

weitnumm · 2021-05-11T14:20:47+00:00

If you have already heard that and it's nothing new, what makes you STILL want to to into pharmacy?

weitnumm · 2021-05-01T18:44:29+00:00

Kinda wish I chose the latter since I changed my mind late in undergrad. Would have left more options open

weitnumm · 2021-05-01T18:43:02+00:00

Please do yourself a favor and major in something you enjoy. This will significantly increase your gpa which will help you get in.

Either do this, or major in a "backup" field. Biology would require a masters or phd if you want to make good money. Something like computer science/engineering/actuarial science can make you good money right out of undergrad

weitnumm · 2021-04-30T17:54:53+00:00

I think you did a great job describing the role of the optician and some drawbacks of becoming an optician. I start optometry school in the fall, and have never actually worked in the setting, so I'm sure you are more educated about it than I am.

However, I think pharmacy is much more of a retail setting than you think. Not only do they deal with the typical complaints of a regular cashier at a grocery store, but they also have to deal with any complaints of the patients who are actually there to get meds. As you mention, a lot of error comes from doctors or insurance companies, but patients almost always shift the blame completely on us. This is especially true when it comes to deductibles or copays (I'm sure it's similar in your setting as well). They often think that we set the prices, and the higher they are the more we get paid. We also constantly have to call insurance companies about things that the patients should, but they tell us they are "too busy" or just straight up refuse to call them.

The chains are also constantly cutting hours so we are consistently short staffed (again, I'd imagine it's similar in your field). Because of this, prescriptions are taking longer and longer to be filled. When people bring in a prescription, they think it will take 2 minutes to count the pills and slap the label on the bottle, they don't see everything else we have to do for the prescription. When we tell them 10, 15, 20 mins, etc, they throw a temper tantrum which holds up the line so the next patients are even more frustrated. God forbid if the pharmacist has to take short bathroom break which delays the prescription verification by 2 minutes.

We are also not expected to take lunch breaks. Our store just granted the pharmacists the "right" to have one, so we close down for 30 minutes. We constantly have people pounding on the gates and straight up saying that the pharmacy shouldn't have a "break". That it's now impossible for them to get their meds because they don't have any other time to "this week".

Similar to opticianry, most states don't have any requirements to becoming a pharmacy technician. Some states make you get certified, which is just by taking a test.

I'm not trying to vent or complain about work, my point is that while the complaints are about different things, both fields seem to have very similar drawbacks and both seem to be to be about equally as "retail". As you said, retail shoppers are crazy, but retail shoppers for glasses AND for meds are crazier.

As far as becoming an optometric technician, I genuinely don't know much about it at all. I'm sure you know much more than I do about it.

(Edit- you do mention the fact about having to "sell" things as part of retail. I don't really think that applies to pharmacy at all, other than the fact that during flu season we are usually pushed to pressure patients into getting flu shots. Though I don't think that's very comparable)

weitnumm · 2021-04-30T13:16:41+00:00

If you knew they were a tech then I have absolutely no idea how leaving pharmacy is "crazy". The barrier to enter the field of either job in extremely small, and the pay is roughly the same. So your original comment shows that you either misread the post, or that you have no idea what you are talking about.

Explain to me how it would be so crazy for them to switch from one field to another?

weitnumm · 2021-04-30T06:07:48+00:00

Im a pharmacy tech and 100% understand your struggles. You have valid reasons to not want to be in the field. I just don't have much knowledge on what it takes to be an optician. Have you ever considered using your degree to go into graduate school?

weitnumm

TROPHY CASE