Current Events That Can Affect Optometry

In every field out there whether it is business, real estate, dentistry, or optometry there is always a current event that affects the field, whether it be in a good way or bad way they all get affected at some point. Things that can affect the field of Optometry is exactly what kind of things a Optometrist can do with their patients. Ever since Optometry came to be a career, there has always been a debate of what the difference is between an Optometrist and a Ophthalmologist.

At one point, Optometrist where viewed more like Opticians, they were not allowed to touch or get near a patients eyes. As time passed Optometrists were able to get laws passed that allowed them to do more with patients therefore expanding there capability to open their own business and also not to have to work under an Ophthalmologist. This has had a big impact on Optometrist until this day.

Even though Optometrists are now able to have there own practice, there are still some issues that Optometrist are still dealing with. Across the United States, many Optometrist have certain restrictions that are different in every state. Some restrictions can include the prohibition of fitting contact lenses on a patient. Even though that might sound weird to us because many of us, here in California can go to our Optometrist and get fitted for contact lenses, in other states that is prohibited and the Optometrist would have to refer the patient to an Ophthalmologist. Even though many of these restrictions may  not apply to us in California, they do affect a lot of people in other states.

The video above gives a good definition of what exactly is the difference between an Ophthalmologist and a Optometrist.

Courses That Do/Do Not Make A Difference

Throughout college we take many courses, some that correspond to the major we are interested in, some that are pre- requisites for grad schools or programs we want to get into after we are done with our undergraduate studies, and some that are practically just for a broader knowledge. Some of these courses are great for our future career, but many of them have nothing to do with our future career and all they do is increase our knowledge about side things. Since I just transferred to San Francisco State University Fall 2011, most of the classes that I have taken have been at City College of San Francisco; However, I have taken enough courses here at SFSU that fit each category, therefore I will explain the courses from SFSU.

There are so many courses that I have taken that I do not feel correspond to my future career, but there are also many that do correspond to my career. Since I am currently at San Francisco State University, I will discuss courses I have taken there.

For Spring semester of 2012, I took a class called Introduction to Women and Gender Studies. The Description of the course is " Introduction to origins, purpose, subject matter, and methods of women and gender studies and the feminist perspective on a range of social issues affecting women"(SFSU, class schedule website, WGS 200). I took this class in order to fulfill my segment 3 courses, which are necessary in order to graduate. This class expanded my knowledge on how women have been viewed throughout centuries and how women have overcame many obstacles to get where they are today. Even though this course was really interesting, it did not have anything to do with the field of Optometry. 

Another class I took was Calculus. This course is a pre-requisite for both my major and Optometry school. Even though this course is a major requirement, I do not see how it can relate to my field. It probably does in some ways, but since I am not in Optometry school yet, I am unaware of how it is directly related to the field. 

Out of all the courses that I have taken for my career, the one that relates to Optometry the most is Physics. This course directly speaks about the eye, the field of vision, and also many other things that involve the functions of the eye. Physics takes a major part in the OAT, it is a pre-requisite for all Optometry schools, and it is also a required course for my major, Cell and Molecular Biology. Even though it is one of the key players for my career, Physics is a subject that I dislike. Hopefully I can get intrigued by it more, but for now the only part of physics that catches my attention is the area of the eye.   

These are only a couple of courses that I have taken that have nothing to do with my career, fall under pre-requisites, and also are directly related to Optometry. I have taken so many other courses also that can fall under these categories. Many of them have been very interesting and I am glad I took them because it increases my knowledge on other aspects of life; However, it would be easier and faster to not have to take those courses because sometimes they are just a waste of time. However, I have come a long way and as much as I enjoyed some courses, I also hated some too, but once we are done with all those general education courses or segment 3 courses (from SFSU) we can be on the road to having courses that are directly related to our careers and that is exactly how I feel about my future courses.